Renaultsport UK’s Motorsport Championship manager Will Fewkes is confident that the future looks bright for the Renault UK Clio Cup Junior series, despite the planned inaugural running of the championship this season being cancelled last week.
The opening rounds of the championship were due to take place at Thruxton next month (3/4 June), with it believed that around twelve entries has been confirmed for the new series, which caters for drivers aged 14 to 17.
Fewkes told The Checkered Flag that the organising team didn’t feel the category was ready for launch yet, but that they hope to introduce it later this year ahead of a full season in 2018, with some more details to be announced “very shortly”.
“We’re very disappointed to have postponed Clio Cup Junior,” said Fewkes. “It’s a concept that we do really believe in and we feel it is required in the British motorsport market, and it’s something we are looking at introducing at the end of the year to propel it into 2018.
“We just didn’t feel that the championship would have been in the right place to fit our standards at the start of the season. We thrive on our organisational structure and we didn’t feel like the platform was quite ready. We’re thoroughly disappointed for the teams and drivers who have invested in the championship.
“Other countries are already looking at running a Clio Cup Junior series for 2018, so as we created the concept in the first place, it would be disappointing if we weren’t there doing it as well. We’ve made a massive amount of progress in the main Clio Cup and do want to keep driving motorsport forwards.”
