Sébastien Carron celebrates successful debut in the Polo GTI R5
At the Rallye du Chablais in Valais, Switzerland, Sébastien Carron and his co-driver Lucien Revaz (CH/CH) were in a class of their own in the Polo GTI R5. Three-time Swiss rally champion Carron drove the best time in eleven of 14 special stages, finishing with a 1:20.9-minute advantage over second-placed Jérémie Toedtli and Alexandre Chioso (CH/F, Škoda).
41-year-old Carron, who had already finished his rally career last year, explained the rationale behind his successful debut in the Polo GTI R5: “I just like the stages here. Two years ago, I even managed to battle with Sébastien Loeb for victory. And with the Volkswagen Polo GTI R5, you just realise that this is a completely new R5 car.” The next round of the Swiss Rally Championship will be the Rally Valli Ossolane (I) on 22 June.
FIA Codasur Rally Championship
Polo GTI R5 sets the benchmark at the Rally Erechim
The Polo GTI R5 has also been successful overseas: Gustavo Saba (PY) and co-driver Fernando Mussano (ARG) won the Brazilian Rally Erechim. The duo drove the best time in five of twelve special stages at the third round of the South American FIA Codasur Rally Championship, crossing the finish line with a lead of 18.6 seconds over Diego Dominguez Sr. and Hector Nunez (PY/PY, Hyundai) after 156.92 classified kilometres.
Rally veteran Saba, who has already won the rally four times and is a six-time champion of the South American Rally Championship, maintains a chance of winning another title with this victory. The FIA CODASUR continues on 23 August with the Bolivian Rally de Santa Cruz, before the season finale in Uruguay follows at the end of November.
Chinese Touring Car Championship (CTCC)
Two victories for the Volkswagen Lamando in Shanghai
A strong weekend for Volkswagen drivers in the Far East: at the second round of the Chinese Touring Car Championship (CTCC), guest driver Rob Huff (GB) won the first race at the Shanghai International Circuit. In the new Volkswagen Lamando GTS, Huff set the fastest time in qualifying over his team-mate Rodolfo Avila (MAC) and Zhang Zhendong (CN) of the SAIC Volkswagen 333 Racing team. Since the first race was started with a reversed grid, Huff had plenty of work to do. The Briton, who in addition to his main commitments in the WTCR – FIA World Touring Car Cup is also competing at four events in China in 2019, fought from ninth through to the front of the field, after which he did not give up the lead.
The second race was also dominated by the Volkswagen drivers: Huff started from pole, followed by Avila and Zhang. All three defended their positions, before Huff let past his team-mates (who are fighting for the title in the overall standings). Avila won in front of Zhang and Huff. In addition to the Volkswagen podium lockout, Zhang Zhendong took the lead in the championship, in which the 2016 CTCC champion now has an advantage of twelve points. The CTCC continues at the Shanghai Tianma Circuit on 22 and 23 June.
TCR Scandinavia
Andreas Ahlberg celebrates maiden victory in the Golf GTI TC R
Andreas Ahlberg (S) from the Micke Kågered Racing team took an emphatic victory in the Golf GTI TCR at the second round of the TCR Scandinavia in the Swedish Anderstorp. In the second race, the Swede, who started in third-place, passed pole-sitter Jessica Bäckman (S, Hyundai) in the first lap of the race. As a result, he was able to continuously push on from the rest of field and achieved a much-celebrated victory. In the first race, Ahlberg had finished sixth.
For the 29-year-old, it was already the second podium finish this year after the second place at the season opener in Knutstorp. After his first ever victory in TCR Scandinavia, Ahlberg is now in second place overall, just one point behind Robert Dahlgren (S, Cupra). The third race of the TCR Scandinavia will be held in Skellefteå on 14 and 15 June.
Super Taikyu
Podium for Volkswagen team Adenau
The Golf GTI TCR has once again proven its endurance qualities. At the 24-hour race in Fuji (J), the third round of the Super Taikyu, the Adenau team with Philippe Devesa (F), Shogo Mitsuyama (J), Jake Parsons (AUS) and Juichi Wakisaka (J) drove to second place in the TCR class after 728 laps. In the overall rankings of the endurance race, the international driver quartet took a strong seventh place. It was the best ever result for the Adenau team and the Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR in the Super Taikyu, which continues with the 4th round in Autopolis (J) on 20 and 21 July.
GTI Treffen at Wörthersee 2019
Strong line-up for the Golf GTI TCR in Reifnitz
At the Wörthersee Treffen, from 29 May to 1 June, thousands of fans and vehicles came together in the spirit of three magical letters. The 38th edition was once again an event of superlatives: the automobile festival in Reifnitz (A) is the largest GTI event in the world – and Volkswagen Motorsport lined up with a suitably strong showing. The 250 kW (340 PS) touring car racer from Volkswagen Motorsport, put to use in the FIA World Touring Car Cup (WTCR) and in other international TCR series, thrilled the crowds in Wörthersee together with the standard Golf GTI TCR with 213 kW (290 PS). In addition, the event starred two people for whom the GTI is an integral part of their motorsport careers: Benny Leuchter (D), driver in the FIA WTCR, and Jasmin Preisig (CH), participant in the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring in the ‘Girls only’ GTI TCR team. The two Volkswagen brand ambassadors shared their passion for the Golf GTI right up close with the fans during a ‘Motorsport Talk’ on the stage.
In 2019, Volkswagen apprentices also presented at Wörthersee some show-cars they had designed and built themselves. The Wolfsburg team exhibited the Golf GTI Aurora concept car worth 279 kW (380 PS) with integrated motorsport components. With the support of Volkswagen Motorsport, among other things a TCR rear spoiler (as used in the touring car racing series) was installed.
GTI Treffen
Electric and virtual: the ID.R proves a crowd magnet
Premiere for the ID. family at Wörthersee: for the first time ever, the Volkswagen fans were able to experience the brand’s fully electric-powered racing car in the flesh in Austria. And not just as an exhibition, but also virtually as well: the RaceRoom racing simulator even made it possible to drive a hot lap on the tarmac of the 20.8-kilometre Nürburgring Nordschleife – before racer Romain Dumas will attempt to break the Nordschleife record for electric vehicles in reality. Chasing down the time on-screen is also possible from home: gamers can compete with Dumas at until 24 October. Around 8,000 players from all over the world have participated so far. The competition runs until October.
