“MEMORABLE” SEASON PREDICTED AS RENAULT UK CLIO CUP ANNOUNCES QUALITY GRID FOR 2018 - RNW | RacingNewsWorldwide.com | Your latest racing news
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“MEMORABLE” SEASON PREDICTED AS RENAULT UK CLIO CUP ANNOUNCES QUALITY GRID FOR 2018

“MEMORABLE” SEASON PREDICTED AS RENAULT UK CLIO CUP ANNOUNCES QUALITY GRID FOR 2018
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The Renault UK Clio Cup has today revealed a highly competitive entry list of teams and drivers who will contest the championship in 2018 when its races are once more broadcast live on ITV4.

Eighteen drivers have so far registered for the 2018 season in which they will again be armed with identical racing versions of the potent Clio Renault Sport 220 Trophy.

Each of its 18 rounds (races) will take place at the British Touring Car Championship’s high profile events – guaranteeing it huge trackside crowds (38,500 on average in 2017) as well as live coverage on free-to-air television (ITV4 and ITV4 HD) and on-line (ITV.com).

A real feather in the Clio Cup’s cap this year is the fact that its 2015 title winner Ashley Sutton goes into the season as the reigning BTCC Champion. Last year’s winner Mike Bushell has also graduated to the BTCC to join many more past Clio Cup greats already there.

The question now is whose name will join theirs on the coveted Clio Cup Champion’s Trophy in 2018? The entry list announced during today’s annual Media Day launch (at Silverstone) features five drivers to have already won races in the championship, including three-time Champion Paul Rivett who is part of a six-strong WDE Motorsport team.

His team-mates include proven race winner Lee Pattison, Dan Zelos (the holder of the fastest race lap in Clio Cup history – set at Thruxton last year), the highly determined Sam Osborne and Nicolas Hamilton and newcomer Nathan Edwards.

Meanwhile Team Pyro, which has won six of the last eight drivers’ titles and also last year held on to its Entrants Trophy crown, is fielding five cars. Max Coates, another with race wins to his name, and 2017 front-runner Daniel Rowbottom join exciting teenage talents Jack McCarthy, Bradley Burns and Zak Fulk in its line-up.

Westbourne Motorsport will run two cars – for 2011 runner-up James Colburn and, twice a winner in his debut season last year, James Dorlin respectively – while the rapid Brett Lidsey represents the increasingly competitive MRM squad.

And there’s a new team to watch for – Matrix Motorsport with four immaculately turned out cars for former BTCC racers Michael Epps and Andy Wilmot, another of 2017’s quick rookies Aaron Thompson, and team boss Jeff Alden.

Also new is a revised points scoring system – for the top 15 finishers only, plus (a la BTCC) a bonus point going to any driver who leads a race – and the Michelin race tyre that is used by the championship. Michelin’s return in 2017 played a part in 14 new qualifying and race lap records being achieved and more are set to tumble this year at it brings in a specially developed slick tyre that uses the very latest construction methods.

The 2018 Renault Clio Cup starts at the famous Brands Hatch circuit in Kent in just over three weeks (Sat 7/Sun 8 April)…

Renault Sport’s UK Motorsport Championship Manager Will Fewkes commented: “The scene is set for a truly memorable season in 2018 – the entries we have received so far are absolutely top class, re-emphasising the UK Clio Cup’s position as Europe’s premier single make saloon car championship.

“We’ve got the cars, the professionalism, the organisation, the racing heritage and a level of technical support that most others can only dream of. And we are part of UK motor sport’s biggest show by far – the BTCC.

“The depth of talent on the grid is also among the most exciting the UK Clio Cup has seen since it first ran in 1992 and which of course has produced so many future stars of the BTCC and also touring car and GT competition both at home and overseas.

“Predicting who will be Champion in 2018 is impossible. But I do predict one of the most unpredictable and exciting seasons in Clio Cup history with many different winners and visitors to the podium – some of them old faces; some new. Roll on Brands Hatch in April!”

Entry List: 2018 Renault UK Clio Cup
No. Driver (NAT)
Hometown, County
Team
2 Nathan Edwards (GBR)*
4 Jack McCarthy (GBR)
5 Lee Pattison (GBR)
6 Bradley Burns* (GBR)
7 James Colburn (GBR)
12 Brett Lidsey (GBR)
16 Daniel Rowbottom (GBR)
19 Jeff Alden (GBR)
21 Andy Wilmott (GBR)
22 Paul Rivett (GBR)
28 Nicolas Hamilton (GBR)
32 James Dorlin (GBR)
34 Zak Fulk (GBR)*
37 Michael Epps (GBR)
41 Aaron Thompson (GBR)
45 Dan Zelos (GBR)
46 Sam Osborne (GBR)
71 Max Coates (GBR)
Tunbridge Wells, Kent
Bromley, Kent
Halifax, West Yorkshire
Farnham, Surrey
Worthing, West Sussex
Northfleet, Kent
Kidderminster, Worcs
Cheltenham, Glos
Dartford, Kent
Epsom Downs, Surrey
Welwyn Garden City, Herts
Barnsley, South Yorkshire
Guildford, Surrey
Hemel Hempstead, Herts
Romford, Essex
Dereham, Norfolk
Worksop, Nottinghamshire
Scorton, North Yorkshire
WDE Motorsport
Team Pyro
WDE Motorsport
Team Pyro
Westbourne Motorsport
MRM
Team Pyro
Matrix Motorsport
Matrix Motorsport
WDE Motorsport
WDE Motorsport
Westbourne Motorsport
Team Pyro
Matrix Motorsport
Matrix Motorsport
WDE Motorsport
WDE Motorsport
Team Pyro

 

* Graduates Cup (for drivers aged 23 & under 1 April 2018 and in their first full UK Clio Cup season)

Ends

Media Contact:
Carl McKellar
Tel: +44 (0)7786 138905
Email: carl.mckellar-extern@renault.co.uk

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