AFTER months of designing, planning, building and developing the state-of-art Golf 8 GTI racing car, the Volkswagen Motorsport team reaped the rewards.
When South Africa’s Global Touring Series finally got under way at the Red Star Raceway near Delmas, the team claimed the top two positions: first and second in race one, first and third in race two, and another second position in race three.
The performance was good enough to see Daniel Rowe declared overall winner on the day.
The car was conceived following Volkswagen’s decision to replace the trustworthy Jettas after winning both the 2019 GTC championships for drivers and manufacturers.
“There’s a strong relationship between what we race and what we sell as a company,” head of Volkswagen Motorsport, Mike Rowe, said.
He said Volkswagen is the leading passenger vehicle brand in South Africa, and the success of the Golf over the years had been a massive contributor.
“The arrival of the Golf 8 later this year will be a significant moment for the company, and to tie in with that we made it our objective to compete with a new Golf 8 and win in SA’s premier circuit racing formula.”
