17 December 2023
Spearheading the single-make cups since 1991, the Clio Cup looks ahead to a 2024 season brimming with innovations under the impetus of its new promoter, Signature Group. Drivers and teams can look forward to an ever more promising programme across Europe, with a product renowned for its performance, reliability and affordability.
The Clio Cup has been an ideal springboard since its creation and has continued to confirm its status as a sporting and popular success, revealing talented competitors over the decades. Since the introduction of the fifth-generation Clio Cup, more than a hundred competitors have battled each year, putting on an incredible show throughout the field.
After a spectucular conclusion to the 2023 campaign last month, the Clio Cup now looks ahead to the 2024 edition, where it will capitalise on the experience of Signature Group. Drawing on its expertise acquired in the world of Renault Cups and the rebirth of the Alpine Europa Cup, the new promoter will work hand in hand with Alpine Racing to offer unprecedented opportunities and synergies to the entire paddock.
A new look
The first change will be visual. While the fifth-generation Clio Cup remains at the heart of the action, it will adopt the new, more assertive and elegant styling of its production counterpart. It will be noticeable in a front end that combines technical sophistication with dynamism, an entirely redesigned light signature and taut, precise and effective lines that give the car an even more distinctive character. Like the rally trophies dedicated to Renault Clio, the new look will be available via a body conversion kit, which will be available soon. All Clio Cups produced from next year onwards will feature the restyling.
Maximum action
The Clio Cup has been the scene of some incredibly close and intense battles and will be even more fierce next year. The tighter calendar will feature nine meetings for 18 races on some of Europe’s most prestigious and renowned circuits. These include seven tracks that have hosted Grand Prix races and two iconic tracks with the return of Hockenheim (Germany) and the debut of Portimão (Portugal).
The sporting format will change slightly, with all events counting towards the Clio Cup Europe for the most ambitious protagonists. Meanwhile, the regional groups – Clio Cup España, Clio Cup France, Clio Cup Italia and Clio Cup Mid-Europe – will now all consist of five rounds (ten races).
With calendars carefully devised and matched to ensure ever more competitive grids, each meeting will continue to award points separately – with competitors only eligible in a maximum of two series. However, another new feature will be the disappearance of joker races, as all results will now establish the final general classifications.
New categories for greater clarity
Always extremely competitive, the internal classifications will also be revamped to offer greater clarity to participants and observers, as there will be three classes with the Juniors Cup, the Challengers Cup and the Gentlemen Cup.
The Juniors Cup will be open for drivers born in 2001 or later who have never won a Clio Cup title. At the same time, the Gentlemen Cup will be for competitors born before 1979 who haven’t won in the last ten years or finished in the top three of Clio Cup Europe or a similar discipline. Lastly, the new format of the Challengers Cup will be open to competitors born between 1979 and 2000 who have not achieved convincing success in the Clio Cup or similar categories.
The three categories will benefit from a dedicated allocation of points at each race according to the 25-18-15-12-10-8-6-4-2-1 scale.
A unique and fair framework
Always attentive to the prospects and needs of their customers, Alpine Racing competition-customer department and Signature Group, with the support of long-standing partners Castrol, Michelin and Sabelt, will offer fertile ground to all the actors involved in the category, who will continue to benefit from unrivalled support at this level of the pyramid. With the experience of Alpine Racing and the synergies created with Signature, the competitors will continue to compete within strictly identical sporting and technical frameworks to ensure all participants can display their talent in absolute equity.
These are the hallmarks of the best-known single-make cups and will be supplemented by an attractive prize system, with drivers and teams competing for a total prize fund of over €270,000 throughout the season. The future winner of Clio Cup Europe will also win a brand new Clio Cup or three race weekends in the 2025 Alpine Europa Cup season if they wish to climb the GT ladder.
Renault Media | Clio Cup Series
