Photo: Jakob Ebrey

Clio Cup say new TCR UK series a “stepping stone” to BTCC

The championship manager of the Renault Clio Cup UK says he feels the new TCR UK series will become a stepping-stone for drivers looking to move up to the BTCC rather than a competitor to the successful one-make series.

The announcement that the MSA had given TCR the green light to join the UK racing scene led to immediate speculation as to which teams may elect to pursue a programme in 2018.

With TCR bosses saying they expected budgets to be comparable with a number of existing championships – such as the Clio Cup – questions were raised as to whether the grid sizes in some of the leading national series could be affected.

However, Clio Cup championship manager Will Fewkes said he didn’t think TCR would prove to be a direct competitor, and would instead sit at a higher level below the BTCC.

“Anyone is entitled to enter the UK motorsport market if they have the right package and to be honest, I don’t see TCR sitting alongside the Clio Cup – or something like the MINI Challenge – as some seem to think,” he told TouringCarTimes.

“I think it will be a step above as the cars cost significantly more and I think that the running budgets are going to be higher – significantly more than the top end on our grid at the moment. Parts are also more expensive, so I can’t really see it taking too much away from the [Clio] series as we are now as the figures aren’t really comparable.

“What I do think is that drivers who are looking to move up to the BTCC, but who don’t have the budget for a top team, might look at TCR UK as an alternative to help their progression up the motorsport ladder.

“It will give them the chance to race in a competitive car before trying to move up the BTCC rather than trying to make the step up to touring cars with a less competitive team.

“I think it will be interesting to see how the series develops and what they do with it; I wish them the best of luck.”

Fewkes added however that he didn’t believe Renault would be added to the ever-growing list of manufacturers to produce a TCR car, with the French marque having a long history of success running its own one-make series.

“I don’t believe that Renault would go with a TCR programme at present,” he said. “Renault UK and Renault Sport as a whole run very successful one-make championships, like the Clio Cup and Formula Renault, and I think they are happy to continue with that.

“Renault Sport has announcements to come about new projects that are very exciting, but I feel that the customer racing side of the business will remain as it is.”