Sanrivatti is new startup in the hypercar sector based in the Netherlands. The company was founded by a 23-year-old automotive engineer Santiago Sanchezwho began his professional career at Donkervoort, a well-known Dutch manufacturer of stripped-down and ultralight track-focused sports cars. Although it is a young company with unconventional ideas, Sanrivatti has behind it a strong engineering and management structure composed of veterans of the automotive industry with experience from companies such as Lotus, Bentley and McLaren.
Apex Position
This startup has now presented a development concept called “Apex Position”, aimed at fundamentally changing the relationship between the driver and the car. While vehicle performance has developed significantly over the years, the company emphasizes that the link between man and machine has remained unchanged. Sanrivatti therefore focuses on the very architecture of the driver’s seat, starting from body posture, line of sight and control, where the driver becomes the “central point of the system”.
The concept is based on moving the driver up and placing him in a forward-facing position, as opposed to the usual reclined sitting position behind the front axle. Such an arrangement, according to the company, enables an extended field of vision and more precise positioning of the vehicle on the track.
In a situation where the rider is lying or kneeling on his stomach, leaning forward and literally straddling the vehicle’s central tunnel, the ergonomics of a MotoGP rider is imitated. This significantly lowers the center of mass of the driver himself and enables a radically lower roof line and more advanced aerodynamics of the car. Their belief is that this configuration allows the body to more directly feel the forces of acceleration, braking and passing through turns, as is the case with riding a racing motorcycle.
The idea did not remain only at the level of theoretical drafts – Sanrivatti has already allegedly started tests on a working prototype. Through a hands-on approach, the team seeks to gain a deeper understanding of factors such as posture, perception and management in real-world conditions. The project is currently entering the second phase of development, and not much is known about it for now. It will probably be a hybrid or gasoline hypercar with a centrally located engine.