A Renault Twingo with Nürburgring racing dreams is one step closer to a 2026 reality. Dubbed the “Twingoat,” the Rauh Racing project car received the necessary permits and is now officially eligible to compete. Hurrah!
A crazy idea spawned from a motorcycle trip and a 15-year-old forum post (more on that later) has two brothers feeling vindicated about their silly scheme. With a focus on endurance racing, motorsport outlet Only Endurance broke the news of Project Twingoat’s latest success via Instagram:
The Twingo completed almost 30 laps of the Nordschleife to earn the DPN B Permit, which grants them the ability to enter races at the iconic Eifel venue.
This permit includes online tests, a two-day programme involving theory and practical tests, two hours of rule analysis, and eight guided laps with an instructor.
OE noted that the permits were obtained via an open test event that took place prior to this year’s 24-hour race. The Rauh Racing team has also earned other authorizations, including for National A Racing in Germany and the FIA International D License.
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Who is Rauh Racing, anyway? And how did the Twingo race car come to be? The Germany-based racing outfit is run by brothers Filip and Felix. Who are these madmen? Let Rauh Racing introduce itself:
We’re the team that looks at a Twingo and thinks “yeah, that’ll work on the Nordschleife.”
But that’s just our current madness. We’re here to prove that racing isn’t just about following the GT3 playbook — it’s about taking cars with character and turning them into something unexpected.
In other words, anything can be transformed into a track weapon, ergo Twingo. The duo was on a summer trip when a roadside vision ignited an idea. In an interview with The Drive, the story goes:
“We’re car nuts, but we also ride motorcycles a lot,” Rauh told me. “Last summer, we were on a motorcycle trip to France, headed to the Atlantic coast, and we spotted a Twingo on the road near Bordeaux. That evening, while relaxing at a campground, we started talking about what it would take to race one. We thought it would be super fun. It’s such an iconic car, and it looks super-cute; It looks like the anti-race car,” he added.
And so, a low-mileage 1995 Twingo was purchased for about 1,000 euros. A subcompact “city car,” the Twingo was never sold in the United States. And maybe its adorable coolness factor is a result of the fact that the car wasn’t meant for American soil. It’s not meant for the track, of course, but don’t tell the Rauh bros that.
Under the hood is a tuned 2.0-liter four-cylinder taken from another Renault, a Renaultsport Clio 172. The inspiration? Another car nerd who did it years ago, says Car Throttle:
That particular idea, Filip Rauh jumps in to tell us, came from a 15-year-old forum post of someone swapping that engine into a Twingo. A dive into the rule books revealed that engine swaps were allowed, provided the new power unit comes from the same manufacturer as the car.
As such, the new-to-Twingo engine produces 200 bhp (about 197 hp). It’s capable of more, but the brothers settled on the lower horsepower for added reliability. By the way, the Nürburgring Twingo weighs just 850 kg (1,874 pounds), so, yeah, power is plenty.
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For a project that started in earnest last summer, Rauh Racing has hit significant milestones, and quickly. But a grid spot isn’t a sure thing just yet. The permits and licensing just mean the Twingo can, not that it will. OE details the next steps:
In order to race at the 24 Hours, the team must complete two NLS races before April next year.
With five more events on the 2025 calendar, we could see Rauh Racing in competition before the year is over.
Rauh Racing believes racing is for everyone and shouldn’t be relegated to any exclusive snob club. Luckily, because motorsport isn’t limited to a particular vehicle or number of wheels or even a specific track surface; race fans are everywhere. And with unexpected underdogs like the Twingoat, if you find a race boring, it’s probably because you’re watching the wrong race.
Top graphic images: Rauh Racing
I just realized these remind me of the little spaceship guys on Batteries Not Included…especially the headlights. They are so cute. Never noticed before
The top classes already complain about cars the fans love, like the Opel Manta, the VW Beetle, and the Dacia Logan. The Dacia team are already debating bowing out because they’re tired of getting crashed into (this year by an Aston Martin seemingly) and the Opel is gone. I do think these oddball cars provide the soul of the N24 so anything that provides more people entering odd entries is welcome in my book.
I hope they swapped in proper seats, otherwise they will have to lift those drivers bodily out of the car come the time for the next stint. It sure is a nice little car, but I only rode in one a few times, and my butt remembered every one of them for quite a while.
Hum. Looks like I haven’t bored you enough with the Twin Cup.
It exists since 2011 and it’s incredible.
I have always wanted to import a Twingo, but common sense has prevented me each time. I love the idea and execution of this Twingoat.
The Twingo is such a great car. I’m glad it’s racing.
Very cool! I’ve always thought the Twingo was a neat little car. 200 HP in one would be a riot.
As a person who just completed a 25 hour race myself at Thunderhill last month, and has also done 5 laps in a race prepped Suzuki Swift on the Nurburgring, I gotta salute these guys. Both of these things were very challenging independently. I can’t imagine navigaving the Nordschleife in the middle of the night with much faster cars coming up behind – lots of driving the rear view mirror. I can definitely understand why there are a lot of qualifying requirements to enter.
The N24 sometimes has an…eclectic entry list.
https://www.racecar-engineering.com/articles/sportscar/second-coming-of-nurburgring-fan-favourite-dacia-logan/
Was there any further information on what happened this year? All we got to see was a cloud of dust and an Aston Martin without an engine.
The job of driving an N24 backmarker is not for me. It’s like driving a 2CV in light traffic on the Autobahn. Only you’ve also gotta watch out for GT3s cutting inside your line.
“I’ve got an idea. Let’s enter a 24-hour endurance race with 135 cars on the track, of which 130 are faster than me.”
As the saying goes, ‘To finish first, first you have to finish’!
If we are going to be ridiculous, let’s go all the way and race the Renault Twizy 80. I saw a Twizy in Rome in 2017 and wanted one ever since.
Clunk. 170 = 197?