Sakura Ishibashi's Impulse Racing announced two important things of note Thursday morning local time, the first topic being the lease of their open full time entry to Eiffel Tower Racing Team for one year. Details of the lease were not revealed to the public. The second more newsworthy topic is that the team will be a factory team with three cars in 2018. The team has signed a deal to be the factory squad of the Alpine brand. Alpine, which is owned by Renault, marks a heightened interest of the series from within France, which also houses the Paris-based Eiffel Tower Racing Team as well as a VRR Straight Talk IndyCar Series race at Magny-Cours. Ishibashi herself commented on the Alpine deal. "Renault and the Alpine brand have been present in motorsport for quite some time now. But they (Alpine) have not been in open wheel since the 70s. With Renault in F1 and the revival of the Alpine brand as a sports car brand, this makes sense and I think they'll be a good replacement for both Audi and Aston Martin in 2018."
Details have emerged that Alpine will be complying with VRR standards by offering a rebadged base engine under the Dacia marque. While details have not yet been made clear on who will pilot Impulse Racing's three cars in 2018, it is assumed the aim is to have Ishibashi,
Jerome Torres and
Tyler Parker in those three full time cars.
