That is one way to bring down the curtain on a championship. As Motorsport.com reports, the World Endurance Championship tenure of the #35 Alpine came to an abrupt, violent halt at the Monza 6 Hours when Charles Milesi suffered a massive off at Parabolica.
The Frenchman, who shared the #35 Alpine Endurance Team Alpine A424 machine with Ferdinand Habsburg, found himself tracking a three-way battle involving the #20 BMW, the #83 Ferrari, and his sister #36 car. Then the rear snapped. An immediate overcorrection sent the beast hard into the barriers in a shunt that was eerily reminiscent of Charles Leclerc’s accident at the exact same spot during the Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix in September.
Thankfully, Milesi emerged from the wreckage completely unhurt, though the impact was recorded at a staggering 20G. He admitted he was left bewildered by the whole thing. "It was 20G, so it was quite a big one," Milesi said. "I'm a bit disappointed that we finished this race like this. That's not the way I wanted to finish the program, and it looked quite promising for us."
Trying to piece together the exact moment the rear let go proved difficult for the driver, who confessed he does not really remember what happened in the cockpit. While he suggested dirty air or a loss of downforce while running behind the pack might have played a role given how sensitive these machines are on the edge, he was honest enough to admit he needs to check the data. "I don't know exactly, I don't really remember what happened in the car," he stated. "I think I just lost the car when I was behind. Maybe I lost a bit of downforce or something. Those cars are quite sensitive, so when you're on the edge, you can easily lose everything."
Before the disaster, Milesi and Habsburg had been quietly putting in a shift, fighting their way back upward from an 11th-place start. They were right on the verge of closing in on the fight for the podium positions before the machine snapped. Looking back at Alpine's final WEC appearance, Milesi lamented the missed party at the flag: "I would have preferred to have the two cars see the chequered flag and try to party a bit in a better way. We'll still try to enjoy the last two hours of the race, and hopefully, we can get a podium with the #36."
While the #35 entry was eliminated on the spot, the action raged on at the front of the field. Victor Martins and Jules Gounon remained deeply entrenched in the fight for victory, locked in a tense battle against Cadillac, Ferrari, BMW, and Peugeot.
