Philippe Sinault, the boss of Signatech, which serves as the Hypercar service provider for Alpine, says he still hasn’t given up hope of finding a solution to keep his team on the Hypercar grid in 2027 after the French OEM’s withdrawal.
The deadline to file for entries into next season is November 23rd, meaning time is short for Sinault and his team. But the Frenchman insists he is still pushing, after lengthy discussions with Chinese OEM Geely to rescue the A424 programme for next year fell through.
“It’s not an easy situation,” he told reporters today in Monza ahead of his final WEC race with Alpine. “We are still ready to operate the team, with two cars for 2027 at the moment. We are in an emergency. Since the announcement of no interest by Geely, we push like hell to find other options. Not a lot exists at the moment.”
Sinault is under no illusion that “time is running out”, but did reveal that he is now engaged in talks with another unnamed party and has also been working on a contingency plan, possibly in the ELMS LMP2 class, to keep his staff together and enable Signatech to continue racing if no Hypercar deal could be found.
“In this type of situation, suddenly something can happen. We have not had really deep talks (with another OEM), but we have one where we started to have deep talks. It’s difficult to say if it could be realistic or not.”
Alpine owns a minority stake in Signatech, but Sinault made it clear that its relationship won’t stand in the way of a new programme.
“We are talking at the moment. The plan is to continue (working with Alpine) with customers in GT4, with the Alpine Cup and in rally also,” he said.
“(In WEC) Our plan is to continue to work with these cars and this engine. If we want to be ready in 2027.
“Alpine has the IP and so on. But if we find a way to continue with this car and this engine, we will find a way to be independent and continue by ourselves.”
What is clear is that Signatech cannot operate the A424s independently, badged as Alpines, in the future. “We have to forget the blue colour for this moment,” he added when asked if that was a prospect.
“If we are not able to reach this goal to be there in 2027 in Hypercar, we will consider to keep the team and try to be there in 2028,” he added. “We are creating a really strong foundation. It will be critical to stay there in 2027. For sure, we have option B and option C in our minds, but at this moment, to be clear, we are 100 per cent focused on Hypercar.”
“It will be mandatory to find a partnership with the Viry-Châtillon (engine base, which has been purchased by the Belgian Dumarey Group) to continue to operate the engine and hybrid side.”
While Sinault believes putting together a new programme for 2028 may be more realistic at this point, he knows it will be tough to find a new project quick enough to ensure he can keep his staff employed and motivated to stay next year.
“It’s my crucial subject,” he admitted when asked about retaining his team members. “Every morning I wake up with this subject in my mind. We want to stay in endurance. We have to be ready to manage this type of situation, because suddenly you have a big announcement and it stops. Like Porsche, Peugeot in the past. It’s our job to anticipate it and think about a Plan B.
“Now we are really in a hard time, but the team members and committed and dedicated, even in this hard moment together.
“For 2028, I have to say that for sure, a new manufacturer will arrive, a Chinese manufacturer; they are considering it very seriously to come in endurance. It’s a good platform for them to arrive in this new territory. I am confident that with me or without me, a Chinese OEM (or another new one) will arrive. So we have to be ready.
“2028 is more realistic, yes, but we will try (for 2027) until November 23rd,” he summarised.
“It (2028) would be a hard situation, because I have some talent inside my team and everybody is hunting in my area. I am quite confident that a team, a story, like we did with Alpine, works if we have a strong project. If I am not able to achieve something for 2027, I have to bring a strong project to them internally as soon as possible and say that we can do that.
“If I have to be really proud about one thing, it’s that they stay with me and they want to continue together.”
Images courtesy of DPPI
