{"id":1413,"date":"2026-05-08T06:58:53","date_gmt":"2026-05-08T06:58:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/giornalemotori.com\/en\/?p=1413"},"modified":"2026-05-08T11:38:28","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T11:38:28","slug":"alpine-ascendant-french-manufacturer-stuns-the-field-in-spa-practice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/giornalemotori.com\/en\/alpine-ascendant-french-manufacturer-stuns-the-field-in-spa-practice\/","title":{"rendered":"Alpine Ascendant: French Manufacturer Stuns the Field in Spa Practice"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS, Belgium<\/strong> \u2013 The 2026 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) season continued its high-octane journey at the legendary Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps on Thursday. As the final competitive warm-up before the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the opening two practice sessions (FP1 and FP2) provided a captivating look at a grid that is becoming increasingly volatile and competitive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Free Practice 1: Ferrari Asserts Early Dominance<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The morning session opened under overcast skies and the crisp Ardennes air, conditions that typically favor the naturally aspirated power of the Italian contingent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Antonio Fuoco<\/strong> wasted no time establishing Ferrari AF Corse<\/strong> as the team to beat. Driving the #50 Ferrari 499P<\/strong>, Fuoco clocked a 2:02.402<\/strong>, a time that remained unchallenged for the duration of the 90-minute session. Ferrari’s pace was mirrored by their privateer entry, as the #83 AF Corse<\/strong> yellow-liveried Ferrari sat comfortably in the top five for much of the morning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Ferrari led, the session was primarily a data-gathering exercise for the rest of the field. Toyota Gazoo Racing<\/strong> and Porsche Penske<\/strong> focused on heavy-fuel stints, circulating roughly a second off the lead pace. In the LMGT3 class, Charlie Eastwood<\/strong> put the #34 Racing Team Turkey Corvette<\/strong> on top, signaling that the American muscle car would be a force to be reckoned with on Spa\u2019s long straights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Free Practice 2: The Alpine “One-Two” Shock<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As the track rubbered-in during the afternoon, the hierarchy was turned on its head. In a result few predicted, Alpine Endurance Team<\/strong> delivered a stunning statement by locking out the top two spots on the leaderboard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The #36 Alpine A424<\/strong>, with Jules Gounon<\/strong> at the wheel for the flying lap, surged to the top with a 2:01.816<\/strong>. This was nearly six-tenths faster than Ferrari’s morning benchmark. The sister #35 car<\/strong> followed suit, finishing just 0.274 seconds behind. This performance marks the first time Alpine has dominated a Hypercar practice session since the A424\u2019s debut, suggesting a significant breakthrough in their hybrid software management.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Top 5 Hypercar Standings (Combined):<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
    \n
  1. #36 Alpine A424<\/strong> \u2013 2:01.816<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. #35 Alpine A424<\/strong> \u2013 2:02.090<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. #20 BMW M Team WRT<\/strong> \u2013 2:02.143<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. #009 Aston Martin Valkyrie<\/strong> \u2013 2:02.285<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  5. #50 Ferrari 499P<\/strong> \u2013 2:02.402<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    LMGT3: Precision vs. Penalties<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    The secondary class saw a frantic afternoon of trading paint and lap times. Eduardo Barrichello<\/strong> eventually took the spoils for Heart of Racing<\/strong>, placing the #23 Aston Martin Vantage<\/strong> at the top with a 2:17.769<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    However, the session was defined as much by the stewards as the drivers. A flurry of “Stop-and-Go” penalties<\/strong> was issued during the final 30 minutes as drivers pushed the limits of the track at the exit of Raidillon. The #23 Aston Martin and the #34 Corvette both served five-minute penalties for repeated track limit violations, highlighting the “zero tolerance” policy race control is adopting for the weekend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Technical Reliability and Red Flag Drama<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    The treacherous nature of the 7km circuit caused several disruptions throughout the day. FP2 saw two significant red flags:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \n
    • Carbon Cleanup:<\/strong> The first was a brief intervention to remove debris scattered across the high-speed run toward Pouhon.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Lexus Woes:<\/strong> The session ended under a cloud for Akkodis ASP Team<\/strong> after their #78 Lexus RC F GT3<\/strong> suffered a mechanical failure in the final sector, forcing a recovery vehicle onto the track and cutting the session short by several minutes.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS, Belgium \u2013 The 2026 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) season continued its high-octane journey at the legendary Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps on Thursday. As the final competitive warm-up before the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the opening two practice sessions (FP1 and FP2) provided a captivating look at a grid that is becoming increasingly volatile […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1414,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1413","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wec"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/giornalemotori.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1413","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/giornalemotori.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/giornalemotori.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/giornalemotori.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/giornalemotori.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1413"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/giornalemotori.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1413\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1415,"href":"https:\/\/giornalemotori.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1413\/revisions\/1415"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/giornalemotori.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1414"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/giornalemotori.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1413"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/giornalemotori.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1413"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/giornalemotori.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1413"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}