The A110’s biggest fan
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Aerodynamics engineering is fundamental to the development of a high-performance sports car like the Alpine A110. The benchmark for this discipline is found in Formula 1, where wind-tunnel testing has reached the highest levels of technical complexity. Pierre Sancinéna, the aerodynamics engineer at Alpine Cars, conceived the idea of going into partnership with his colleagues in Alpine F1 Team to take advantage of their methods and tools. He takes us behind the scenes of a test like no other.
PAR EMMANUEL GENTY

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The summit of aerodynamics achievement has been reached in Formula 1. That’s where we went for the best methods and tools
PARTNERSHIP WITH ENSTONE
In Ulis (France), the home of Alpine Cars, Pierre Sancinéna is thinking along the same lines as his colleagues in Enstone. This aerodynamics engineer, but also semi-professional driver*, has been managing the aerodynamics developments destined for current models in the Alpine and Renault Sport ranges (A110 and Mégane R.S. Trophy-R), as well as for future models for three years. He is quick to agree that “wind-tunnel work is essential when developing the aerodynamics aspects of a sports model like the A110”. To optimise this work on the Alpine road models, he had the idea of calling in the aerodynamics development teams in Enstone. “We began to work together in March 2020 and meet every week to optimise our methodology and CFD tools, and apply Formula 1 methods to our tests”, he says.
NEW SENSORS
This is why an A110 crossed the English Channel to go to the Enstone workshops to be fitted with lots of sensors used by F1 aerodynamics specialists: a hitherto unseen and extremely precious set of instruments to collect even more data to improve the mapping of pressures on the bodywork and of the flows around the vehicle. And it was at the beginning of March, in the S2A wind tunnel at Montigny-le-Bretonneux, that F1 could start to cast its spell over this utterly transformed test A110.


HITTING THE ROAD SOON
Alpine F1 Team’s aerodynamics specialists didn’t just bring the hardware to this unprecedented wind-tunnel test. From the famous Race Control room at Enstone, they were able to examine the real-time images and analyse the data displayed on their computer screens. Who could be better placed to decipher the results of this test than the people accustomed to using the tools that now covered the A110?
TOWARDS THE 24 HOURS OF LE MANS
Pierre Sancinéna has always been passionate about motorsports and began his racing career at the age of 15 in karting. After a few good performances at regional level, he tried his luck at the ACO contest in Le Mans. He finished second and obtained a grant from the federation to participate in his first single-seater championship in F4 in 2010.