The compact and lightweight French sports car had already made itself known in competition versions for the circuits, namely, the A110 Cup and A110 GT4. Now it's time to attack the rally sections, with the new Alpine A110 Rally.
Don't expect, however, that we see the Alpine A110 Rally take on the WRC monsters, the (relatively) compact Yaris, i20 or C3 to try to replicate the world title achieved by the eponymous Alpine in 1973 — it was the first to win the world championship of rallies —, and twice winner of the Rally de Portugal.
The A110 Rally will compete in the R-GT category, destined for GT — as a general rule, sports designed from scratch, with closed or open bodywork, and even if they have four drive wheels, the competition version can only have two drive wheels.
Currently, we can say that R-GT is a one member musical band, the Abarth 124 R-GT, which has achieved everything there is to conquer. The only resistance is given by some Porsche 911 GT3 Cups (996, 997), converted by private individuals for this category.
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There have been other machines that have been introduced that, or have never gone beyond prototype status, such as an official Porsche Cayman; and that as quickly appeared as they disappeared, like the Lotus Exige R-GT — only Abarth remains active, and with very good official support.
The introduction of the Alpine A110 Rally will breathe new life into this category and, hopefully, a real rival to the Abarth 124 R-GT.
The Alpine A110 Rally
Starting from the other A110 in competition, the new A110 Rally received a new suspension adjustable in three directions, a new braking system from Brembo and the regulatory safety equipment like a roll cage and six-point harness system.
Mechanically, the Alpine A110 Rally has the same 1.8 Turbo as the series car, but here with 300 hp — numbers that coincide, both in capacity and power, with those of the Abarth 124 R-GT, whose engine derives from the Alfa Romeo 4C . The gearbox is now sequential, with six speeds (steering wheel includes paddles), and will also feature a self-locking differential.
The development was in charge of Signatech, Alpine's partner not only in this project, but also in the other A110s in competition, the Cup and GT4, in addition to the builder's efforts at the WEC. As a test driver, Alpine relied mainly on the services of Emmanuel Guigou (multiple French 2WD rally champion) and Laurent Pellier (2015 French junior champion).
FIA approval is still pending, but according to Alpine, it should be completed in the coming weeks, with the first deliveries taking place at the beginning of next year. The base price will be around 150 thousand euros , without options (these include data acquisition and… the characteristic Alpine blue color, present in the series car).