Alpine'sAlpineFrance, 1955 > 199414 models
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return to Le Mans was met with excitement and a few groans when it was announced in March. It will be the first time in decades that the historic name will return to Le Mans, but the car that it will do it with is really last year's car with a new paint job. Still, the Signatech-AlpineOreca Oreca 03 NissanFrance, 2011 > present2 photos
team has scored their first big success this year by setting the fastest lap in their class at the European Le Mans Series test at Paul Ricard. 

The French driving squad Nelson Panciatici, Pierre Ragues and Tristan Gommendy covered 1,459km during the session. Panciatici drove the car to the fastest time of any of the sessions with a 1:47.652 laptime. 

The team's major goal was to develop the car's Oreca 03 chassis for the new Michelin tires. Given Panciatici's time, that appears to have been a success. 

“We tested the reliability of a high number of parts and also worked on the different new-spec tyres our partner Michelin had brought for us to evaluate. The next step will be to look at all the data before choosing the tyres we will race this year. Another important point was that all three riders were able to enjoy track time and Wednesday morning’s encouraging run enabled us to target a quick lap time. It’s all looking good for the beginning of the season," said Signatech-Alpine Team Principal Philippe Sinault.

The car will make its racing debut at the ELMS race at Silverstone on April 12-13. 

When it was the Signatech-Nissan team last year, Panciatici qualified the car third in class at Le Mans and had a fourth place finish.