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Signatech, currently competing as the Alpine Endurance Team, is a French auto racing team and racing car constructor that competes in the FIA World Endurance Championship. Signatech has been a long-term partner for Alpine since 2013, and has been responsible for running their Le Mans Prototype race cars in the WEC, most notably in the LMP2 class and more recently stepping up to the Le Mans Hypercar class with Alpine's A424 sports prototype.[1] Alpine purchased a stake in Signatech in 2024.[2]
 | |
| Founded | 1990 |
|---|---|
| Base | Bourges, France |
| Team principal(s) | Philippe Sinault |
| Current series | FIA World Endurance Championship |
| Former series | Formula 3 Euro Series French Formula Three FR 2.0 France European Le Mans Series European Formula 3 |
| Current drivers |  Paul-Loup Chatin Jules Gounon Ferdinand Habsburg Nicolas Lapierre Charles Milesi Mick Schumacher Matthieu Vaxivière |
| Teams' Championships | Formula 3 Euro Series: 2010 European Le Mans Series: 2013, 2014 FIA World Endurance Championship: 2016, 2018–19 |
| Drivers' Championships | Formula 3 Euro Series: 2010: Edoardo Mortara European Le Mans Series: 2013: Pierre Ragues, Nelson Panciatici 2014: Paul-Loup Chatin, Nelson Panciatici, Oliver Webb |
Racing history
editThe team won the FIA European Formula Three Cup in 1999 with Benoît Tréluyer. It won the French Formula Three Championship in 2000 with Jonathan Cochet as driver, who also won the European Cup and Masters of Formula 3 that year, and won the Korea Super Prix for the team in 2001. In 2002, Renaud Derlot won the European F3 Cup for the team.
In 2003, Signature won the team championship in the first Formula Renault V6 Eurocup, with Tristan Gommendy and Kosuke Matsuura as drivers. They moved from the defunct French F3 series to its replacement, the Formula 3 Euro Series, and Nicolas Lapierre and Fabio Carbone completed a 1–2 finish for the team at the prestigious Macau Grand Prix. Edoardo Mortara and Jean-Karl Vernay repeated this feat in 2009. The team began competing in the 2009 European Le Mans Series in the LMP1 category.
The 2010 season was an outstanding one for Signature in the F3 Euroseries with Edoardo Mortara and Marco Wittmann finishing first and second in the series, winning eight races between them, and also taking the team championship.
Signatech provided the chassis for the Formula Future Fiat, a junior formula racing series in Brazil held in 2010 and 2011.
In 2011, in cooperation with the Nissan GT Academy, Signatech finished second in LMP2 at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
In 2012, Signature decided to pull out of the Formula 3 Euro Series, to concentrate on its involvement in sport car races.
The team finished tenth overall at the 2012 24 Hours of Le Mans using a Nissan-powered Oreca 03.
In 2013, Alpine partnered with Signatech to run an LMP2 car in the European Le Mans Series with French drivers Pierre Ragues and Nelson Panciatici. Signatech won the LMP2 Team's and Driver's championships.
In 2014, Signatech delivered chassis for the Formula 4 Sudamericana.
In 2015, Signatech, continuing its partnership with Alpine, returned to the FIA World Endurance Championship, winning the championship LMP2 category in 2016 and 2018–19.
In 2020, Signatech returned to the European Le Mans Series under the name of Richard Mille Racing Team. The team previously planned to run an all-female lineup of Tatiana Calderón, Katherine Legge and Sophia Flörsch, however, due to Legge's injury, she was then replaced by André Negrão for the first two rounds. Beitske Visser would then take over Legge's place for the rest of the season.[3] The team would then join the LMP2 class of the 2021 FIA World Endurance Championship, with an all-female lineup of Tatiana Calderón, Beitske Visser and Sophia Flörsch.[4]
In 2021, the team partnered again with Alpine, this time fielding a "grandfathered" Rebellion R13 in the Le Mans Hypercar class for the 2021 FIA World Endurance Championship season, which finished third overall at the 2021 24 Hours of Le Mans.[5] The team continued with this lineup in 2022.[6] For 2023, Signatech returned to the LMP2 category with two Oreca 07s; they will return to the top class of the World Endurance Championship in 2024 with two Alpine A424s.[7]
Racing record
edit24 Hours of Le Mans results
editTimeline
edit| Current series/events | |
|---|---|
| 24 Hours of Le Mans | 2009–present |
| FIA World Endurance Championship | 2012, 2015–present |
| Former series | |
| French Formula Three Championship | 1993–2002 |
| French Formula Renault Championship | 2000, 2002 |
| Formula Renault V6 Eurocup | 2003 |
| Formula 3 Euro Series | 2003–2011 |
| Formula Renault 3.5 Series | 2008 |
| European Le Mans Series | 2009–2010, 2013–2014, 2020 |
| FIA Formula 3 European Championship | 2014–2015 |
References
edit- ^ "Alpine is gunning for Le Mans glory with its A424 Hypercar". evo. Retrieved 2024-09-27.
- ^ "Alpine demonstrates long-term commitment to WEC, buying stake in Signatech". RACER. 2024-09-25. Retrieved 2024-09-27.
- ^ Lloyd, Daniel (2020-01-29). "Signatech, Richard Mille Linked to All-Female LMP2 Entry". sportscar365.com. Retrieved 2021-06-17.
- ^ Lloyd, Daniel (2021-01-20). "Richard Mille Racing Moves Up to WEC LMP2 Ranks". sportscar365.com. Retrieved 2021-06-17.
- ^ Dagys, John (14 September 2020). "Alpine Confirms LMP1 Program – Sportscar365". sportscar365.com. Retrieved 2021-01-18.
- ^ "No Change For Alpine In 2022 Driver Squad | dailysportscar.com". www.dailysportscar.com. Retrieved 2022-03-10.
- ^ Klein, Jamie (9 June 2023). "Alpine launches A424 Beta LMDh car for 2024 WEC campaign". Autosport. Retrieved 13 July 2023.