WEC: Lapierre returns with Signatech Alpine

The Signatech-Alpine team has announced that former official Toyota driver Nicolas Lapierre will return to defend his World Endurance Championship LMP2 title. The team will stick with its Alpine A460, modified to suit the revised regulations.

Lapierre, along with teammates Gustavo Menezes and Stephane Richelmi, won the P2 class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans back last June, as well as three other rounds of the WEC calendar. The Frenchman will have at least one new teammate in 2017 since the composition of LM P2 driver line-ups is regulated: a three-driver line-up must include at least one Silver or Bronze driver, and Menezes is now categorized as Gold given the level of his results.

"Obviously, I'm very happy to pursue my career with Signatech-Alpine," said Lapierre. "Prior to the 2016 season, I had already had a number of good memories with Philippe Sinault and his team. Twelve months later, and we have added another chapter to our shared history!

"We're going to keep working relentlessly to get to grips with the challenges of the 2017 LM P2s as well as we can. I am also proud to keep competing on behalf of Alpine. 2017 looks set to be an intense year and I can't wait to be involved in the events of the next few months."