How Did ClioSport Start?
Back in early 2000 Jason Thomas (Jas) had a website with some basic information on his pride & joy, which was a Clio 16v.
He noticed it got a fair number of hits, and added a forum to the website in early October 2000. Back then there was a large 16v scene, and an upcoming 172 scene, with the release of the Mk1 172. The forum got more and more popular and the site got to a point where it was costing noticeable cash to keep it running. The forum members at that time agreed they were happy to pay towards the running of the site, an after some lengthy persuasion from Nick Read, Jas eventually wore down and agreed that he and Nick would set up a Club around the website.
The plan went into action, a small admin team were persuaded to help, and on the 3rd/4th November, the club officially opened its doors at a Hill Power Open Day, where about 20 members were signed up (using a variety of arm-twisting techniques!) – the sign up fee at the time was £2, and you got a Carnoisseur brochure with a voucher in it as well!
Steadily the member numbers increased, and within 8 months the number of club members was amazing. In the first 2 and a half years ClioSport had 2,000 members.
ClioSport has gone from strength to strength since then, and has turned out to be far more than just a car club.
In 2014 the club started its own annual national event with ClioSport Saturday, and this has continued ever since, eventually evolving into the larger weekend track event ClioSport Festival.
Even though the production of Renaultsport versions of the Clio have ceased in recent years, the club and forum still continues to be both a hugely valuable information resource and a thriving and close knit social community. Many owners have moved on to other makes and models of car, but them and their families still continue to be part of this great community.
Here’s hoping its success continues for a long time to come!
Back in early 2000 Jason Thomas (Jas) had a website with some basic information on his pride & joy, which was a Clio 16v.
He noticed it got a fair number of hits, and added a forum to the website in early October 2000. Back then there was a large 16v scene, and an upcoming 172 scene, with the release of the Mk1 172. The forum got more and more popular and the site got to a point where it was costing noticeable cash to keep it running. The forum members at that time agreed they were happy to pay towards the running of the site, an after some lengthy persuasion from Nick Read, Jas eventually wore down and agreed that he and Nick would set up a Club around the website.
The plan went into action, a small admin team were persuaded to help, and on the 3rd/4th November, the club officially opened its doors at a Hill Power Open Day, where about 20 members were signed up (using a variety of arm-twisting techniques!) – the sign up fee at the time was £2, and you got a Carnoisseur brochure with a voucher in it as well!
Steadily the member numbers increased, and within 8 months the number of club members was amazing. In the first 2 and a half years ClioSport had 2,000 members.
ClioSport has gone from strength to strength since then, and has turned out to be far more than just a car club.
In 2014 the club started its own annual national event with ClioSport Saturday, and this has continued ever since, eventually evolving into the larger weekend track event ClioSport Festival.
Even though the production of Renaultsport versions of the Clio have ceased in recent years, the club and forum still continues to be both a hugely valuable information resource and a thriving and close knit social community. Many owners have moved on to other makes and models of car, but them and their families still continue to be part of this great community.
Here’s hoping its success continues for a long time to come!
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