Renault Sport is on a roll. On the road, its latest creations, Clio Renaultsport 197 and Mégane Renaultsport 230 F1 R26, have attracted widespread critical acclaim for their mesmeric handling and scintillating performance, while on the track, the eagerly anticipated 2007 Clio Cup Championship looks set to become the biggest and best race series yet. It was only fitting then that the French marque should steal the show at Autosport International which ran at the National Exhibition Centre last weekend.

For motorsport enthusiasts, the world debut of the new Formula Renault with Formula One-style aerodynamic kit proved a major draw, as did the new Clio Cup racer and the Clio Renault Sport R3 rally car, both making their UK debuts. Renault’s road legal offerings, Clio Renaultsport 197 and Mégane Renaultsport 230 F1 R26, also pulled in the crowds at the world’s biggest motorsport show, while Renault F1 Team’s Executive Director of Engineering, Pat Symonds, added even further kudos to Renault’s already high-profile presence at the show, taking time out of his hectic schedule to call at the stand on Friday, ahead of the international launch of the Team’s all-new R27 challenger in Amsterdam next week.

New Clio Cup – the biggest and best series yet

The first batch of New Clio Cup cars have just arrived in the UK from the Renault Sport factory in Dieppe and already uptake for the 2.0-litre 205bhp car has reached such unprecedented levels that the series is destined to be Britain’s biggest saloon car championship this season, as well as the most successful in Renault UK’s motorsport history of more than 30 years.

Clothed in full race livery, the new Clio Cup car was arguably the star of the show from Renault Sport UK’s perspective, with dozens of serious enquiries fielded during the  event. Some particularly keen customers even downloaded order forms and option lists for Renault’s latest pocket-rocket from the multi-media facilities on the stand. The tally of Clio Cup orders for this season’s Championship now stands at a staggering 52 orders, with half a dozen show visitors so captivated by the car’s trackday potential that they’ve since placed orders with the intention of using them purely as leisure time vehicles.

Also during the show, some drivers and teams took the opportunity to visit the Renault Sport UK stand to be among the first to register for the Championship before the 23^rd February deadline and ahead of the first official test day at Silverstone on Monday, 26^th February. Since the show ended, an impressive 15 entries have been confirmed, with all of the new proud owners set to take delivery of their cars this week in Southampton.

Renault Sport UK is expecting its biggest field for decades and has had to make provision to accommodate all the cars likely to enter. “We could easily see as many as 40 plus competitors in the field, so we have had to make special arrangements to make sure everyone who registers can race”, commented Renault UK Motorsport Director, Tim Jackson.

In the event of more registrations received than can start a race according to circuit track licences, the new format for both qualifying and races makes sure everyone entered can race. The field will be divided into two groups of approximately equal size. The first group will qualify for 15 minutes, directly followed by the second group for 15 minutes. The starting grid for the first qualification race will be based upon the times recorded by the first group’s qualifying session. The starting grid for the second qualification race will be based upon the times recorded by the second group’s qualifying session. On Saturday afternoon there will be two qualifying races – one for each group.

The starting grid for Sunday’s championship round will be based upon the results of the two qualification races. The group containing the driver setting the fastest individual lap time will line up on the pole position side of the grid with the race winner in pole position and the second-placed driver directly behind and so on. The other group will line up on the opposite side of the grid with the race winner in the second grid place and the second placed driver directly behind and so on. When the qualification races procedure is applied there will be only one championship round during the race meeting but prize money will be adjusted accordingly.

Renault Sport – winners on track and road

Away from the show stand carpet and onto a slightly more familiar surface, tarmac, Renaultsport products continue to delight the media, with Track and Race Cars magazine becoming the latest title to be won over by their charms in their January 2007 issue.

First, the Clio Renaultsport 197 continues Renault’s unrivalled tradition for producing fun, fast and affordable hot hatches such as the 5 GT Turbo and Clio Williams by winning their ‘Hot Hatch Track Day Car of the Year 2006’ award, beating Mini GP, Seat Ibiza Cupra TDi and VW’s Golf R32 and Polo GTi. Second, the New Clio Cup racer is their ‘Track Day Car of the Year 2006’, beating Caterham CSR260 Superlight, Supercharged Ariel Atom 2 and a host of other track day specials with prices of up to £37,000.

Giving the track day car award to the New Clio Cup, the magazine cooed, “For value, fun and pace none of our entries could out gun the awesome Clio Cup.” In addition to setting the fastest lap time during the awards test session at Bruntingthorpe Proving Ground in Leicestershire, Editor, Keith Wood glowed, “It stops, accelerates and slides through corners better than any other hot hatch on the market.” In the same showdown, Mégane Renaultsport 225 finished a creditable third.

Maintaining Renaultsport family honour does not look too difficult for the new Mégane Renaultsport 230 F1 R26 either, due in no small part to its power hike and new limited slip differential. Already the subject of rave reviews such as, “An awesome B-road weapon” (Autocar) and “I’m trying to think of a better mid-size hot hatchback available now than this, and I can’t “ (The Independent), Track and Race Cars magazine’s team were left suitably entertained after a thrilling drive through the gorges of the South of France, “I seriously doubt there’s anything else on the market today to challenge the Mégane 230 F1 Team R26 across the classic rally route of a B-road blast.“

Further information on the award-winning Renaultsport range, plus all the latest news for 2007 ELF Renault Clio Cup Championship, is available at www.renaultsport.co.uk .