Roland’s TrueVIS Digital Printers Support The BWT Alpine F1®︎ Team To Reach The Summit Of Motorsports Competition

Image Courtesy of BWT Alpine F1®︎ Team

A revealing Q+A session with Joe McNamara of the BWT Alpine F1®︎ Team who have two Roland VG2-640’s & a Roland SG2-300.

The Alpine F1 Team, competing as BWT Alpine F1 Team, is a Formula One constructor which made its debut at the start of the 2021 Formula One World Championship.

Formerly named Renault F1 Team and owned by the French automotive company Groupe Renault, the team was rebranded for 2021 to promote Renault's sports car brand, Alpine, and continues to serve as Renault's works team.

The chassis and managerial side of the team is based in Enstone, Oxfordshire, England, and the engine side of the team is based in Viry-Châtillon, a suburb of Paris, France.

The team competes with a French licence.

Please Tell Us About Your Job.

I run the paint and graphics department here at BWT Alpine F1®︎ Team, which produces a variety of durable stickers and graphics for the team’s racing cars and hospitality areas.

What Kind Of Work Do You Perform With Truevis?

I’ve been using Roland DG’s Printer/cutters for years now, and they’ve proven to be very good. We currently have three printers running at full capacity, including a TrueVIS VG2. What do we print on? Probably a better question to ask is what we don’t print on. We print all kinds of things on various media, from the vehicle stickers I mentioned earlier, to floor graphics, to banners used at the circuit. In 2021, we changed our name from “Renault F1® Team” to “Alpine F1® Team” and started a new history. The rebranding of Alpine was a huge project, and our TrueVIS played a big part in the initial stages. I think we printed about 20,000 stickers alone.

You Mentioned “High Reliability” As One Of The Good Points Of Truevis.

The team always carries more than 30 versions of every sticker so they can be replaced whenever needed. This amounts to around 1,400 stickers for every race. Eighty per cent of the stickers are sponsor-related so they have to be replaced with absolute precision. Aside from the need for accurate color reproduction, the stickers are easily damaged on the circuit, so we have to be flexible and quick to replace them with the same graphics depending on the situation. We don’t have downtime here. It’s not an option. Roland DG’s printers have fast output times, and the short drying time of the inks makes it possible for us to work within a limited time frame. For example, I can laminate a print the same day I print it and send it from the team’s home in England to the race venue in Australia.
And they are really tough and built to last and they can take absolutely anything we throw at them, so the schedule doesn’t really bother the printers — they really are up to the job.

What Do You Like About The Image Quality And Color Of Truevis?

For the branding of sponsors, race cars, garages, hospitality areas, etc., it is essential that the colors of the brand logos, etc., are reproduced accurately and quickly. The new orange swatches in the TrueVIS VG2 series include about 100 colors of yellow and orange, and they always meet these expectations.

What Is The Biggest Difference Between Truevis And Other Printers?

It’s not just about the performance of the product, but the service is also excellent. If we have any kind of technical issues, they can usually solve it over the phone, and if they can’t, they often send an engineer out the same day. There is a great synergy and correlation between what BWT Alpine F1®︎ Team does and what Roland DG does. Both companies are always technology-driven, forward-thinking, and have a great team spirit in a very fast paced environment. Some of my staff have been with me for more than 10 years now, and it’s great to be able to work with people with whom I can build such a good relationship.

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