Elf Renault Sport UK Clio Cup Overview

The Elf Renault Sport UK Clio Cup marks Renault's return to one-make saloon car racing for the year 2000. The UK Clio Cup replaces the popular Renault Spider Cup as a support race to the prestigious British Touring Car Championship. The 2000 series will be run over twelve rounds, visiting no less than eight of Britain's premier racing venues including the world famous Brands Hatch and Silverstone circuits.

Since joining the TOCA package, the Clio Cup has attracted a host of successful British teams and drivers including multiple Renault saloon champions and current series leaders, Mark Fish Motorsport. Former Super Coupe Cup front-runner, Rick Pearson is one of four Mark Fish entrants and currently lies sixth in the overall drivers standings.

"The series is fantastic," he says. "The cars are much, much better than the average one make saloon. We've got sequential gear box's and cars that were built specifically for racing on a specialised production line. Renault work very hard to keep costs down with limited testing, limited tyres, sealed engines and sealed gearboxes. They've made a very fair series, a very rewarding series - the cars reward a good driver. They're not easy to drive by any means but if you've got a little bit of something, you can set yourself apart from all the others."

Crowd figures have been estimated at 30,000 per meeting. This is complemented by extensive media coverage of the Clio Cup, including a scheduled three hours and twenty minutes of televised coverage per season (ten rounds screened at twenty minutes per round on terrestrial television, Channel Four).

{TB} Car Specifications -

Engine: Sealed 180+ bhp, 16 valve, 2.0 litre.

Dry Sump lubrication.

Multi-plate competition clutch

Sealed Magneti Marelli ignition system.

Orbisound race exhaust with catalytic converter

Gearbox: Sealed 6-speed sequential gearbox developed by Sadev.

Body Shell: Fitted with FIA approved roll cage.

Maxi roof spoiler.

Suspension: Increased front and rear track.

Sealed adjustable front and rear shock absorbers with adjustable front spring platforms.

Uprated fixed rate coil springs front and rear.

Stiffer front and rear anti-roll bars.

Wheels And Tyres: 17 inch race alloy wheels.

Slick and wet weather Michelin tyres.

Brakes: Uprated brakes with increased cooling.

Mandatory brake pads.

Cockpit-adjustable brake bias.

Safety Equipment: FIA approved fire extinguisher system

FIA approved seat harness.

Weight: Approx 950kg