A week-and-a-half on from its headline-grabbing triumph in an eventful 6 Hours of Fuji – the penultimate round of the 2025 FIA World Endurance Championship campaign – Alpine Endurance Team has hailed a courageous and committed performance that proved the importance of never giving up.
The French manufacturer is no stranger to success in FIA WEC’s top-tier, with its A480 having won twice in 2022 and reached the rostrum in all-bar-one of its 12 outings at the international pinnacle of the discipline.
Heading to Japan, however, its successor, the A424, had tallied just three podiums in the Hypercar category – all of them claimed by the #36 entry, with the sister #35 car having finished no higher than fourth. Over the course of six hours on a late summer afternoon in the shadow of Mount Fuji, all of that changed.
Charles Milesi qualified the #35 A424 ninth on the grid amongst the 18 high-calibre contenders at Fuji Speedway, but just a quarter-of-an-hour into the race, team-mate Ferdinand Habsburg made contact with Toyota’s Sébastien Buemi, necessitating a front bodywork change at his first pit-stop and resulting in a five-second stop-and-go penalty that relegated the Austrian to the tail-end of the order.
Next to climb inside the cockpit, Paul-Loup Chatin set about regaining lost ground, and despite picking up a further five-second penalty for a pit-stop infringement, the crew’s luck changed when the safety car was summoned in the fourth hour due to an accident. The #35 had just refuelled prior to the neutralisation, and with many of its rivals subsequently needing to pit under green flag conditions, when Milesi took over behind the wheel, he suddenly found himself running second.
Thereafter, the Frenchman engaged in a tense three-way fight with the #93 Peugeot and #6 Porsche, gaining the upper hand courtesy of a bold call to change only two tyres at the Alpine’s final stop, whereas its competitors both opted to replace all four.
That catapulted Milesi into the lead, and while the margin back to his pursuers ebbed-and-flowed, his expert management of the situation enabled him to take the chequered flag just over seven-and-a-half seconds to the good, in so doing cementing a milestone victory in FIA WEC’s milestone 100th race.
“It’s hard to believe, almost surreal,” the 24-year-old reflected. “After a difficult start, with two penalties and going almost a lap down, no-one could have imagined such an outcome. The team did an incredible job, the car was fast and consistent, the safety car period brought us back into contention and our strategy made all the difference.
“The last few laps seemed endless, but the pace was there and we managed to hold on until the end. It was fantastic to achieve this alongside my team-mates, with whom I’ve been working since the development of the A424 in 2023. We were a little lucky at the right moment, but you also have to make your own luck – and this first victory is particularly special.”
For Chatin, the success ended a record-breaking 3,619-day drought since the Frenchman had last stood atop the FIA WEC rostrum, in the LMP2 category in Shanghai a decade ago.
“It’s a magnificent and well-deserved victory,” he enthused. “It started badly with the collision, but we remained patient, the team made the right decisions and each driver contributed to the overall effort. We’ve been working together for over two years, and now it is all paying off.
“Ten years after achieving my first podium in FIA WEC with Alpine in LMP2 at Fuji, to win [in Hypercar] with this team is incredible. Thank you to Philippe [Sinault – Team Principal] and the entire team for their confidence and their tireless work.”
The points pocketed in Japan allowed Alpine to leapfrog BMW into fifth place in the Manufacturers’ standings – a position the marque will look to consolidate in next month’s Bapco Energies 8 Hours of Bahrain season finale (6-8 November).
“It was a fantastic day, and we were immensely proud to celebrate the Alpine A424’s first victory,” acknowledged Sinault. “We knew we had a good car over the course of a stint, even if we still need to improve our single-lap performance. The race was chaotic from the start, and we had to stay focused and seize opportunities, which is what we did with two decisive, well-thought-out choices, which our drivers managed perfectly.
“After three difficult events, this result proves that we never stop working in what is an extremely competitive championship. The entire team has been rewarded, as has the #35 car, which has experienced a lot of bad luck. It’s a wonderful achievement, and I congratulate every member of the team sincerely.”
“It’s hugely satisfying,” echoed Alpine Endurance Team Sporting Director, Nicolas Lapierre. “A year ago, I stood on the podium for the last time as a driver, and now I’ve celebrated my first victory in my new role. The team did an incredible job. We were on the defensive after the penalties, but we reacted and struck at the right moment, managing to hold off the competition to the finish.
“This victory is important. We made a strong start to the season, but faced some more challenging rounds recently. It’s a welcome boost for all of our hard work and proves we can win at this level. The goal now is to maintain this momentum and continue to improve so that we can fight at the sharp end more often, with ever-higher ambitions.”
“This team victory is the result of everyone’s commitment and rewards all the hard work that has gone into the programme since its launch,” agreed Alpine Motorsport Vice-President, Bruno Famin. “Achieving such a result in only our second season against such high-calibre competition is extremely gratifying for everyone involved in the project.
“The race didn’t get off to an auspicious start, but we were able to seize every opportunity and the second half was much more strategic, with some bold choices, such as the early pit-stop that put us back in the running and then the gamble of changing only two tyres. It was risky against opponents who had taken on four new tyres, but Charles was able to contain the pressure and maintain our advantage. We chose to aim for victory rather than play it safe, and that paid off.”
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