Alpine Endurance Team brought both A424 Hypercars home in the points at the first 6 Hours of Barcelona, finishing eighth and tenth. Contact on the opening lap and a late tyre problem kept the French squad from the result its qualifying pace pointed to. The team now heads to Monza for the final round of the 2026 FIA World Endurance Championship.
Alpine’s run of form in the 2026 FIA World Endurance Championship slowed at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. The team had arrived after back-to-back podiums in Austin and Fuji. At the series’ first 6 Hours of Barcelona, the penultimate round of the season, the #36 A424 finished eighth and the #35 tenth.
Toyota Racing won the Hypercar class with the #8 of Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa, ahead of the sister #7 car and the #50 Ferrari AF Corse.
A circuit the A424 barely knew
According to the team, the A424 had last run at Barcelona during its early development in 2023. That made the practice sessions especially important for learning how the car behaved and how it used its tyres.
Alpine says it spent most of its preparation on race pace. In particular, it worked on choosing between the soft and medium compounds, taking account of track temperatures and the high tyre degradation on the racing line. The work paid off in qualifying, where the two cars took fourth and seventh on the grid.
Contact at the start for the #35
Rain arrived just as the race began. In the first few corners, Ferdinand Habsburg’s #35 was involved in contact with a Cadillac and dropped to the back of the field. Habsburg and Charles Milesi then fought back through the race and finished tenth, which was enough for a point.
“I’m very disappointed with today’s result. Being caught up in an incident at the start was frustrating, as there was nothing I could do. We’ll never know how the race might have unfolded without it. I wish I could have delivered more for the team and for myself. In the wet, everything was going well, but as the track dried, I struggled to find my rhythm. We still came away with a point, and now we’ll look ahead to the next race.” — Ferdinand Habsburg
A late puncture costs the #36 a top-five finish
In the #36, Jules Gounon got through the tricky opening conditions and kept the car in contention. Victor Martins took over as the race developed. The team brought the car in earlier than its rivals, which gave it clear track away from traffic. Martins used it to set quick laps and gain places while other cars made their stops, and the #36 moved into the fight for the top five.
Those hopes ended when the right-rear tyre lost pressure late in the race and the car had to make an extra pit stop. Gounon and Martins finished eighth.
“I’m disappointed with the result because I think fifth place was possible, but a slow puncture late in the race cost us that opportunity. It’s frustrating after fighting hard throughout the race. Thank you to the team for all their efforts. We brought both cars home in the points, but the result was clearly below what we were aiming for.” — Jules Gounon
Sporting Director Nicolas Lapierre called it “a very difficult day” and “a disappointing result”. Team Principal Philippe Sinault said the qualifying result rewarded the team’s preparation, but the race was harder:
“The result does not reflect our potential or the team’s efforts, but it takes nothing away from our motivation to finish strongly at Monza.” — Philippe Sinault
What it means
Barcelona broke Alpine’s run of podium finishes, but both cars still scored, so the team keeps adding points before the final round. Alpine has said it wants a strong finish to the season after the progress it made earlier in the year.
Facts: 6 Hours of Barcelona – Alpine Endurance Team
- Round: Penultimate round of the 2026 FIA World Endurance Championship (first 6 Hours of Barcelona)
- Qualifying: Fourth and seventh
- #36 A424 (Jules Gounon / Victor Martins): 8th
- #35 A424 (Charles Milesi / Ferdinand Habsburg): 10th
- Hypercar winner: Toyota Racing #8 (Sébastien Buemi / Brendon Hartley / Ryo Hirakawa)
- Next round: Monza, the season finale
Alpine Endurance Team’s next race is at Monza, the final round of the 2026 season.
Source: media.alpinecars.com