Since it has joined the ESET MMSR international championship back in 2015, the Renault Twingo Cup series has become a very popular part of the central European circuit racing scene.
The Twingo Cup has several advantages over other series – a packed starting grid, close battles and very low costs. That all makes this Cup series a perfect place for rookies to enter the world of circuit racing.
“Joining Twingo Cup was one of the best decision I’ve ever made. It was there where I learnt about perfect driving on circuits. It is necessary to drive very cleanly because the engine doesn’t have much power. That makes it a perfect training ground for the rookies. Racing there is also cheap, but at the same time it’s a good fun with plenty of hard but fair battles,” said Pirmin Weixler, the 2016 Twingo Cup champion.
Back in 2015, it was Boštjan Avbelj who won the first Twingo Cup championship. A Slovenian driver and a winner of the FormulaStar talent competition. Weixler won a year later before Mattia Lodi took the title last year. In 2018 it was a long battle until the last race and it was Tomaž Trček who has become the fourth ever Twingo Cup champion. For this accomplishment, the ESET MMSR organisers have awarded Twingo Cup a travelling trophy LUKY L21 for the biggest contribution within the ESET MMSR.
There were 27 drivers in total this year, who have made the championship a great spectacle for the fans. Drivers especially enjoy how cheap the series is in comparison to other. One complete race weekend, including renting a car and a full service, costs only 2,000 EUR. And the ESET MMSR is not the only championship featuring Renault Twingo cars. In Italy, there is a Gruppo Peroni Race series and in Slovenia, there are 4-hour long endurance races.
All Twingo Cup winners have used the experience they have gained in the series to add more success in other and higher series. Pirmin Weixler, for example, added a championship title in Cruze Cup and this year he won in the Mazda MX 5 Turbo Cup.
“Considering my limited amount of experience in 2016, I think I could not even imagine a better and more cost-effective championship than Twingo Cup. It’s a perfect place for a young rookie. There are also great organisers behind it who are always open to new proposals and ideas. In the upcoming season, I want to support and put together a team for German racing drivers in the Twingo Cup. In sprints and in 4-hour endurance races,” added Weixler.
Next year, the Twingo Cup will have its 5th season as a part of ESET MMSR championship. Drivers will race in five racing weekends, each featuring two 25-minute long Sprint races. The season will begin in the middle of April at Hungaroring, followed by Red Bull Ring the following month. In July the series moves to Grobnik, Croatia. Slovakia Ring then hosts a race in August, before the final race of the season at the beginning of October at Hungaroring again.
