Fast and furious in the land of the Rising Sun !

The Japanese are known to enjoy a challenge. So it came as no surprise that eight leading car magazines and websites were eager to take on the "Renault Sport Circuit Challenge 2016". First of all, each editor-in-chief had to choose a professional driver to pair up with. The crews locked horns on the Sodegaura race track in early October.

Driving Lutecia – the name under which Clio is marketed in Japan – Trophy and Mégane R.S. 273, the journalists and the drivers set lap times, which were then combined to establish the leaderboard. Up against teams from Tipo, Engine and Genroq magazines, the representatives of Car Graphics set the fastest times !

Two weeks later, Tetsuya Yamano – the three-time GT300 champion chosen by Car Graphics – was invited to take part in the final. On the Fuji Speedway, he crossed swords with Laurent Hurgon, the Renault Sport development driver !

On a wet but drying track, the drivers needed all their skills to keep their machines under control ! Tetsuya Yamano set the fastest time on a single lap, but Laurent Hurgon was the overall winner of the challenge when their two timed laps were combined. We’ll see what happens in next year’s return match !