Renault arguably has one of the most robust factory racing
programs. But this latest competition machine isn't being made in-house. It's
being made by Prodrive, one of the most prominent independent racing car
constructors in the business.
When BMW wanted to put Mini back in rallying, it
contracted (you guessed it) Prodrive to build the car. The automaker ended up
pulling the plug, and more recently Prodrive reworked it for the Global
Rallycross Championship. Now the British consultancy is returning to the
rallycross scene with the vehicle you see here. Only this time it's on a bigger
stage, and was commissioned by the driver, not the automaker.
That driver is Guerlain Chicherit, a former skiing
champion who has since turned to off-road motorsports. You may remember the
Frenchman's epic backflip stunt in a rally-prepped Mini Countryman, but he's
also won the FIA Cross Country Rally World Cup and competed numerous times in
the Dakar Rally.
Now he's embarking on a full-time entry in the FIA
World Rallycross Championship. He'll be driving this new Renault Mégane RX in
the top Supercars class at a few races later this season before (hopefully)
undertaking the full calendar in 2018 – all under his own team dubbed GCK.
He'll have some stiff competition to contend with,
though, as Audi has increased its involvement with Mattias Ekstrom's team,
Petter Solberg will be keen to regain the championship, and a growing field of
challengers aim to upset them all.
