Willy waggling Nordschleife records are an industry staple, the romanticised rivalries they spawn the gift that keeps giving for PR and forum fanboys alike.
Renault's response? The Suzuka record
We'd like to say we're above getting dragged down into such things here at PH. But we'd be lying, even 'ring record sceptic Dale getting sucked into the hype by setting
one of his own
Anyway. Away from GT-R/911 battles, the 'is it a road car or isn't it?' overall title holders and other sub categories there's one important one for hot hatch fans in the shape of the front-wheel drive record. Held, unsurprisingly, by Renaultsport with an 8min 8sec in the Megane 265 Trophy, having previously seen off the Ford Focus RS with the old shape 26.R.
But Honda's got its eyes on the prize, publicly stating early on that the 'ring record is a development goal for the forthcoming Civic Type R. It's even released a video here, the PR equivalent of a dog cocking its leg on the circuit though perhaps slightly more artistic than the infamous giant penis that closed the circuit a few months back.
Moving swiftly on, this rivalry has been in the air for a while now and Renault's response, articulated to us with typically French insouciance by Renaultsport boss Patrice Ratti a few weeks back, was to take 'ring record holder Laurent Hurgon to Japan with a Megane and nab the FWD lap record at Honda's 'home' track of Suzuka with a lap time of 2:34.292. This was back in May and reflects the fact Japan is actually Renaultsport's fourth biggest market worldwide. That it probably annoyed Honda quite a bit won't have hurt.
Worse things have been painted here
With Renault putting its faith in traditional tuning like mechanical limited-slip diffs and its neat PerfoHub offset steering axis front struts Honda is meanwhile rumoured to be adapting the Civic Tourer's unique (for the market sector) active rear suspension to give the new Type R a technical USP. And distract us from the fact it's going to be a turbo, not VTEC, that'll power this attempt at knocking the French off the pedestals both at home and in Germany.
How long before Renault has to defend its records in earnest? It's probably safe for a while and in this first round it's definitely one-nil to the French. We look forward to seeing how this inspires Honda's response.