Alpine, Peugeot Confirm Evo Joker Usage

Photo: Fabrizio Boldoni/DPPI

Alpine and Peugeot have confirmed the use of Evo jokers in order to roll out updates ahead of the new FIA World Endurance Championship season.

Peugeot revealed the use of a joker for ‘suspension-focused’ modifications ahead of the Prologue at the Lusail International Circuit, while Alpine team principal Philippe Sinault confirmed to Sportscar365 that a ‘”strong update” was carried out relating to the engine and turbo on A424.

Sinault, however, declined to disclose further details with regards to the update when asked for specifics.

Alpine’s joker usage comes after Bruno Famin, Alpine’s vice president of motorsport, indicated to reporters at last year’s Bahrain season finale that modifications to the Mecachrome-built V6 engine would “for sure” be in the pipeline.

Alpine’s use of its first Evo joker means that, with the exception of class debutants Aston Martin, every single manufacturer in competing in the Hypercar class has publicly declared the use of at least one joker in each of their cars’ respective lifespans.

Sinault outlined that Alpine used a period of testing before the season opener to “confirm and validate” its engine modifications.

“We have to continue to be ready,” Sinault said.

“We need more knowledge about the car, about the way to operate the car.

“And the window of the way to operate and to know really the car is not really wide.

“So we made some tests in December and in Monza one month ago. We did Barcelona, Portimao, Le Castellet and after [that] Monza.”

Although a newly introduced guideline for manufacturers has prohibited the introduction of mid-season jokers, Sinault indicated that further upgrades will “for sure” be part of Alpine’s plans.

“In the life of the project, we plan to use some jokers,” he said.

“We have this tool so all the time we study the opportunity to use it. So for sure we will use a new joker in the project life.”

Meanwhile, Peugeot’s use of a joker marks the second time the brand has publicly declared such usage, following on from the introduction of its updated car at last year’s 6 Hours of Imola.

“A long endurance session at Le Castellet, which allowed us to work on reliability and confirmed the significant progress made in this area“, said technical director Olivier Jansonnie.

“We also had a test day in Qatar in January with two cars, which was very instructive for us, as the Peugeot 9X8 2024 version hadn’t been updated at this track last year. Losail is a unique circuit.”