Vuković Motorsport will bring the Renault brand to World Touring Cars for the first time in 2020 after committing to contesting the FIA World Touring Car Cup season with British racer Jack Young.
Vuković Motorsport has been developing the Mégane TCR since 2017, and the Swiss company entered the majority of rounds of TCR Europe in 2019, including fielding Young in the penultimate round at Barcelona.
Young impressed, securing a brace of fourth place finishes and the car’s best results of the season, landing him a drive with the team for 2020.
The Northern Irishman is just 18-years-old, making him one of the youngest driver’s on this year’s grid.
“From the beginning of our project it was our target to compete in the WTCR,” said Milenko Vuković, Team Owner. “Because of the pandemic and the fewer race weekends that are all here in Europe, it made sense for us to go to WTCR this season.
“We want to consistently deliver good results throughout the whole season. We know the competition in the WTCR is very high, but our whole team has worked very hard to stay competitive.
“We are very excited to bring the Renault brand to the WTCR − FIA World Touring Car Cup for the first time.
“Jack proved last year that he can fight with the frontrunners with our car. Since last year he is our official driver and did all the development testing with our current specification Mégane RS TCR.”
Young, the 2019 Renault UK Clio Cup champion, admits that his ascendancy to the pinnacle of touring car racing has come faster than he had expected.
“I’m 18 and I was initially focused on TCR Europe,” said Young. “But when Renault stepped forward with a plan for WTCR I didn’t need to think twice.
“But I feel no pressure and I know that this will be a fantastic learning experience. I just want to go in there, push, push, push and see how far I can get.
“Everything has just developed so quickly from winning the Clio Cup in the UK to driving a TCR car in Barcelona. That was a fabulous experience and I was really happy to show the potential in the Renault.
“The plan then was for a full season in TCR Europe this year. But circumstances prevented that, obviously.
“However, when one door closes, another opens and suddenly the possibility to step up to WTCR with the new Renault from Vuković Motorsport came along, I jumped at the chance.”
Young admits that his experience in the highly competitive TCR Europe season last year has given him extra confidence for this year’s shortened, Europe-only WTCR calendar.
“We went to Barcelona to develop the car basically but we managed to pull two great results out of that, two fourths.
“That was very good and turned a lot of heads and also gave me a lot of confidence going into this year because, in Barcelona, I was racing against some very experienced drivers. It has given me a lot of confidence for this season.
“Age won’t be a factor on the start line. I’ve been racing against people who are much older than me for my whole career so I’m used to being the ‘new kid’.
“I realise that I’m on a steep learning curve but I’ve shown that I can learn quickly.”