The explosion of manufacturer interest in the FIA World Endurance Championship and IMSA SportsCar Championship is unpredecented. IMSA has five manufacturers and double digit full season entries in GTP. WEC has almost a full F1 field in Hypercar alone.
It's incredible. And yet, more are on the way. WEC will herald the arrival of Genesis, the Hyundai-owned luxury brand, in 2026, and 2027 will likely see Ford and McLaren back in the top class of at least one of the two championships.
But, there's potential for IMSA's top class to gain another entrant, one that has so far only raced in WEC. It is, of course, Alpine.
'Can't think of a better way to establish yourself'
'Yeah, no doubt,' Doonan replied when The Racing Line asked the IMSA president if there was any hope of getting the French automaker, owned by Renault, to enter a team in IMSA.
'I can't think of a better way if you're a new automaker, or re-establishing yourself in the North American market. Can't think of a better way to to launch it and build brand awareness than to come race with us,' he continued.
Renault re-launched the Alpine brand in 2017 with the A110, a pretty two-seater sportscar which played on the brand's heritage from the 20th century. However, the car was only sold in Europe and did not make its way to the States or North America.
IMSA requires manufacturer entrants to sell more than 2,500 vehicles in the United States each year. This means that, with no presence in the US or North America, Alpine cannot currently enter the US's premier sportscar series.
But, with Alpine scheduled to enter the North American market in 2027, this opens the door to the French brand entering IMSA.
'The welcome mat is out'
'You know, we've spoken to Bruno Famin and the Alpine folks and the welcome mat is out for them,' said Doonan.
'So when they're ready, we're ready to bring them on board,' he finished.
It remains to be seen whether Alpine take up IMSA's offer. The Racing Line has reached out to Alpine to see if the French manufacturer had a comment in reply, but so far we have not received a response. We will update this article if we receive a reply.
Feature image: Julien Delfosse / DPPI
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