Volkswagen Motorsport Newsletter 02/2017



VLN Endurance Championship Nürburgring
Golf GTI wins TCR class on the Nordschleife

Benjamin Leuchter and Andreas Gülden drove the Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR to victory in the TCR class at the VLN Endurance Championship Nürburgring season-opener. The two German drivers from the Cologne-based Volkswagen customer team Mathilda Racing claimed the win on the Nordschleife in the 350 HP Golf, finishing ahead of Matthias Wasel/Marcus Löhnert/Artur Goroyan (D/D/RUS, Audi RS3 LMS TCR) after just over four hours. Leuchter and Gülden outperformed a number of more powerful cars with the race version of the Golf and secured an impressive 31st place out of 139 in the overall standings. “The Golf GTI ran perfectly, which makes driving fun,” said Leuchter. “We’ll get back to working on the car now and we are looking forward to the next race.”





FIA World Rallycross Championship
Solberg and Kristoffersson testing Volkswagen Polo GTI Supercar at the Estering

Full throttle for the start of the season: last week, Petter Solberg (N) and Johan Kristoffersson (S) tested the new Volkswagen Polo GTI Supercar in Buxtehude (D). Both drivers were in action for one-and-a-half days with the 570 HP Polo as preparation for the start of the FIA World Rallycross Championship (WRX) in Barcelona (31/03–02/04). After completing practise starts, the team PSRX worked with Volkswagen Motorsport technicians on testing a range of set-up variations. The Estering, just outside Hamburg, will host the eleventh WRX race at the end of September. A total of twelve world championship events are scheduled for the 2017 season.



FIA Formula 3 European Championship
Volkswagen youngsters start season preparation with test in Hungary

The young Volkswagen drivers started preparations for the new FIA Formula 3 European Championship season with two days of testing in Hungary. Established drivers such as Joel Eriksson (S, Motopark), 2016 rookie champion with Volkswagen, were joined at the Hungaroring by numerous youngsters starting out on their first full Formula 3 European Championship season. These included the 17-year-old British driver Lando Norris from Team Carlin, who recorded the fastest lap on the Formula 1 circuit on the first day of testing, powered by an engine from Wolfsburg. Two further test days are scheduled on 28th and 29th March at the Red Bull Ring in Austria, before the lights go green to start Europe's most important youth series at Silverstone (14th–16th April).

 


Engen Volkswagen Cup South Africa
Robertson and La Reservee triumph at the Killarney Raceway

Devin Robertson (ZA) and Shaun La Reservee (ZA) were the winners of the first races in the 2017 Engen Volkswagen Cup South Africa. Robertson won the first race at the Killarney Raceway (ZA), finishing ahead of La Reservee and Juan Gerber (ZA) after twelve laps. In the second race, La Reservee crossed the line first in his Volkswagen Polo, followed by Clinton Bezuidenhout (ZA) and Tasmin Pepper (ZA). Robertson finished this race in eighth place. The next races are scheduled for 22th April in Kyalami (ZA).





Global Touring Cars South Africa
Two class wins for Volkswagen driver Masters

Keagan Masters (ZA, Volkswagen Golf GTI) won both races in the GTC-2 class at the Global Touring Cars South Africa (GTC) season-opener. Trevor Bland (Volkswagen Golf 7 GTI) claimed second place at the Killarney Raceway (ZA). Best-placed Volkswagen driver in the first GTC class race was Mathew Hodges (ZA, Volkswagen Jetta) in fourth place, while Masters – also in fourth place – was this ranking’s best Volkswagen driver in race two. BMW driver Gennaro Bonafede (ZA) claimed both wins in the GTC class.



 

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