Following confirmation from Alpine that it is withdrawing from Hypercar at the end of the 2026 FIA WEC season, the big question remaining is what happens to Signatech, the outfit that operates the Alpine Endurance Team programme.
Signatech, founded in 1990 and run by Philippe Sinault, has been a key pillar in Alpine’s modern sportscar racing story. It first partnered with the French brand in 2013 and has been instrumental in helping it climb the ladder from LMP2 to LMP1 and now to LMDh, winning races and titles along the way.
As recently as 2024, the future of the Signatech-Alpine partnership looked set to be locked in long term, with the French brand purchasing a minority stake in Sinault’s team. “It’s the first time in my life that I’ve been able to look a minimum of four or five years ahead. That’s why this is fantastic,” the Frenchman explained to DSC late in the ’24 season.
But now, with no factory Hypercar programme to operate in 2027 for Alpine, and no other relevant sportscar programme for it to shift focus to, Signatech is faced with a colossal challenge to find a way back onto the grid in the WEC next year.
“It’s a difficult time, it was a difficult time, but it’s not our decision,” Sinault told DSC yesterday in Imola. “The decision was taken. Our future now, individual and common, is the same for everybody.
“We have to be focused on this year and do a good job to prove to everybody that we are a good team, we have a good package, and we are ready to perform. We must be focused on our job. We have some guarantees from Alpine that we will go to the end of the season; we have the budget for this.
“Our commitment now is to deliver the job and prove to everybody that we have done a good job this winter. In this new world, we must be ready in our personal and professional lives to make this kind of decision.”
When probed on whether Signatech could operate the A424s as a semi-works next year, as a compromise, Sinault confirmed that discussions were ongoing.
“We don’t know at the moment,” he responded. “We talk with them. We plan to discuss and find a fair issue. I’m not a businessman, I’m a racer. If you want to continue in Hypercar, you must be under the manufacturer flag, so we will see for the future.”
If talks with Alpine yielded no solution, Sinault admitted that Signatech may look at opportunities with other brands.
“We are ready to talk with newcomers if there are newcomers,” he confirmed. “But at the moment, I prefer to continue to talk with Alpine; Alpine is my partner, and the future is mainly on the track at the moment.
“It’s part of my job, but this future is on track now. Each mechanic, engineer and driver has to prove we are a good team.”
In the meantime, Alpine has an entire season ahead of it, and with a key Joker update signed off in the winter, Sinault believes Les Bleus have an opportunity to turn heads in year three of the A424 programme.
“We did a good job in improving the car with our staff, Viry staff and Alpine Racing staff,” Sinault added. “We know the car well now, we identified the improvement points, so we did a good job. But we must be focused because at the moment we are far from our knowledge on tyres and each new compound.
“From outside, it’s difficult to notice the improvement (to the aero). We worked very hard on the internal flow. On paper, computer and the wind tunnel it’s an improvement. But the reality is on track. We did some tests at Le Castellet, Motorland, and Portimao, and it looks better than in the past. We also have a perfect balance in our line-up. But we must stay humble.”
Images courtesy of Alpine, Andrew Lofthouse and DPPI
