Renault has registered as an official manufacturer of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge for the first time, Eurosport Events, the IRC promoter, is delighted to confirm.

As well as being eligible for IRC manufacturer points, Renault’s Mégane N4 European Challenge will support six rounds of the all-action IRC from next month’s Donnelly Group Circuit of Ireland Rally. The IRC enjoys extensive television coverage on Eurosport.

The IRC’s Commercial Director, Antonello Lodoletti, welcomed Renault’s inclusion as part of the IRC family for the 2012 season. He said: “We are very pleased that such a prestigious and successful marque as Renault has registered as an official IRC manufacturer and selected six rounds of the IRC as the schedule for its exciting Mégane N4 European Challenge. Renault’s involvement in rallying covers several decades and examples of Renault rally cars are in use throughout the world, regularly achieving success with young up-and-coming drivers. We trust Renault will enjoy the same benefits of a partnership with the IRC that our existing manufacturer partners do and we hope this is the start of a successful collaboration.”

Renault Sport Technologies’ Motorsport Director, Rallies, Jean-Pascal Dauce, said: “Renault’s involvement in rallying has always been strong, consistent, and characterised by success. Over the course of the years our presence has altered, and it is now entirely dedicated to customer competition. By choosing the IRC for our Mégane N4 European Challenge series in 2012, we could not dream of a more beautiful playground for our customers. There is nothing better than the competition, challenge and popular support on the IRC to underline the quality and performance of our company and the efficiency of our customer competition engineers.”

Renault joins existing IRC partners Honda, M-Sport, Peugeot, ŠKODA and Subaru. The Mégane N4 European Challenge will be contested over the following IRC events*:

6-7 April: Donnelly Group Circuit of Ireland Rally (asphalt)

9-12 May:Tour de Corse (asphalt)

21-23 June:GEKO Ypres Rally (Belgium, asphalt)

31 August-2 September:Barum Czech Rally Zlín (asphalt)

12-13 October:Rallye Sanremo (Italy, asphalt)

* Venue of sixth event to be confirmed