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Renault celebrates Red Bull partnership with special edition Clio RS

As a Formula One entity, Renault has gone from engine supplier to full manufacturer (having acquired the Benetton team back in 2000) and back to engine supplier (having all but completely divested the team now under the Lotus banner). The French automaker's competition engine works also powers Caterham and Williams this season, but most importantly, the Red Bull Racing team that is returning once again as World Champions. So whereas previous Renaultsport special edition hot hatches celebrated the company's own achievements, the latest celebrates Red Bull's.

Named the Red Bull RB7 edition after last year's car, the special Clio RS packs a 203-horsepower four mounted to the Cup chassis that would otherwise be an option. The body is painted matte black with yellow highlights, a tone-on-tone checkerboard roof, the requisite special badging and 18-inch wheels done up in a black finish and shod with the same Bridgestone rubber that kept the Mégane Trophy glued to the Nürburgring for its lap record.

Inside it's got yellow Recaro buckets and the RS Monitor performance telematics system. The special edition will only be available, however, in France, Belgium, Switzerland, Austria and Spain. Details to be found in the press release after the jump with high-res images in the gallery above.
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Renault Clio R.S. Red Bull Racing RB7: quintessentially sporty

To celebrate its Formula 1 Constructors' world crown with Red Bull Racing in 2011, Renault Sport has released a limited edition version of Clio R.S.: Clio R.S. Red Bull Racing RB7...

• A vehicle dedicated to performance (Cup chassis, 18-inch black Interlagos wheels, R.S. Monitor, etc.), with forceful looks
• Clio R.S. Red Bull Racing RB7 will be marketed in five countries: France, Spain, Switzerland, Belgium and Austria. Order books open on March 14 in France where the car's tax-paid price will be €27,900

"Clio R.S. Red Bull Racing RB7 is a hot hatch combining stunning looks with the very latest features to have been developed by the wizards at Renault Sport Technologies," enthuses Jean-Maxime Boulanger, Clio Renault Sport Product Manager. "Clio R.S. Red Bull Racing RB7 is a dynamic car which will definitely turn heads. It is a tribute to the very close ties that exist between Renault Sport Technologies and Renault Sport F1!"

A powerful design and cutting-edge technologies
Clio R.S. Red Bull Racing RB7, the latest limited-edition version of Clio R.S., capitalises on the basic model's acclaimed strengths, something which is sure not to escape sporting car and motorsport enthusiasts. Its 18-inch black Interlagos wheels are equipped with Bridgestone RE050A tyres, the same as those fitted to Mégane R.S. Trophy which established a new lap record round the Nürburgring's Nordschleife in June 2011. Its Profond Black body colour provides a striking contrast with its Sirius Yellow F1-style blade, door mirror housings and diffuser. Meanwhile, its two-litre 203-horsepower engine has been carefully tuned to deliver more than 100hp per litre! These sporty credentials are echoed by the Renault Sport chequered-pattern roof decal which combines with the Red Bull Racing badging on the doors. These exterior features merely serve to highlight Clio R.S. Red Bull Racing RB7's extreme, powerful stance.

High-end sporty interior appointments
Clio R.S. Red Bull Racing RB7's excellence and aggressive, sporty looks are mirrored by an interior equipment package to match. The list includes automatic climate control, automatic headlight activation, a hands-free card, yellow fabric Recaro bucket seats, a Renault Sport-badged gear lever knob, a personalised numbered plaque and an audio connection box. It also features R.S. Monitor, an electronic on-board driving coach which displays performance-related data – such as 0-100kph times and other information aimed at fine-tuning driving styles – in real time. Clio R.S. Red Bull Racing RB7's exceptional equipment specification is sure to find favour with owners who have a taste for technology and sporty performance.

The car eloquently showcases the transfer of skills between Renault's expertise in Formula 1 (Red Bull Racing, Lotus F1 Team, Caterham F1 Team and Williams F1 Team will all benefit from Renault power in 2012) and the brand's road cars.

Clio R.S. Red Bull Racing RB7 badge is the first limited edition in a series which go on to include Twingo R.S. and Mégane R.S.

Clio R.S. background information
Since its launch in the second half of 2006, Clio R.S. has been made in Dieppe, France, and is today marketed on four continents: Europe, Asia, Africa and Oceania. It was developed by Renault Sport Technologies and has always sought to stand out as a benchmark in hot hatch comparison tests. It is this approach which has led Clio R.S. to be fine-tuned over time thanks to a number of improvements, including the introduction of revised styling in 2009. Its career has been buoyed by the release on all its markets of bespoke limited editions versions like Clio R.S. Ange & Démon, R.S. 20th Anniversaire and the emblematic Gordini R.S.

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