Alpine demonstrated constant and remarkable performance at the six hours of Fuji this weekend. The #36 Alpine A424 finished in P2 just 0.591 seconds from victory, while the sister car took P4. Here is the report from Alpine on their weekend.
The weekend that began with the A424’s maiden Hypercar pole position ended with the Alpine Endurance Team securing second and fourth at the 6 Hours of Fuji. The two cars performed constantly during the race and dominated most of the race on P1 and P2 until the appearance of the last Safety Car.
Alpine’s Hypercar demonstrated its potential in every condition. Victor Martins topped both Friday’s dry second practice session and Saturday morning’s wet run, while Charles Milesi confirmed the strength of the sister car.
Persistent rain subsequently led to the cancellation of the qualifications before the Hypercars could take to the track. With the starting order established from each entry’s fastest practice lap, the #36 of Jules Gounon and Victor Martins claimed pole, with Ferdinand Habsburg and Charles Milesi sitting alongside in the #35 after moving up from P3 to P2 following penalties. It marked the A424’s first pole position and an all-Alpine front row.
The race began on a damp circuit, with Jules Gounon and Ferdinand Habsburg entrusted with the challenging opening stint on slick tyres. Both held their ground before gradually pulling clear as the surface improved.
Gounon handed the #36 to Martins during the first scheduled stop, while Habsburg briefly assumed the lead through the alternate pit cycle. Despite contact when the #7 Toyota challenged for position, the Austrian remained firmly in contention.
A succession of neutralisations repeatedly closed the field, but the two Alpines continued to control proceedings. The order alternated through the driver changes and strategic phases, with the #35 leading at halfway before the #36 moved back ahead.
After five hours, Victor Martins led Charles Milesi by just over two seconds, with both A424s holding a clear advantage over their closest challengers.
The complexion of the race changed shortly afterwards when a final Safety Car erased the gaps. With the Alpines running nose-to-tail, the team elected to service both during the same pit-stop window, protecting the overall result rather than compromising one. The time lost in the double stop allowed the #8 Toyota and #15 BMW to emerge ahead before the final restart.
With approximately 15 minutes remaining, Martins launched an impressive recovery from fourth. After climbing to second, he closed rapidly on the leading Toyota and crossed the line only 0.591 seconds behind. Milesi completed the race in fourth, just 1.284 seconds short of the podium.
The result gives Alpine its highest two-car points haul of the A424 era. Combined with the podium and double top-five finish achieved in Austin, it confirms the team’s increasingly competitive form ahead of the final two rounds.
Alpine Endurance Team will return to action at the 6 Hours of Barcelona from 16 to 18 October.
CLASSIFICATIONS
6 Hours of Fuji – Hypercar Classification
- Toyota Racing #8 – Sébastien Buemi / Brendon Hartley / Ryō Hirakawa
- Alpine Endurance Team #36 – Jules Gounon / Victor Martins
- BMW M Team WRT #15 – Kevin Magnussen / Raffaele Marciello / Dries Vanthoor
- Alpine Endurance Team #35 – Charles Milesi / Ferdinand Habsburg
- Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA #38 – Earl Bamber / Sébastien Bourdais / Jack Aitken
- Team Peugeot TotalEnergies #94 – Loïc Duval / Malthe Jakobsen / Théo Pourchaire
- Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA #12 – Will Stevens / Norman Nato
- Toyota Racing #7 – Mike Conway / Kamui Kobayashi / Nyck de Vries
- Aston Martin THOR Team #009 – Alex Riberas / Marco Sørensen
- Ferrari AF Corse #51 – Alessandro Pier Guidi / James Calado / Antonio Giovinazzi
- Genesis Magma Racing #19 – Mathieu Jaminet / Paul-Loup Chatin / Daniel Juncadella
- AF Corse #83 – Yifei Ye / Robert Kubica / Phil Hanson
- BMW M Team WRT #20 – Robin Frijns / René Rast / Sheldon van der Linde
- Aston Martin THOR Team #007 – Harry Tincknell / Tom Gamble
- Genesis Magma Racing #17 – André Lotterer / Pipo Derani / Mathys Jaubert
FIA Hypercar World Endurance Manufacturers’ Championship
- Toyota – 169 points
- BMW – 146 points
- Ferrari – 115 points
- Alpine – 96 points
- Cadillac – 96 points
- Aston Martin – 54 points
- Peugeot – 24 points
- Genesis – 12 points