The top speed of the Alpine A480-Gibson run by the Signatech team was four or five kilometres per hour lower than last year during Sunday's Le Mans test day as a result of changes to the Balance of Performance that have reduced its engine power by 40bhp.
Signatech team boss Philippe Sinault refused to criticise the BoP, saying that the onus was on the team to make improvements to its grandfathered LMP1 design.
"We are now 10km/h down [on the Toyota and Glickenhaus Le Mans Hypercars]; that is a consequence of less power," he told Motorsport.com. "We have to work on it. We have to improve."
The fastest speed recorded by the Alpine through the official speed trap just before the first chicane on the Mulsanne straight was 325.8km/h, which compared with 337.8km/h for the #7 Toyota and the #708 Glickenhaus.
At last year's test the gap was closer: Alpine hit 329.8km/h compared with 331.8km/h for the #8 Toyota and the two cars from Glickenhaus.
The Alpine ended Sunday with a fastest lap of 3m32.420s, more than two seconds down the 3m30.111s it achieved at the test day in August 2021.
Alpine driver Andre Negrao, who shares the solo A480 with Nicolas Lapierre and Matthieu Vaxiviere, explained that the reduced power made it difficult to pass the LMP2 cars on the straights.
"It is really hard for us to overtake the P2s, whereas a Toyota or a Glickenhaus can go straight past," he said. "That's going to make a huge difference in the race."
Sinault suggested that he wouldn't be lobbying for a change in the BoP.
"I don't want to complain, that would show a lack of humility," he said.
But he added that he believed that the rule makers, the Automobile Club de l'Ouest and FIA, would make a change if it is necessary to balance the playing field.
"If the gap is too big, I don't have to discuss it," he said. "They will consider the subject if there is evidence that it [the BoP] is not correct."
The document by which the Hypercar class BoP is governed is not in the public domain, but it is understood that there is no provision for changes between the practice and qualifying sessions and the race.
That would suggest that if there is to be a change it would have to be prior to the start of free practice at 14:00 on Wednesday.
But the BoP published last week ahead of the test day was titled 'Le Mans competition'. Last year it was headed 'Le Mans test day', but no revised BoP was issued.
Toyota pointed out that the way the Le Mans Hypercars, such as its GR010 Hybrid, and the grandfathered LMP1 Alpine achieve their lap time is different.
Pascal Vasselon, Toyota Gazoo Racing Europe technical director, said: "The different cars have different performance profiles, that is known.
"It is not an anomaly that the Alpine is slower in the straightline; they are quicker in the corners.
"At Sebring [in March when Alpine won the race] we were significantly faster in a straightline but they were lapping one second a lap quicker than us."
The Gibson V8 has been given back half the 20kW it lost after its Sebring WEC victory in March, but the maximum power allowed for Le Mans is still 30kW or 40bhp down on the figure listed in the BoP last year.
