Dan Ricciardo could be special Renault Megane RS auctioneer

Australian Formula 1 star Daniel Ricciardo could be banging the gavel when Renault Australia auctions off one very special record-busting Renault Megane RS early next year.

As we’ve reported previously, just one example of the 30 limited-edition Renault Megane RS Trophy-R Record Editions built to celebrate the recent Nurburgring front-wheel drive production car set back in April has been secured for Australia.

The Renault Megane RS Trophy-R Record Edition is even more extreme than the $74,990 Trophy-R, of which 500 have been built and 12 made available to Australia at a price of $74,990 each (plus ORCs).

They’ve already been snapped up, with six of them going to customers in Western Australia.

They start arriving in early 2020, but the single left-hand drive Record Edition, fitted with Australian-developed Carbon Revolution carbon-fibre wheels and ceramic brakes won’t turn up until later in the first quarter of 2020. In other words, around Melbourne Formula 1 Grand Prix time.

Which is where Renault F1 driver Ricciardo potentially comes in.

“Speaking very broadly and from a concept point only, it would be amazing if we could do an event coinciding with the Formula 1 in March,” explained Renault Australia corporate communications manager Alison van den Dungen.

“That would be a very clear fit for how to tie Daniel Ricciardo to the Renault passenger brand.

“It’s all still under development, but we definitely want to do something special.”

Renault hasn’t confirmed Ricciardo’s involvement yet. The time he has available is limited by contracts and he may choose to dial back his commitments in Melbourne given the hard time he had at Albert Park in 2019.

Either way, the auction will go ahead and the expectation is it could raise $90,000 or more, potentially for charity.

Meanwhile, Renault Australia looks certain to dramatically ramp up its presence in the carsales TCR Australia hot hatch touring car race series in 2020.

It will announce a significantly boosted deal with Garry Rogers Motorsport and has plans to promote its involvement through substantial activations at each event.

GRM currently races two Renault Megane RS hot hatches in the TCR series with James Moffat and Chris Pither steering.

It has confirmed an order for a third car from Swiss-based Vukovic Motorsport, which homologates the Megane RS for TCR.

Renault dipped a toe in the water with GRM from August 2019 and has decided to use TCR as the central focus of its promotion of the Megane RS going forward. Australia is one of Renaultsport’s biggest markets globally.

“TCR is the ultimate platform for us to engage with the passionate RS fan base,” said van den Dungen.

Pop-up displays, track days, incentive programs for dealers, their staff and customers and promotions will all be built around TCR.

A promotional plan that substantial would not only make Renault the biggest automotive player in TCR, but would likely top anything Ford and Holden does in Supercars.