Renault 4 Racing

Robert Races Lucie

Tension builds for the first Renault 4 race of the day. Robert and Lucie prepare to line up.

It's a competitive race and both Racers are using tactics from the Wackey Races.

Lucie leans over at the start line and asks the marshal to give her a push off the line, immediately qualifying her for runner up in the Slow Car races.

Robert lines up. He too has been devious. He's removed his rear seat and spare wheel to save weight and applied some tape to the A-pillars to reduce drag.

He's even optimised his tyres for the event. Rather than running racing slicks, Robert has opted for (sticky) snow tyres.

And they're off. Robert has a good start and powers the Renault across the finish line at just over 60mph. His is the best Renault 4 time of the day (around 21 seconds).

But it was all too much for Rosalie the Renault. Her gearbox mount broke with all the effort and she had to sit out the rest of the racing.

Just for run we compared Robert's fastest run of the day with his best run last year. Despite breaking the 60mph barrier he was actually 2 hundredths of a second slower this time around.

Renault 4 vs Renault 5

Another Renault 4. It's my turn to race and I'm up against a Renault 5 with a massive 1.4 litre engine.

I'm caught napping on the start line and the Renault 5 takes an early lead. In the end none of the Renault 4's 34 hoursepower turn out to be interested in catching the Renault 5.

I crossed the line just 3 seconds after the R5.

Lucie gets her own back

With Robert's retirement I'm up against Lucie.

Lucie gets off to a good start, but I'm not far behind. With a good gearchange I draw nearly level, and the two Renault 4s travel down the dragstrip with Lucie just a nose ahead.

It's the closest drag race I've ever seen, but Lucie engaged her supercharger and won by just 0.2 seconds.