Alpine has been given a power break under the Hypercar Balance of Performance for this weekend’s Fuji round of the World Endurance Championship.
The French manufacturers’ A424 LMDh will race with an increase in base power output of 6kW (8bhp) at the Fuji 6 Hours on 28 September in comparison to the Austin round earlier in the month.
It has also received an adjustment in its favour on the power gain element of the BoP, designed to equate the straightline speeds of the cars: it will lose 3.9% power above 250km/h (155mph) rather than 4.5% at Austin.
Increased power of 512kW (686bhp) for the Alpine is one of the few significant changes to the BoP for the penultimate round of the 2025 WEC.
Minimum weights of all eight contenders in Hypercar are unchanged for Japan, while a further four cars have minor tweaks in base power.
An apparent status quo in the BoP almost certainly reflects the fact that the Lone Star Le Mans event in Austin was wet for the majority of the six hours.
#36 Alpine Endurance Team Alpine A424: Jules Gounon, Frederic Makowiecki, Mick Schumacher
Photo by: James Moy Photography via Getty Images
Exactly how the BoP is calculated has not been revealed by WEC rulemakers the FIA and the Automobile Club, but the system is known to have changed more than once over the course of the season.
The Porsche 963, winner at Austin and at Fuji last year, and BMW M Hybrid V8 LMDhs have gained 2kW in the latest BoP table, while the Cadillac V-Series.R LMDh and the Toyota GR010 HYBRID Le Mans Hypercar have received an additional 1kW.
Peugeot’s 9X8 2024 LMH remains on the minimum class weight of 1030kg and the maximum base power of 520kW (697bhp), but has received an improved power gain figure.
It will race at minus 4.8% rather than minus 7.3% last time out in the WEC in the USA. The maximum stint energy figures for the cars have also been adjusted to reflect the tweaks to the power outputs.
Free practice for the Fuji round of the WEC begins at 10:15 local time on Friday.
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