Alpine A290 Rallye – a car with serious WRC heritage
Alpine
Negotiating sheer mountain drops on hairpin bends, threading your way dense forest at over 100mph and flying over stomach-churning jumps – all in pursuit of rallying glory.
These are the thrills young off-road hopefuls dream of, but it’s still an expensive pastime unattainable for many prospective drivers.
A top-level Rally1 WRC car costs around €1m (£870,000), while the second-tier WRC2 car can still set you back between €100k-200k (£87k-170k). The former category in particular has struggled to attract entrants, with costs cited as a central issue.
New Rallye model is based on the successful A290
Alpine
Now Alpine, which began as a boutique rallying marque, is offering a more affordable way to break into the special stages – with its new electric A290 Rallye machine costing €59,000 (£51,000).
The French firm is launching a one-make series to go with the rallying themed model. The entry fee for its first one-off event this year is €1000 (£870) with details of a further expanded competition not yet released.
Brand director Nicola Burnside told Motor Sport that Alpine has “an opportunity to inspire a younger audience on their motor sport journey.”
Fitted with an FIA rollcage, the A290 Rallye offers 220bhp, with a limited-slip differential and hydraulic handbrake helping competitors hit a rallying rhythm.
Can the new competition offer an affordable route into rallying?
Alpine
The Alpine A290 Trophy will first take shape as a one-off competition this year at the Rallye National de l’Indre starting on November 8.
Next year it splits into two categories. The first, the Alpine A290 Rally Trophy, will piggyback onto six rounds of the French Rally Championship.
Meanwhile the Alpine A290 Regional Trophy will permit crews to enter selected French hill climbs and rallies independently.
The winners of the Rally Trophy will grab €236,000 (£205,000) in prize money, with the Regional Trophy’s pot being €46,000 (£40,000).
The Renault Group is well-versed in making a success of one-make series, with its immensely popular Clio Cup competitions and French A110 championship too.
As part of the A290 Trophy entry, on-site engineers, a spare parts shop and recharging facilities are provided, in addition to racing suits, Alpine clothing and communication services.
“I think there was a period where rallying went a bit quiet – I think it’s really coming back now,” says Burnside.
“And I think we’ve got an opportunity to introduce a younger audience into rally that maybe haven’t been involved in the past – really inspire people on their motor sport journey.”
Nature of rally competition could suit a small EV
Alpine
€59,000 is still no small sum though, and it will be seen whether those that take up the competition will be younger entrants striving to get into rallying, or older gentleman racers just looking for something else to do on the weekend.
Founded by Jean Rédélé in 1954, Alpine announced itself on the world stage by winning the 1973 WRC title with its A110 Berlinette, as is keen to gain new customers by drawing attention to those links.
“From our perspective, it’s about creating a series where we can showcase the ability of the car, and then we expand from there,” Burnside adds.
Jean-Pierre Nicolas takes on Corsica for Alpine in 1973
Getty Images
“That’s why it’s starting in France, because that’s the home of Alpine.
“The easiest way for us to do that is to create a one series initially, but then grow, pushing it to the limits. We have experience with that, with the A110 series in France, which is very successful, and there’s lots of learnings that we’ve taken from that. We definitely have a legacy.”
Away from the Formula e single-seater series, electric motor sport has found a home in the World Rallycross Championship.
Similar to the latter, a special stages format with short bursts of high performance and the opportunity to recharge in between, lends itself well to an electric A290 championship.
“In my opinion, it makes obvious sense,” says Burnside. “With an EV on rally stages – they’re relatively short distances, as fast as you can, with as much control as you can.
“If you think about the A290, it’s almost exactly suited to that type of car.”
The Renault 5 and its A290 equivalent have already become renowned for their handling and useability.
Burnside, and amateur racer in her own right who has regularly competed at Goodwood, drove the A290 Rallye up the hill at this year’s Festival of Speed.
“It feels just really poised on the hill. That’s what it’s made for”
“It is brilliant,” she says. “It feels like an A290, but it’s got a hydraulic handbrake limited.
“It’s lighter because they’ve obviously stripped everything out inside, so you’ve got just a race seat and then the roll cage, so it feels just really poised on the hill. That’s what it’s made for.”
The Alpine A290 has already made a splash on the road car scene since its release last year.
It will be interesting to see if the latter can do the same in the rallying world in the coming seasons.
For more information on entering Alpine’s A290 Rallye Trophy, the competition co-ordinator Josep Ferrer can be contacted at [email protected].
