TCR: Racing premiere of Volkswagen Golf at Red Bull Ring
The all-new Volkswagen Golf race car, prepared in accordance with the TCR regulations, will have its racing premiere this weekend at the Red Bull Ring. Liqui Moly Team Engstler will enter the competition with two cars in 8th round of TCR International Series.
The development of the Volkswagen Golf TCR, a production-based touring car with 330 hp, front-wheel drive and six-speed DSG gearbox, had begun long before the TCR season started but Frank Engstler and his team were forced to use other cars at the same platform – Audi TT and Seat Leon Cup Racer.
Now, the first racing car based on the seventh generation Golf has been finished and Volkwagen’s intention is that racing with the new car serve as a kind of the test for the potential customer racing programme from the 2016 season onwards.
“The newly created TCR category provides a promising platform for customer racing – on a national and international level. With exciting races, production-based technology and reasonable costs, it offers a new outlook for private racing teams. When developing the Golf-based concept car, we are able to fall back on the resources at Volkswagen. This reduces both development time and costs. We will also use the rest of the season to test the car under competitive conditions and evaluate a possible customer racing project from 2016,” said Volkswagen Motorsport Director Jost Capito.
Visually, the racing genes are clear to see on the Golf developed by Volkswagen Motorsport: 18-inch racing rims, a chassis roughly 40 centimeters wider than that of the production Golf, and a striking rear wing give the Golf a “ready-to-race” look and first-class handling. An aerodynamically designed front splitter and carbon rear wing are also among the modifications for the racetrack. Among the components designed to protect the driver are a racing seat with head protectors, a racing safety cell, and a safety tank in accordance with FIA regulations.
A powerful four-cylinder engine, DSG gearbox with shift paddles mounted on the steering wheel, a consistently developed racing chassis – even under the bonnet, the new Golf has been meticulously prepared for its outings at the racetrack. Volkswagen Motorsport is developing the car in cooperation with the sport department at SEAT, meaning it can call on SEAT’s experience with the Leon Cup Racer.
As with the Volkswagen Group’s production vehicles, the MQB platform also offers many synergies for racing cars and reduces the cost of assembling and running the touring car. The two-litre turbo engine with direct fuel injection comes from the top sporting model, the Golf R. The racing version of this engine generates 330 hp (243 kW) and 410 Nm of torque.
