The Alpine A110 was taken to the Magny-Cours circuit not long ago, where it posted a lap time of 2:03.25 in the hands of pro racing driver Romain Monti.
The unofficial run has put the French sports coupe ahead of the Honda Civic Type R and Renault Megane RS Cup, by a few tenths of a second and nearly 4 seconds, respectively.
Surprisingly, despite having less power than the BMW M2 Coupe, the A110 was almost as quick as the German sports car, which ran the course in 2:03.20, behind the Chevrolet Camaro and Mercedes-AMG C63 S Coupe.
Also Watch: BMW M2 Competition Vs. Alpine A110: Different Worlds Clash For The Title Of Best Sports Car
The unofficial record-holder at Magny-Cours is the Ferrari 488 Pista, followed by the McLaren 720S, Lamborghini Huracan Performante and Porsche 911 GT2 RS.
Alpine’s A110 has already made its mark in the automotive world. First, because it is the first car after Renault revived the brand after a very long time, and second, thanks to its agile chassis, good weight distribution and mid-engine, rear-wheel drive layout.
The modern French berlinette may be less powerful than some of its main rivals, with its 1.8-liter turbo-four making 252 PS (248 hp / 185 kW) and 320 Nm (236 lb-ft) of torque. Nevertheless, it hits 100 km/h (62 mph) in 4.5 seconds, and has an electronically limited 250 km/h (155 mph) max speed.
The A110 starts at £46,905 ($59,607/€52,256) in the United Kingdom, which is not exactly lunch money, but it still undercuts the BMW M2 Competition by £3,000 ($3,812/€3,342).