The Alpine A110 Pikes Peak has been tailored for the punishing 20km hill climb, where it’ll compete against modified production cars in the Time Attack 1 class.
The Nürburgring has traditionally been the stage for record-chasing car manufacturers, but Pikes Peak is gaining traction with one-off factory entries – the latest of which comes from Alpine. Meet the A110 Pikes Peak: it’s the most extreme iteration of the firm’s two-seater coupe to date, with a radical aero package, less weight and around twice the power of the standard production car.
Taking the A110 GT4 racer as a starting point, the A110 Pikes Peak has been developed as a bespoke one-off to dissect the 156-corner hill climb next month. Of course, the new challenger isn’t subject to GT4 ‘Balance of Performance’ power restrictions, so its 1.8-litre turbocharged four-pot has been fully uncorked with ‘nearly 493bhp (368kW)’, according to Alpine.
The motor is fed by a roof scoop, and with the hill climb snaking its way up to 4302 metres above sea level, forced induction provides a tangible advantage as the air gets thinner approaching the finish. Downforce also bleeds off throughout the run for the same reason and to combat that, Alpine has enlisted engineering support from its Le Mans technical partner, Signatech, to develop a new aero package for the A110 Pikes Peak.
This new aero setup centres around a shark-fin engine cover and a towering split rear wing, which works in tandem with an extended front apron and low-drag wheel covers. Inspiration from the A110 R road car is evident in the side skirt flicks and diffuser, but despite the enormous aero appendages, the Pikes Peak weighs in at just 950kg – 132kg less than the A110 R. The hill climb car could use the same adjustable suspension hardware as the GT4 racer, albeit tuned to extract maximum performance at Pikes Peak, where it’ll compete in the Time Attack 1 class.
The class is made up of specialised production car-based machines, with the Time Attack 1 regulations permitting engine, aero and chassis modifications, although certain mechanicals – such as the number of cylinders and driven wheels – can’t be changed. The A110 Pikes Peak will be driven by R-GT Cup champion Raphaël Astier when it tackles the hill climb on 25 June.