Remember the bit that we reported a while back about Alpine making a comeback into the 24 Hours of Le Mans? After an absence of 35 years, they are now ready to tackle the challenges that lie ahead in the grueling endurance race with the recently-revealed 2013 Le Mans racer, simply named as “Alpine No36”.
Built in collaboration between Nissan and Signatech, this new racer boasts 500-horsepower from the Nissan-sourced 4.5-liter V8 engine mated to a six-speed sequential X-Trac gearbox. Aimed to keep the weight as low as possible, the racer only weighs 900kg and has a top speed of 330 km/h.
This new racer is a part of bringing back the alpine name into the radar, before actually coming up with their first road car. The road car is expected to debut somewhere in 2016, developed by Renault with the assistance from Caterham.
The No36 racer will first make its public debut around the Paul Ricard circuit in France on March 26 and 27 before competing in the 2013 24 Hours of Le Mans and the European Le Mans Series (ELMS). Commandeering the race machine will be Nelson Panciatici and Pierre Ragues for the ELMS, while Tristan Gommendy will be joining them as the third driver for Le Mans.
