The Twingo made its race debut at the NATC in Oschersleben and won both sprint races. The goal was to learn and bring it home safe. Two wins on top of that was more than we hoped for.
The little green Twingo finally hit the track, and it won twice on its first try.
After more than a year of building, our Renault Twingo prototype made its race debut at the NATC in Oschersleben. We finished the car days before the event, loaded it up not really knowing what to expect, and it went out and won both sprint races.
The plan was never to chase trophies this weekend. It was to learn. We wanted to see how the car behaves under real race conditions, gather clean data, and bring it home in one piece. Coming away with two wins on top of that was more than we hoped for.
We ran three sessions: P1 in Sprint 1, P1 in Sprint 2, and a DNF in the endurance race. We pulled the car in after 22 laps, one short of classification, when we suspected a problem with the steering column. Easy call. We'd rather stop and look than risk the car for a finish that teaches us nothing. The whole point was to get the Twingo home safe and learn as much as possible, and that mindset is what makes us faster long term.
Even as a rough prototype, the car held its own against proper touring cars. For a city car running a concept nobody has raced before, that's a real signal. With the data from this weekend and a winter of work ahead, we think the Twingo can be on Cup-car pace next season.
We already know where to dig in. Over the winter we're going after the braking system (past the current Clio setup), ride height and clearance, a limited-slip diff for traction, the electronics and data side, suspension and chassis stiffness, and a long list of smaller reliability and drivability fixes. A reworked bodykit and a suspension overhaul are coming too, and maybe a sequential gearbox. Every one of these is a known step closer to where we want to be.
The best part of the weekend wasn't on the timing screen though. It was the reaction. Fans, marshals, even rival teams came over, cheered the car on, hung around the paddock for photos afterward. People kept telling us it felt like a breath of fresh air, something different and fun again. That's exactly what we're trying to bring back.
Big thanks to the NATC for an open, welcoming weekend, to the marshals and fans trackside, and to our parts partners Bartek, ATL, and RONAL for backing the build.
First benchmark is set. Now we go to work.
