Renault Sport has been an iconic name for all things fast Renaults for decades. Now that era ends, however, because Renault Sport is renamed Alpine.
It was somewhat to be expected, but the sporting branch of Renault will no longer be known as Renault Sport from now on. Alpine, the sporting sub-brand of Renault reincarnated a few years ago, took on an increasingly prominent role and is now also in name the replacement for Renault Sport. Renault previously renamed its Formula 1 team Alpine and now the same is also happening with the Renaults that wear the famous RS badge. No more Renault Mégane RS, but a Renault Mégane Alpine, with the Alpine logo on the spot where you would normally expect the double windows of RS.
The Renault Sport team, which operates in Les Ulis, is now merged with Alpine and Alpine has become a step bigger. The employees of the former Renault Sport continue to focus on sporty versions of Renaults, while others within Alpine focus mainly on Alpine’s own cars. Of course there will also be interaction between these two different branches.
This actually completes the circle, because Renault Sport originated in 1976 from Alpine. Then the Alpine and Gordini racing divisions were merged and grouped under this name. Many legendary Renaults were created under Renault Sport, including the R5 Turbo, the Clio V6 and more recently the Mégane RS Trophy. So a name with history disappears, although luckily Alpine is too.