2016-Renault-Uk-Clio-Cup-Brochure.Pdf
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2 Contents Welcome 5 Coming To A Circuit Near You 15 Born to Race 6 2016 Circuits & Dates 16 The Show, The Teams & The Drivers 8 A Day At The Races 18 Young At Heart 11 Fully Exposed 20 A Place On The Grid 11 Crowd Survey 23 Technically Advanced 12 Championship Contacts 26 Responsible Racing 14 Teams Contacts 26 3 4 Welcome Reinvigorated, re-energised, revitalised. The Renault UK Clio Cup is back to its brilliant best for 2016. I am immensely proud of the reputation that surrounds the UK Clio Cup since taking on the role of Championship Manager 12 months ago. In 2015 it has emerged as the stand-out supporting category alongside the Dunlop British Touring Car Championship with the very best action on the track, plus a grid not only strong again in numbers but also rich in professionally-run teams and exciting young driving talent. There is admiration from all quarters. We have without doubt one of the very best organising teams in British motor sport, a technical expertise that makes our rivals green with envy and, of course, all the razzamatazz associated with performing live on ITV4 and in front of huge trackside crowds as part of the BTCC's events. ITV Sport is just one of the key partners that helps make the UK Clio Cup the success it is – others include our great technical allies, Dunlop Tyres, PFC Brakes Europe and ELF Lubricants, plus, on the administration side, the highly renowned British Automobile Racing Club. Apart from being terrific to work with, all are racers through and through and highly supportive of our teams and drivers which fits in perfectly with the Renaultsport ethos of why we go motor racing. After all Renault has stood out for more than a century as one of motor sport’s greatest pioneers. It also happens to be UK motor sport’s most loyal manufacturer – with the UK Clio Cup it is now in its fifth decade of running racing championships in the country. Its staying power is immense. So, too, its continued ability to produce the star names for the future. This year, our 2005 and 2006 champions Jonny Adam and Tom Onslow-Cole have been crowned British GT and 24H Series champions respectively. Half the BTCC grid comprises ex-Renaultsport racers, the majority of them winning races or fighting for the big places. At the time of writing another driver with Renaultsport/UK on his CV, Lewis Hamilton, was on his way to a third Formula 1 drivers’ crown. Little wonder that interest in joining the Renault UK Clio Cup from teams and drivers – all seeking a more professional level of racing around which to build a viable business model for the future – is at its highest for the best part of a decade. As this brochure demonstrates, the Renault UK Clio Cup is absolutely ready to skyrocket in 2016. I hope you can join us in something very special. Will Fewkes UK Motorsport Championship Manager Renaultsport 5 Born To Race Renaultsport’s motor racing activity in the UK has a Adam and Onslow-Cole won the Renault UK Clio Cup in glowing reputation for producing future greats whether it 2005 and 2006 – after also starring in the BTCC they be Formula 1 World Champions Lewis Hamilton, Jenson have in 2015 been crowned British GT and international Button and Kimi Raikkonen or the latest stars in touring 24H Series champions respectively. car, sportscar and GT competition such as Jason Plato, Andy Priaulx, Andrew Jordan, Colin Turkington, Tom In fact half the current BTCC grid comprises drivers from Onslow-Cole and Jonathan Adam… Renault UK racing backgrounds: Turkington lifted the BTCC crown in 2009 and 2014, Jordan in 2013, Hamilton and Raikkonen lifted Renault UK’s Formula while Mat Jackson, Sam Tordoff, Jack Goff and Dave Renault 2.0 crown in the early 2000s while just before Newsham (UK Clio Cup champions in 2012 and 2010), that Plato and Priaulx won its Spider sportcar title and Aron Smith and Rob Austin have all become touring Button raced for its British Formula 3 squad. Priaulx car winners. The Clio Cup’s top two from 2014, Mike has gone on to three World Touring Car titles and Plato Bushell and Josh Cook, have immediately impressed in two British Touring Car crowns with more wins in the their debut BTCC seasons in 2015 with Cook getting championship than any driver in history – they started on the podium outright en route to the championship’s with Renault’s own BTCC team in the late Nineties. ‘rookie’ trophy. I have terrifically fond memories of competing in Renault UK’s championships and also for their BTCC race team. In many ways they shaped me as a professional racing driver and gave me the skills I needed to succeed in my motor sport career, both on and off the track. It’s great to see the UK Clio Cup still going strong, particularly in terms of the excellent driver talent it keeps on producing – even if that does make it even harder for someone like me to keep winning in the BTCC! Jason Plato, BTCC Champion 2001 & 2010 6 Undoubtedly winning the Renault UK Clio Cup title added massive credibility to my name and helped me get my big break in British Touring Cars. The Clio Cup certainly taught me the race craft and technical skills that helped me enjoy success in both touring cars and sportscar and GT competition. You never stop learning, of course, but my three years in the Clio Cup were vital to my career. Tom Onslow-Cole, 2015 24H Series Champion Renault is a manufacturer steeped in motor sport In 1995 the 2.0 Clio Williams was used. Two more history and its racing heritage and successes – from names from that era, Lee Brookes and John Bintcliffe, Formula 1 to World Rally to creating its first single- also went on to achieve considerable success in the model racing category (in France for its R8 Gordini in BTCC. There then followed four years of the Spider the mid-60s) - has drawn it international acclaim. sportscar, with future touring car megastars Plato and Priaulx emerging as its first and last champions in 1996 The Clio Cup also keeps in line with the massively and 1999 respectively. entertaining racing that Renault's single-model racing championships are famed for in the UK – these date All the time, behind the scenes, there has been that back to the mid-Seventies when the manufacturer first Renaultsport magic giving each and every one of its introduced grids of leaning, squealing 5TLs and TSs championships a halo effect – plus an energy and to British motor sport. In the Eighties along came the expertise that rubs off on their drivers, as clearly proven 5GT Turbo before the inaugural Clio Cup (based on the by the list above. 1.8 16v Clio) was launched in 1992 – at the time it even attracted celebrities such as pop star Andrew Ridgley of The search is now on to find the future stars of the UK Clio WHAM! fame and comedy actor Rowan Atkinson! Cup and to see who will join Renaultsport’s illustrious hall of fame… 7 The Show, The Teams & The Drivers Affordable budgets, a product high in quality, supreme In 2015 the Renault UK Clio Cup’s grid levels were at technical expertise and pulsating on-track action in front their biggest in almost two years as more than 30 of the biggest crowds and a captive live TV audience are drivers representing nine different teams scored points always a recipe for success in motor sport and the Renault in the championship. Lap records were smashed as the UK Clio Cup has got the lot. competition intensified – as also seen at Brands Hatch, Oulton Park and then Silverstone whose races produced All 18 of the Clio Cup’s races take place at the Dunlop the closest top-three finishes ever seen in the UK Clio Cup. British Touring Car Championship’s high-profile events – meaning trackside crowds of around 37,000 people each All the while the doorhandle-to-doorhandle racing among time and live free-to-air coverage in every household the Clio Cup’s equally matched cars is carefully monitored across the UK via the ITV4 channel. through the use of on-board cameras and data technology to ensure the highest standards of driving are maintained. No other motor sport ‘package’ in Britain comes even remotely close to achieving such vast levels of exposure so Ultimately 2015’s title race resulted in a dramatic four- little wonder that the Clio Cup, renowned for producing top way showdown in Brands Hatch’s season finale between future names in the BTCC and GT/sportscar racing, is such Ashley Sutton, Ash Hand, Ant Whorton-Eales and Paul a magnet for aspiring young drivers. Rivett – one of the most exciting and intense climaxes in championship history. Overall, ten different drivers Indeed its grid in 2015 has attracted drivers from a wide representing eight different teams led races or finished variety of club and junior-level categories – all knowing that on the podium outright during the 2015 season to again success in the Clio Cup represents a golden opportunity to prove the UK Clio Cup’s levels of competition. stand out in front of huge numbers of public, the media and watching team bosses in the touring car paddock. Notably Sutton's, Hand's and Whorton-Eales’s presence on the grid highlighted the UK Clio Cup’s unrivalled By being so attractive for drivers – along with a new association with touring cars.