Alpine announces step up to LMP1 for 2021 WEC season
Alpine has formally announced plans to enter the top category of the FIA World Endurance Championship in 2021 using a grandfathered Rebellion R-13 LMP1 car.


As reported by Motorsport.com last week, the Renault-owned brand is making the step up after five seasons in the WEC's LMP2 ranks that have yielded three class victories in the Le Mans 24 Hours, in tandem with partner team Signatech and with support from Oreca.
Its solo Gibson-powered Rebellion R-13, which Alpine plans to develop further with Oreca, will be balanced against a new breed of Le Mans Hypercar machinery from Toyota, Glickenhaus and ByKolles in the top class.
The announcement follows a little more than a week from the news that the Renault Formula 1 team will rebranded with the Alpine name from 2021 onwards.
"The history of Alpine is made of challenges," commented Signatech team boss Philippe Sinault. "Few people believed in us as early as 2013 [when Alpine first entered the European Le Mans Series with Signatech], but we proved ourselves step by step to demonstrate that we were capable of evolving at the highest level.
"Today, this new challenge is in the same vein thanks to the opening of a unique window of opportunity. We will be the newcomers in the top category and we intend to make life difficult for our opponents.
"The trust that Alpine has placed in us in this project is a huge source of pride for our teams and partners who have joined this adventure in its early stages.
"It is an exhilarating and incredibly motivating challenge from a sporting point of view and we are determined to be up to the challenge so that Alpine can enter even more into the history of French and world motorsport."
No decision has yet been made on drivers for the new Alpine LMP1 effort, which will be officially known as 'Alpine Endurance Team', with the marque promising an announcement on that front before the end of the year.
Equally there has been no official word on whether the Rebellion chassis will be rebranded in 2021, as Signatech's Oreca 07 LMP2 chassis is currently.
Alpine stated that its LMP1 commitment is for only one year, but its programme is thought likely to be a precursor to a future effort with a new car built to the Le Mans Hypercar or LMDh rules, which the WEC will share with the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
Related video

Ginetta withdraws solo LMP1 from Le Mans 24 Hours
Rebellion: Bahrain entry depends on WEC title chances

Latest news
“Proper send-off” for MacNeil after Rolex 24 win in GTD Pro
Jules Gounon says that winning at Daytona was an appropriate way for co-driver Cooper MacNeil to retire from racing in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
HPD boss "amazed" by GTP reliability in Rolex 24 at Daytona
The boss of Honda Performance Developments has expressed his amazement at the high levels of reliability demonstrated by the all-new GTP prototypes in last weekend's Rolex 24 at Daytona.
How MSR took Acura to the first win of sportscar racing's new era
After much anticipation, the new dawn for sportscar racing got underway with a result that mirrored the pattern of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship's previous DPi era. Here's how Acura once again took top honours in the Rolex 24 at Daytona with a 1-2 led by Meyer Shank Racing.
Why WTR Acura lacked pace to beat MSR in Rolex 24 showdown
Wayne Taylor Racing's Filipe Albuquerque admits that he knew it would be a tall order to beat the sister Acura of Meyer Shank Racing in the closing stages of last weekend's Rolex 24 at Daytona.
Why the WEC should make space for modern garagistes in 2023
OPINION: There is plenty of excitement over the glut of manufacturers tackling the Hypercar class of the FIA World Endurance Championship this season. The selection committee is set to face headaches over who it decides to admit and who gets turned away from the 2023 entry list, but history tells us that the smaller entrants have a place
Motorsport.com writers' most memorable moments of 2022
The season just gone was a memorable one for many of our staff writers, who are fortunate enough to cover motorsport around the world. Here are our picks of the best (and in some cases, most eventful) from 2022.
Is Qatar the price motorsport fans have to pay?
OPINION: Fresh from hosting a controversial 2022 football World Cup, Qatar has added its name to the 2024 World Endurance Championship calendar. Although questions may be asked about its presence on the calendar, is it simply the price to pay for having a healthy racing championship?
How Toyota defeated Alpine for the 2022 WEC title
Toyota #8 trio Brendon Hartley, Sebastien Buemi and Ryo Hirakawa outscored their rivals in the last season before the World Endurance Championship’s top class gets ultra-competitive. Here's how their Hypercar battle with Alpine and the remaining class tussles played out in LMP2, GTE Pro and GTE Am
The long road to convergence for sportscar racing's new golden age
The organisers of the World Endurance Championship and IMSA SportsCar Championship worked together to devise the popular new LMDh rule set. But to turn it from an idea into reality, some serious compromises were involved - both from the prospective LMDh entrants and those with existing Le Mans Hypercar projects...
How Porsche's Le Mans legend changed the game
The 956 set the bar at the dawn of Group C 40 years ago, and that mark only rose higher through the 1980s, both in the world championship and in the US. It and its successor, the longer-wheelbase 962, are arguably the greatest sportscars of all time.
Why BMW shouldn't be overlooked on its return to prototypes
OPINION: While the focus has been on the exciting prospect of Ferrari vs Porsche at the Le Mans 24 Hours next year, BMW’s factory return to endurance racing should not be ignored. It won't be at the French classic next year as it focuses efforts on the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, but could be a dark horse in 2024 when it returns to La Sarthe with the crack WRT squad.
The history lessons Peugeot should have learned on its return
The Peugeot 9X8 will make its FIA World Endurance Championship debut at Monza this weekend. The French manufacturer has gone radical and will be hoping it doesn’t need to overhaul its contender, as it did with its first Le Mans challenger…
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.