Renault Sport Championships return to Knockhill
Michelin Formula Renault UK Championship and the ELF Renault Clio Cup with Michelin, both prominent support races to the British Touring Car Championship, are to make a welcome return to Knockhill Racing Circuit next year.
The one-make single-seater and saloon-car series are to race at the Dunfermline track on 4th/5th September in support of the BTCC after an absence of four years.
Both series last took to the demanding, 1.3-mile circuit in 2006 when Sebastian Hohenthal and Sam Bird secured the Formula Renault UK honours while Paul Rivett and Tom Onslow-Cole shared the spoils in the Clio Cup.
Race meeting calendar clashes in previous years have meant the two series were not able to compete at Knockhill, instead racing as part of the World Series by Renault event.
Formula Renault UK is widely regarded as the country’s leading single-seater championship, launching the car racing careers of Formula One drivers Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Räikkönen who were respective champions in 2003 and 2000. Next season also sees the introduction of a brand new car featuring a new, lighter chassis, a more powerful engine and for the first time will see drivers using a seven-speed sequential gearbox.
Meanwhile ELF Renault Clio Cup is the UK’s premier one-make saloon-car series which boasts BTCC racers Tom Onslow-Cole and Jonny Adam among its previous competitors.
2002 Clio Cup Vice-Champion Andrew Kirkaldy from nearby St Andrews, who now runs Formula Renault UK team CRS Racing, commented: “It’s good to be returning to the circuit after so long as it’s a great track and is always well attended by the fans which adds to the atmosphere. The circuit has changed a bit since I last raced there in the Clio Cup meaning you can get a good view of the action from virtually anywhere.”
Renault Sport Championship Promoter Simon North commented: “It will have been four years since we were last at Knockhill so we’re very much looking forward to once again racing at the circuit. In the past, Formula Renault UK and Clio Cup have always proved very popular with the Scottish crowds and we hope our return next year will encourage even more fans to come and support the action-packed championships.”
