A father and son have been arrested for fraud after claiming the previous-generation Renault Megane RS they binned at a track day had been stolen. The ploy worked for over a year, as the crash occurred at the Circuito del Jarama near Madrid, Spain, in January 2022.
The names of the father and son have yet to be revealed (due to Spanish law), but according to the Provincial Judicial Police Brigade, the car belonged to the father and was insured under his name. After the crash, they claimed the vehicle was stolen in Langreo, roughly 275 miles northeast of Madrid.
As mentioned, the ploy initially worked, and the father received a payout of €12,000, roughly $12,750. That amount was more than enough to buy a suitable replacement.
The car was never found, giving the impression that it had indeed been stolen. However, the police picked up inconsistencies in the original statement. An investigation was launched, according to Europa Press Asturias, and the police eventually found footage of the accident on the Jamara Circuit's cameras. Following that, it was easy to track down other people who were at the track that day, and soon the police had various recordings of the incident. They may have gotten away with it in the '90s, but there's a lesson in here. If you attend a track day without the necessary insurance, remember that everyone has a high-definition camera in their pocket these days.
This is a case of somebody reaching into their bag of talent and finding nothing but mothballs. The car is nowhere near the racing line, and when the back steps out, the driver fails to correct the car, and it collides solidly with the barriers before rolling.
Thankfully, Renault has a long history of making extremely safe cars. The first-ever car to receive a five-star rating from Euro NCAP was a Renault Laguna in 2001.
According to the police, the car was sold for parts to third parties to remove the evidence. This likely netted the father and son a healthy profit, as the second-generation Megane RS was quite popular in Europe. For many years, it was considered the only real rival to the famous Honda Civic Type R. The Megane RS will soon be dead, and Renault will use the name for a crossover EV instead. All is not lost, however.
All performance cars will now fall under the Alpine banner, and the USA will finally get access to these brilliant French cars. If you get your hands on the track-ready Alpine A110R, ensure you have the right insurance before taking it on track.
