{"id":282252,"date":"2026-02-13T13:29:18","date_gmt":"2026-02-13T13:29:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/282252\/"},"modified":"2026-02-13T13:29:18","modified_gmt":"2026-02-13T13:29:18","slug":"wec-news-alpine-confirms-wec-exit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/282252\/","title":{"rendered":"WEC news: Alpine confirms WEC exit"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/36-24-Hours-of-Le-Mans-21-08-2021_3691-e1770946450332.jpg\" alt=\"Alpine confirms WEC exit\"\/><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tThe #36 Alpine Hypercars at the 2024 24 Hours of Le Mans<\/p>\n<p>The announcement brings an end to a WEC program that began back in 2013 in the LMP2 class, before graduating to outright ranks in 2021.<\/p>\n<p>Alpine created its own Hypercar, the A424, in 2024 after competing with ORECA-constructed chassis previously.<\/p>\n<p>The manufacturer\u2019s involvement in WEC was highlighted by a maiden win in the 2025 6 Hours of Fuji with Charles Milesi, Ferdinand Habsburg and Paul-Loup Chatin behind the wheel.<\/p>\n<p>Its withdrawal comes amid a change of leadership in parent company Renault, with Francois Provost taking over the role of CEO, following decreased sales, and a backflip on the initial EV-only strategy for its road cars.<\/p>\n<p>The decision to exit WEC does not impact the brand\u2019s involvement in Formula 1.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have had to take hard decisions to protect the long-term ambitions of Alpine,\u201d said Philippe Krief, Alpine CEO.<\/p>\n<p>Limited edition Full Credit Papaya Rules &amp; Race Day Sunday merch drops now live! <a href=\"https:\/\/shop.fcttn.com\/?utm_source=speedcafe&amp;utm_medium=textlink&amp;utm_campaign=ad\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Click here to shop.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cOn one side, the automotive industry, and particularly the EV market, are growing slower than expected.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOn the other side, to succeed for the long-term we must continue our ongoing investment into the Alpine product portfolio and Alpine brand. The result is we must take decisive actions to create a brand with a sustainable future.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs one team, everyone at Alpine must focus all our efforts on these challenges.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn regard to motorsport, while we regret not being able to continue in the WEC after this season, focusing on Formula 1 offers us a unique platform from which we can grow brand awareness in line with our ambitions for product and market growth.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Alpine has not confirmed its driver lineup for the 2026 WEC season.<\/p>\n<p>The World Endurance Championship is set to commence with the Qatar 1812km on March 28.<\/p>\n<p><a data-bid=\"1\" data-no-instant=\"1\" href=\"https:\/\/t.cfjump.com\/92797\/b\/285241\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" target=\"_blank\"><br \/><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"border: none; vertical-align: middle;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/285241.gif\" alt=\"\"\/><br \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The #36 Alpine Hypercars at the 2024 24 Hours of Le Mans The announcement brings an end to&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":282253,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[25629,111,139,69,213,46020],"class_list":["post-282252","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-alpine","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-sports","tag-wec"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/282252","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=282252"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/282252\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/282253"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=282252"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=282252"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=282252"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}