Friday 26th August 2016

Renault Clio Cup Junior Championship announced

Know a budding under-17 BTCC racer? Have a large body panels budget? Get them in the Clio Cup!

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Anyone who has watched ITV4's (very good) BTCC coverage in recent seasons can't fail to have noticed the Clio Cup and Ginetta Junior championships. Both provide really entertaining and fiercely competitive racing, each often a stepping stone on the way to a BTCC seat as well.

Last time you'll see these panels even slightly straight

Now imagine if you combined the two; no, not front-wheel drive Ginettas, but the 14-17-year-olds eligible for the Ginetta championship in Clio Cups. From 2017 that's becoming a reality, the Clio Cup Junior Championship designed to get teenagers on the Renault Sport racing ladder for the first time.

The Clios are very similar to those Cups used in the full series - indeed the car can continue to that championship with just a few tweaks - but with modifications made for safety reasons. So the cars are limited to 100mph (with sixth gear blanked off too), the power limited to 'MSA Junior regulations' and they run road rubber (Michelin Pilot Sport 3s) instead of the Dunlop 'racing tyres'. Other than those, however, it's full fat Clio Cup race car - Sadev sequential gearbox, PFC discs, ZF Race Engineering dampers and Speedline wheels. It's a proper little touring car, one that would be a fantastic introduction to the sport if you were born in 2002 (yes, the drivers could really be that young).

But Renault Sport is keen for it not to be an expensive one. Not only should an agreement with Moorgate Motosport Finance help racers, Renault Sport is predicting a season's costs to be in the region of £30,000. Not including, of course, any new doors. Or boot panels. Or paint...

Road-spec Michelins replace Dunlop race tyres

Though the 2017 calendar is yet to be confirmed, the weekend format is set: the Clio Juniors will race across 12 rounds, with six weekends comprising a practice, qualifying and two races. Wonder where they will race?

Anybody interested in the Junior Clio Cup - and who wouldn't be? - should contact Renault Sport now. The Junior championship will be run by the same people managing the Clio Cup, a series that has been running since 1991 in the UK and for 17 consecutive seasons since 2000. So it sounds like you'll be in good hands. And think how many parent points you'll get with a Clio Cup seat for them!

 

[vz-r_dave]

No mention of costs?

[vz-r_dave]

Matt Bird said:

steveb8189 said:

vz-r_dave said:

No mention of costs?

Except the bit where it mentioned costs...

I assume your 30k per year is in addition to buying the car. Is that race entry, tyres, fuel etc?

I believe so, no exact figures from Renault Sport yet. Full UK Cup car costs 43,000 euros:

http://www.renaultsport.co.uk/cars/renault-sport-c...

so I guess this would close if not identical. As for the £30K running costs thing, the official line was:

"It is important to stress that UK Clio Cup Junior is very much being positioned at club level and we envisage a season’s running costs to come in as low as £30,000."

HTH!


Matt

Thanks chaps, so around 100k all in with trailer and T&E..... its actually not that bad....