Volkswagen Motorsport has put on its best race face and unveiled its latest Global Touring Cars contender, making the switch from Jetta to Golf.
Volkswagen Motorsport’s new GTC racing car is built using the Golf 8 GTI body.
“For the past four years we have been racing with the Jetta. Since the Jetta is no longer offered in right-hand drive markets, we had to find an appropriate successor and that is where the idea to use the Golf 8 GTI came from,” says Martina Biene, Head of the Volkswagen Brand.
“Even though the Golf 8 GTI will only be officially launched and available from South African dealers in 2021, we wanted to use this opportunity to showcase the Golf 8 GTI’s performance attributes ahead of the local market introduction.”
Global Touring Cars (GTC), which launched in South Africa in 2016, is the premier motorsport championship in South Africa and includes the main GTC Championship (GTC1) as well as the second-tier class, GTC2.
Volkswagen Motorsport will compete in the two Golf 8 GTIs in GTC1. They will be driven by 2019 GTC champion Keagan Masters and Daniel Rowe, the 2016 GTC2 champion.
Volkswagen Motorsport will also be represented in the SupaCup, which replaces GTC2, by 2016 Driver Search winner and 2017 Polo Cup Rookie winner, Jonathan Mogotsi. Mogotsi will be racing the SupaCup Polo, which is a newly developed car for the second tier class within the GTC Championship. The new car is an exciting addition to South African motorsport and produces more than 200 kW coupled to a locally developed 6-speed M-Trac Sequential Gearbox.
In the GTC series all vehicles have to adhere to strict control measures which feature a common chassis, running gear, a single ECU to control performance, tyres, suspension and other components.
“New features in the Golf 8 GTI racing car include an all-new chrome moly tubular chassis which is much stiffer and lighter than the previous generation GTC car,” said Mike Rowe, head of Volkswagen Motorsport.
“Even with five manufacturers competing in the GTC series, it is one of the most premier circuit racing series in Africa due to its competitive nature. It is a tough championship to win, so consistent scoring of points at every round is very important,” added Rowe.
“Due to the Covid-19 pandemic we have not been permitted to race and as the Motorsport fraternity we are all hoping that by August, we can get the cars on the track, although it will most likely to be without any spectators,” concluded Rowe.
The start of the official 2020 South African Motorsport circuit racing season is still unconfirmed, but it is hoped that motorsport events can resume in August 2020 and the first round will likely start at Zwartkops Raceway in Johannesburg.
