TARGA: motoring's Targa Renault debuts

When you're about to debut a new race car it's important it looks good. Great graphics and bright colours are a start... And it helps that the car also looks 'racy' – that indefinable quality that some cars have in spades.

Even if it's a gravel rally car, it also should be spotlessly clean.... If it's a track or tarmac car this last quality is non-negotiable.

And the event team at the Renault stand at last weekend's Australian Formula One Grand Prix certainly made sure the Team Renault Sport motoring.com.au Megane RS 265 Targa racer was clean and sparkling on its debut. Every inch of it... Even the tyres... Gulp!

It's nerve-wracking enough driving a car in anger on a track for the first time... Add in a good-sized crowd, little prior knowledge of how the car will behave and slick, slippery ArmorAlled tyres and the pulse rate is likely to go through the roof. The only mitigating factor was that our VIP for the day had been delayed, so at least first up I would be driving solo.

I shouldn't have worried. The Walkinshaw Performance crew were on the ball... As I sat on the dummy grid infield of Turn Two at Albert Park, everything came together. Thanks to Exotic Graphix and its bespoke body wrap, the Megane looked every inch the race car and two cans of brake cleaner and a bag of rags had the Dunlop race rubber almost brand-new again.

Almost: the first couple of laps were akin to having a single shopping trolley castor under the back-end as the Megane went sideways at the slightest provocation. But what a hoot... My grin back in the pits said more than any words written here.

In a fashion, it's following the game plan he executed during his successful stint at MINI Australia. Back then, the Brit/German brand kicked off with two Targa appearances and then, at the factory's urging, imported the MINI Challenge to Australia.

Renault's model range is much wider than MINI’s, but there's no doubt in Hocevar's mind that the Renault Sport brand must play a leading role in attracting buyers to the brand. Expect the RS range to be broadened in the future. Not just Clio and Megane but other models – and perhaps even an intermediate grade (GT) which will deliver handling and appearance benefits with standard under-bonnet mechanicals.

Renault Sport's tilt at Targa will be a two-car effort but there'll be no MINI-style one-make circuit series. Instead, Renault Sport Australia will add its weight to the Australian Rally Championship (http://www.motoring.com.au/news/2013/sports/renault/clio/renault-sport-clio-r3-rally-car-riding-shotgun-35544) and, in the fullness of time, deliver opportunities for a wide range of Aussie to directly experience its products at a number of locations around the country.

We can now reveal those Aussies will include motoring.com.au and carsales network readers -- stay tuned for more news on this in the months to come!

F1 DEBUT?
The Renault Sport motoring.com.au team's F1 GP debut was as part of a Targa-sponsored tarmac rally car 'demonstration'. It was the first time the Targa cars had come to Albert Park and a range of machinery was represented -- everything from Escort RS1800s through to super-rapid Nissan GT-Rs.

Matt Close's world’s-fastest TT-RS Audi was also on hand and fought for the 'most entertaining' label with Greg Garwood's thundering Holden Torana A9X.

Clearly one of the strengths of the Australian Targa Championship is the range of machinery represented. Where else can you see a Lamborghini Gallardo, Volvo 122S, Datsun 240Z and Valiant Charger fight it out over the same course?

We were gifted three sessions at the Albert Park track – each of around four to five laps. Not many, but enough to get a feel for the Team Renault Sport motoring.com.au Megane – at least in its standard trim.

And it's little wonder this car continues to win hot-hatch comparisons. Out of the box with standard engine, suspension and brakes (even fluid and pads), it's fast enough to worry a range of competition cars -- even on a fast, flowing circuit like Albert Park.

Forget the 'front-drive equals understeer' stereotypes you have in your head. Standard, the Megane RS is as neutral as any rear or all-wheel drive counterpart, and with a little throttle-off provocation, it's easy to get the car to point and wag its tail with the best of them. Yes, even after all the ArmorAll is gone!

This was especially the case for one of the Renault ambassadors that sampled the passenger seat of the RS on GP weekend.

Adriano Zumbo might be famous for challenging Masterchef contestants with complex deserts on the popular reality television show, but he gets a tick from us for owning and driving a Megane RS 250 with track-spec suspension -- and no shortage of work under the bonnet. The suggestion is Zumbo's Regie is closer to an RS 330!

We reckon it's a good sign that Adriano reckons that while the Team Renault Sport motoring.com.au Targa car doesn't have the pace of his modified RS in a straight line, it's "miles faster though the corners"...

Perhaps we should get the King of Macarons back in the co-driver's seat in a week or so to benchmark how much faster Team Renault Sport motoring.com.au's Meganes end up.

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