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If Oscar Nogues was one of the most
successful men in Renault Clio racing, in
2014 the 36-year-old Catalan driver
quickly became an undisputed number
one. Being the Clio Cup Italia and
Eurocup Clio Champion, Nogues not only
managed to understand the new car on
every type of track, but also drove the
wheels off it, beating his rivals on-track.
And his desire for more wins is
unstoppable.
It's been one great year, what are your
first feelings?
"For me, 2014 has been a sensational
year both in the Italian series and in the
Eurocup. In particular, the Clio Cup Italia
was a great surprise because I didn't
expect the level of drivers to be so high.
Instead, there were at least four drivers
constantly fighting with each other. The
start hasn't been easy with the new car,
that needed to be adapted and set-up
perfection. But then, once ok with that,
with a set-up I liked, we were really
fast".
So, great results apart, it's been a
positive balance for the Italian Series...
"Yes of course, it's a great
championship. In the end, with Iacone,
we were pushing really hard, and I also
managed to do the same in the European
championship. This is an additional proof
that, when at the top of the game, the
level of the Italian series was close to the
Eurocup mainly thanks to Iacone, Pedalà
and Puccetti".
How did you merge with the new car?
"The new one is really different from the
older. The obvious thing is having turbo
engines, but the chassis also makes a
great difference. I like it a lot, and like
all the race cars from Renault, its
performance is extremely consistent.
You can rely on them".
Was it difficult to adapt to a
turbocharged engine?
"Actually, not. I started to race
with a Seat Leon Supercopa which was
also turbo, and the general feeling with
the new Clio has been great straight
away. It was tougher to adapt to the
older one, because while with the turbo
is not really needed to push the revs
so high, with the naturally aspirated