CLIO CUP TO STILL RUN DURING 2020
Heavily revised series will join British GT package next season
There will still be a Clio Cup in the UK next season after it was confirmed a heavily-revised series featuring the new fifth-generation car will run in support of British GT.
At the end of last year, it was revealed that the current Renault UK Clio Cup would be axed after the 2019 season. But Motorsport News reported in July that Renault Sport Racing was looking at ways of keeping the series running in a new format and away from the British Touring Car Championship support package.
This has now been confirmed with a seven-event schedule for the 2020 Clio Cup UK season being announced last weekend.
Five of those events will be in support of British GT, while the other two will be at European circuits – one at Magny-cours and the second yet to be confirmed.
The series will no longer be backed by Renault UK with the French-based Renault Sport Racing – the same organisation that runs the popular Formula Renault Eurocup – now providing more support.
“For us it was very important to carry on with the new Clio in the UK – even if Renault UK cannot support the project as they have in the past,” Renault Sport Racing customer racing commercial director Benoit Nogier told MN. “For the teams and drivers it was very important to carry on.
“It was not super easy but we’re very happy [it’s continuing]. We have a big history with Renault in customer racing and I wanted to keep this culture inside the brand.
“The new car is something quite new compared to the last two Clios we had. We always try to improve the performance but it’s also important for us to try and get back to the original Clio and the Renault 5, to be a much more simple car, cheaper and a bit more attractive.”
Nogier added it was good for Renault Sport Racing to again work with British GT promoter SRO.
“BTCC is still a very good platform but we had the opportunity to work with SRO as we do in France, as we do in Formula Renault Eurocup,” he said.
“We would’ve been very happy to carry on with BTCC – we don’t have anything against BTCC – but it costs a lot of money.”
As well as the UK partnering with other Clio Cup championships in Europe, the French Clio Cup series will also be part of the Brands Hatch meeting in August.
“We [Clio Cup France] share events with Clio Cup Spain and definitely it’s a way to reduce the global budget because we share the cost of events,” Nogier said. “As the budget was a bit tightened [for the UK series] we did this and we are quite sure it will work.
“When we did Clio Cup Open at Paul Ricard for the Formula 1 grand prix and Hockenheim, all the British teams and drivers have been wanting to come and are very pleased to get out of the UK so we are sure they will be happy to go to France. The French drivers are very, very happy [about visiting Brands Hatch].
“We did it for budget reasons but also for sporting reasons. It’s always good fun to discover a new circuit and to compare your level to the other drivers in other series.”
Despite the plans only being formally confirmed last weekend, MN understands there has already been a decent level of interest in the series.