Renault’s Romainian Roadshow

Renault wow the crowds in Bucharest during the Romanian leg of their 2009 Roadshow. Romain Grosjean and Lucas di Grassi drove through the streets of the city, bringing Formula 1 to the people. The R28 was on display in the first demonstration of its kind in the country.

Credit: DPPI

Renault F1 Team completes a spectacular Roadshow in Bucharest

The Renault F1 Team gears up for Bucharest Roadshow

This two-day event is the first of its kind in Romania and will give fans in Bucharest the chance to experience the sight, sound and excitement of Formula One. Both Romain and Lucas will drive last year’s Renault F1 car, the R28, on a specially created 600-metre circuit along Libertatii Boulevard in the city centre on Saturday and Sunday.

The Renault F1 Team will also be present in Pitesti, Romania on Friday 9th of October where Lucas Di Grassi will complete a short demonstration in the R28 as a preview for the activities in Bucharest.

Speaking ahead of this weekend’s event, Romain Grosjean said: “I’m really excited about this Roadshow and looking forward to entertaining the fans with lots of donuts and burnouts. These events are all about bringing the fans close to the cars so they can see things that are not possible at a Grand Prix so I hope that lots of fans will come and watch the show.”

Lucas Di Grassi added: “I always enjoy Renault’s Roadshows and the plans for this weekend sound great. It’s always special to drive a Formula One car on the streets of a city because you are so close to the public and it creates a very special atmosphere in the city.”

ING Renault F1 Team and Fernando Alonso complete a spectacular Roadshow in Oviedo

The venue for this event was the Plaza de América in central Oviedo where a special 1.8km track was created on the city’s streets. Fernando drove his go-kart, several Renault road cars, including a Mégane Sport RS and Mégane Trophy before finally burning rubber in last year’s Renault F1 Car, the R28.

Although Renault has previously held Roadshows in Seville and Madrid, this was the first such event in Oviedo. As the hometown of Fernando Alonso, the occasion held particular sentiment for the Spaniard and the thousands of fans who came to watch the show. Fernando put on a spectacular display which included donuts and burnouts much to the delight of the crowd.

There was also recognition for Fernando from the Mayor of Oviedo, Gabino De Lorenzo, as it was announced that a street in the city is to be named in honour of the double world champion.

At the end of the event, Fernando spoke of his emotions on this special day: “It has been a beautiful day and a dream come true for me. I have to say a big ‘thank you’ to the government of Oviedo and also to Renault for allowing me to have a Roadshow in my home city. Oviedo should be very proud of this event because less than twenty cities have had the opportunity to see a Formula One car on their streets. I was pleased to see so many fans come along and watch the show and I hope that everybody enjoyed the event. I think this was the perfect way to reward my supporters and to show the people of Oviedo the excitement of Formula One.”

Renault – Fernando Alonso looks forward to this weekend’s Oviedo Roadshow

The event will take place in the city centre in front of the Plaza de América on a 1.8km temporary track where Fernando will drive last year’s Renault F1 car, the R28, and various other Renault road cars. The track, which has been specially created, will also include Calle del Conde de Toreno, one of the main highways in Oviedo, offering spectacular viewing opportunities with over 100,000 fans expected to turn out and watch the show.

The Roadshow will get underway at midday on Saturday 5th of September with a series of demonstrations until 1:00pm. Fernando will drive a go-kart, Renault Mégane CC, Mégane Sport RS, Mégane Trophy and finally his Renault F1 Car.
Q&A with Fernando Alonso

Fernando, you will have the chance to drive your F1 car on the streets of your hometown. You must be very excited…
Yes, it will be fantastic and definitely one of the moments of the year for me. It has been one of my dreams to drive my F1 car on the streets where I grew up in front of my family, friends and the people who have always supported me. After the difficult year we have had, it will be nice to experience something different and to celebrate the magic of Formula One. I always enjoy the roadshows, but this one will be extra special.

How many people do you think will come and watch the show?
Difficult to say but I hope as many people as possible as it will be a great day and I’m sure the fans will enjoy it. Hopefully there will be more than 100,000 people but Oviedo is quite small so they will need to come from other cities as well. It will be a nice chance for me to say ‘thank you’ to my fans for their support so I will do my best to put on a great show.

Tell us a bit about Oviedo and what it’s like?
It’s a small industrial town in the north of Spain, but it’s a beautiful area that is very green and fresh as it rains quite often. The people are friendly and most of my family and friends still live there so it’s a very special place for me.

What is your earliest memory of life in Oviedo?
I remember my school days. We lived about a kilometre from my school so I would walk there each morning with my mother or grandmother. My mother and father both worked so I spent a lot of time with my grandmother and my sister and had a very happy childhood. I also remember the times with my school mates as we used to play football and basketball together.

Did you enjoy school?
Yes, I enjoyed my school days as I liked studying and I was always well prepared for exams. I made a lot of friends at school and they remain by best friends today.

Were you in the sports’ teams at school?
Yes, I played a lot of football and I was a goalkeeper – that’s my favourite position as you don’t sweat too much!

Does your family still live in Oviedo and do you get a chance to return there often?
My family still live in Oviedo, although they now live outside the city instead of in the centre. I can’t visit Oviedo as often I would like as I live in Switzerland and I have a busy schedule with all the races and commitments during the season. I try to go back every couple of months for four or five days and I always enjoy this time as much as I can.

Your father was an amateur kart racer – how did he become interested in kart racing?
He managed to build a home-made go-kart with some friends and they enjoyed it so they started racing each other and entered the local championship of Oviedo. Then my dad built a go-kart for my sister when she was seven, but she didn’t like it so my dad put me in the kart. I was only two years old at the time and I enjoyed it so it became my go-kart.

What was that first go-kart like?
Obviously it was very small with a lot of extensions so I could reach the pedals. It was red and white as it was 1984 / 1985 and I think my father was inspired by the McLaren colours when he made the kart. We used to take it to a car park and I would drive laps, but the kart was very slow so my father could walk alongside me.

Did you dad ever race with you?
He did only one race against me when I was ten or eleven years old and he managed to beat me!  But that was his last race because once he had beaten me he didn’t want to race against me anymore!

How difficult was it to follow Formula One in Spain while you were growing up?
It was very difficult and I didn’t really follow Formula One until I was sixteen or seventeen. There was no live television coverage when I was young and we didn’t have the internet coverage like there is today. So I used to watch football – the Spanish League – and that was my main entertainment.

Bridgestone – Jenson Button wows Midlands’ motorists

Formula One Championship leader Jenson Button motored into Birmingham yesterday to launch Bridgestone’s Driving Nation roadshow.

Despite the showers, people from Birmingham, Warwickshire, the Black Country and Coventry turned out in force to welcome the world’s current Formula One Championship leader and catch up with his views on all things motoring.

Bridgestone’s Driving Nation Roadshow got up close and personal with motorists, finding out what pressures they are currently facing on the roads, what is driving them mad about motoring today and what they believe the future holds for motoring in the UK.

Brawn GP’s Jenson Button did a live question and answer session in front of the crowd with Bridgestone Motorsport’s, Andy Stobart. They spoke about how the Driving Nation Roadshow will travel the UK spreading the word about greener motoring and canvas motorists’ views on the pressures of driving today.

Andy Dingley, advertising and promotions manager of Bridgestone said:

“It was fantastic to see so many people from all over the West Midlands turn out to visit Bridgestone’s Driving Nation Roadshow. What better way to kick off our campaign than with the driver who quite simply has kept us glued to our TV sets over the last five months and has truly come into his own over this F1 season.

“Bridgestone was very proud that Jenson could come up to Birmingham to launch the Driving Nation Roadshow.”

Members of the public were asked to share their views on various motoring topics, such as the cost of fuel, the condition of the nation’s roads, traffic congestion and car maintenance; as well as divulge their driving confessions. They also got the chance to test their driving skills against Jenson in the Bridgestone F1 simulator.

As sole tyre supplier to this season’s Formula One Championship, Bridgestone is in a unique position, bridging the gap between the racetrack and the road.

Next stop for the Driving Nation is Weymouth on August 4th.

Renault – Fernando Alonso gets set for Oviedo Roadshow in September

Renault – Driving in Dubai’s winter wonderland

Nelson takes the R28 for a spin on the slopes of Ski Dubai.

When you visit Dubai the last thing you expect to do is go skiing. But travel to the Emirates Shopping Mall and you’ll come across ‘Ski Dubai’, the largest indoor ski resort in the world, complete with real snow. It’s in this unique setting that the ING Renault F1 Team brought its Dubai Roadshow activities to a spectacular climax as Nelson Piquet took his Renault F1 R28 for a spin in the snow.

Having spent the last few days in Dubai’s sweltering heat, the sight of fresh snow and sub-zero temperatures was a welcome relief for Nelson and the team. Entering the snow dome is like opening the door to a giant refrigerator and reveals a replica ski slope that mimics perfectly anything you’d find at the finest Alpine resort. It’s just the sort of thing you expect from Dubai for it seems nothing is impossible here.

The irony of playing in the snow in Dubai is not lost on Nelson as grabs a fistful of snow and starts a snowball fight with his mechanics as the R28 is eased into place at the bottom of the slope. While the mechanics tinker with the car, Nelson decides to explore the venue as he jumps on a nearby snowmobile and zooms to the top of the slope and then inspects the area he will be driving on.

Of course, F1 cars are not designed to be driven on snow and so this demo is ambitious to say the least. To help Nelson meet the challenge, Bridgestone have designed some special snow tyres fitted with tungsten and aluminium studs to give grip on the compacted snow. The car’s plank has also been removed and the ride height raised to prevent the nose digging into the snow or the underside of the chassis from becoming a sledge.

Before Nelson is let loose on the snow a Renault Koleos descends from the top of the slope, demonstrating the effectiveness of its four-wheel drive system. Nelson has no such luxury on his F1 car, not even traction control, and instead has to rely on the brute force of his V8 engine as he unleashes 700 horsepower and sends snow spraying everywhere. A couple of donuts later and Nelson climbs from the car with a beaming smile on his face.

“That was awesome,” says Nelson. “I never thought I would have the chance to drive my Formula 1 car on snow so it was an interesting experience. I wasn’t sure how well it would work as there wasn’t much room, but I managed a couple of donuts and I think the crowd enjoyed it.”

Renault’s Roadshow activities have certainly placed our F1 cars in some unusual settings over the years, but the sight of the R28 power-sliding across the snow is perhaps the most remarkable so far. In the space of a few days the R28 has experienced the extremes of climate: blistering hot desert one day and ice cold snow the next.

It’s something that could only be possible in Dubai and is the perfect way to sign-off a memorable week of activities in this amazing city.

Renault – It’s Showtime in Dubai!

The Renault Roadshow has visited 18 venues over the last seven years, but few locations can be as evocative as this weekend’s spectacular in Downtown Burj Dubai. With a specially-constructed floating platform on the Dubai Mall lagoon and the world’s tallest building as the backdrop, the demonstration of Renault cars drew enormous crowds to witness this unique event.

Of course, the main star of the show was the ING Renault F1 Team and last year’s car, the R28, along with three of the team’s drivers: race driver Nelson Piquet, third driver Romain Grosjean and demo driver Adam Khan.

Between them they completed seven demonstrations, which included the obligatory donuts and burnouts much to the delight of the thousands of fans, many of whom were seeing an F1 car up close for the first time. It was also a chance for the fans to get close to their heroes for a photo or autograph in the relaxed, open paddock.

Being in Dubai wasn’t a new experience for Nelson, Romain or Adam, but driving an F1 car here certainly was. Romain was here earlier this year for some fitness training and both he and Adam raced at Dubai’s autodrome in the GP2 Asia Series last year. However, such is the scale and pace of development in this amazing country that whenever they return they are left even more impressed.

On this occasion it’s the Burj Dubai Tower, the world’s tallest building that captured their interest. “It’s such an impressive feat of engineering,” says Nelson as he cranes his neck to admire all 800 metres of the tower. Sadly there’s no chance to go to the top as it’s still under construction and not due for completion until later this year. “Next time I come back here I’ll try and get to the top,” concludes Nelson.

The spectacular setting is completed by a water fountain display that shoots water 150 metres into the air. You suspect Dubai got the idea for this from Las Vegas as it’s reminiscent of something you’d find at the Bellagio hotel, only on a grander scale. No matter where the inspiration came from, it’s a breathtaking sight and record-breaker in its own right as the tallest water fountain display anywhere in the world!

The F1 car may have stolen the show, but the stunts performed by the other Renault cars required just as much skill. There was stunt driver Terry Grant whose endless donuts raised an enormous cheer from the crowd, as did the pair of Renault Megane Trophy cars. Renault’s road-going fleet was also on stage with the new Koleos, a Clio Sport and a Symbol all sharing the limelight.

As darkness falls, the show continues with spotlights illuminating the platform for the finale. Nelson completes the show in smoky style with a rolling burnout before throwing his gloves into the crowd. The night-time show definitely creates an electric atmosphere with all the camera bulbs flashing and the fountains sparkling in the background. This will surely be remembered as one of the most spectacular Roadshows ever.

The ING Renault F1 Team gears up for the first Roadshow of the year in Dubai