- Golf GTI TCR: First podiums in WTCR, successful debuts in Japan and Australia
- Polo GTI R5: Princen wins in Belgium, Gilbert second on the Côte d‘Azur
- Golf GTI TCR: Successful dress rehearsal for “Girls only” team on the Nordschleife
WTCR – FIA World Touring Car Cup
Leuchter and Kristoffersson on the podium for the first time in Zandvoort
The Volkswagen drivers enjoyed a successful weekend on the Dutch North Sea coast: Benjamin Leuchter (D) and Johan Kristoffersson (S) claimed the first podiums of the season for Volkswagen Motorsport and the Sébastien Loeb Racing team with a second and a third place at round four of the WTCR – FIA World Touring Car Cup in Zandvoort.
“All in all, we had a good weekend – one the entire team worked very hard for,” said Volkswagen Motorsport Director Sven Smeets. “Johan, in particular, had an extremely impressive race weekend, with a third, fourth and seventh place. Things are improving all the time and we are looking forward to the round at the Nürburgring.”
The signs were there as early as the first qualifying session that the four Golf GTI TCR would be a force to be reckoned with at the circuit in the dunes: Leuchter was sixth fastest, Kristoffersson seventh. The Swedish WTCR rookie went on to finish fourth in the race – his best result to that point in the World Touring Car Cup. In race two, which featured a reverse grid, Leuchter was embroiled in an exciting battle with pole-sitter Esteban Guerrieri (RA, Honda). However, the German eventually had to settle for second place. The rookie celebrated his first WTCR podium exuberantly, as did third-placed Kristoffersson.
Mehdi Bennani (MA) and Rob Huff (GB) also scored valuable points in Zandvoort. Bennani produced an impressive performance in race two to finish sixth and claim his best result of the season so far. Huff’s weekend did not go entirely to plan after fine displays at the previous rounds in Hungary and Slovakia: Tenth place in race three was the best result of the weekend for the 2012 world touring car champion. The WTCR returns to action on 21 and 22 June with Volkswagen’s home round on the Nürburgring-Nordschleife.
TCR Australia
Jason Bright makes history down under
Victory for the Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR in the inaugural race of the new TCR Australia series: Jason Bright (AUS) of the Taskforce team won the opening race at Sydney Motorsport Park. The experienced 46-year-old touring car specialist started from second place. He wasted little time in overtaking pole-sitter Tony D’Alberto (AUS, Honda) at the start and successfully defended his lead through to the finish.
Bright did not make such a great start in race two. Running fourth, he did put the leading trio under pressure, but narrowly missed out on his second podium by just 0.4 seconds. Race three treated the spectators to more fantastic overtaking manoeuvres. Aaron Cameron (AUS), who started in the Golf GTI TCR for the Melbourne Performance team, benefitted from a time penalty awarded to Nathan Morcom (AUS, Hyundai), which saw him promoted to fourth. A further two Volkswagen drivers finished in the top ten, in the form of Bright in seventh and Alexandra Whitley (AUS) in in tenth place.
Belgian Rally Championship
Third win of the season for Kris Princen in the Polo GTI R5
In the Belgian Rally Championship, the duo of Kris Princen und Bram Eelbode (B/B) from the BMA Autosport team remain on course for success. The reigning Belgian rally champions won the Sezoensrally in the Dutch province of North Limburg to claim their third victory of the season. Right from the start, things ran like clockwork for the Belgian pair: Princen won the first six special stages of his first gravel rally in the Polo GTI R5, opening up a comfortable lead over Cedric Chérain and Xavier Portier (B/B) in another Polo GTI R5. They suffered a puncture later in the rally, which dropped them back down the field, and eventually finished fifth. Princen managed his lead superbly, setting the fastest time on eight of the 15 special stages to end the rally 12.2 seconds clear of second-placed Vincent Verschueren and Gert Broekaert (B/B, Skoda).
“The rout was very tricky and the asphalt was damp under the trees in places,” said a victorious Princen at the finish. “The decision to go for soft slicks was spot on and the car felt perfect. Our third win of the season has given us the lead in the championship – I hope we can defend it at the next round in Ypres,” said the delighted Polo driver. After five of nine rallies, Princen tops the overall standings with 30 points, level on points with Chérain. Next up in the Belgian Rally Championship is the Renties Ypres Rally on 28 and 29 June.
French Rally Championship
Second place for Quentin Gilbert at the Rally Antibes
Quentin Gilbert and his co-driver Christopher Guieu (F/F) finished runner-up at round three of the French Rally Championship. This was the third podium of the season for Gilbert and Guieu. The duo in the Polo GTI R5 produced a strong performance throughout the 13 special stages at the Rally Antibes on the Côte d’Azur. William Wagner and Kévin Millet (B/F) finished fourth in another Polo GTI R5 after 211.7 kilometres against the clock.
Anthony Fotia and Didier Sirugue (F/F) in the third Polo GTI R5 were well placed until stage nine. However, the duo were forced to retire from the rally after a crash. Gilbert moved ahead of fellow Volkswagen driver Nicolas Ciamin (F) into second place in the French Rally Championship, which is held on asphalt. Next up is the Rally Vosges. The fourth round of the season will take place on 15 and 16 June.
TCR Japan
Successful debut for the Golf GTI TCR in the Far East
Volkswagen claimed a podium in the opening round of the new TCR Japan series: Takeshi Matsumoto (J) from the Wakayama team finished third in the Golf GTI TCR in race two of the weekend at the Autopolis circuit in the south of Japan. Starting from sixth on the grid, the Japanese driver produced some fine overtaking manoeuvres to climb into third place. The Volkswagen drivers were also in the points in race one. Shogo Mitsuyama (J) finished fourth. Matsumoto, who was embroiled in a thrilling battle with Audi driver “Yoshiki” (J) in the opening laps, was fifth. The next round of TCR Japan will take place on 22 and 23 June in Sugo.
TCR Germany
Mitchell Cheah wins the Rookie Challenge in a Golf GTI TCR
Mitchell Cheah produced a strong display in TCR Germany: The 21-year-old Malaysian driver from the Oettinger Volkswagen team finished eighth in race one of the second round of the season, which was held in Most, Czech Republic. Despite failing to finish race two, this proved sufficient for him to take first place in the Rookie Challenge. Cheah, who started from 13th place in his Golf GTI TCR, made up five places at the start and held on to eighth place through to the finish. Team-mate Maurits Sandberg (NL) finished tenth in race one to score one point towards the championship.
TCR Eastern Europe
Second place for Jáchym Galáš in Spielberg
Podium for Volkswagen driver Jáchym Galáš in TCR Eastern Europe. The Hungarian from the GT2 Motorsport team finished runner-up in his Golf GTI TCR in race one at the Red Bull Ring. Galáš benefitted from a battle for the lead, which resulted in Czech driver Tomas Pekar (Renault) receiving a drive-through penalty and dropping back into fourth place. Another Volkswagen driver was in the points in Spielberg, in the form of Maciej Laszkiewicz (PL), who finished seventh in both races.
Qualifying for the Nürburgring 24 Hours
Successful dress rehearsal for “Girls only”
The “Girls only” team finished third in the SP3T class with their Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR in the qualifying race for the ADAC 24h Race at the Nürburgring (20 to 23 June). After second place in the first qualifying session, Jasmin Preisig (CH) and Ronja Assmann
(D) were initially hampered in the race by an unscheduled pit stop. The all-woman pit crew managed to change the chassis during the race, after which the drivers embarked on a spectacular fightback to end the race in third place. Team principal Nicole Willems was satisfied with the result, praising the strong team performance and referring to the qualifying weekend as a “successful dress rehearsal” for the 24-hour race in June.
