Volkswagen newsletter 2009-06-07

ATS Formula 3 Cup
Victories for Dusseldorp and Vanthoor

Resounding success for Volkswagen at the third round of the ATS Formula 3 Cup at Hockenheim: With Stef Dusseldorp (NL) and Laurens Vanthoor (B) coming first, drivers of Dallara Volkswagen cars were victorious in both races. In the first race pole sitter Rafael Suzuki, also "powered by Volkswagen", was struck by major misfortune and retired after a collision. Dusseldorp and Vanthoor benefited from the incident and clinched an uncontested one-two victory for Van Amersfoort Racing. In the second race Vanthoor defended his leading position from start to finish, while Dusseldorp came third and Suzuki fourth. In the overall standings Vanthoor (51 points) and Dusseldorp (44 points) rank at the top with a comfortable advantage over their closest rivals.

British Formula 3 Championship
Ricciardo defends lead in the standings - Wickens on podium

Daniel Ricciardo defended his lead in the standings at the fourth race weekend of the British Formula 3 Championship at Hockenheim. At the series' only visit on German soil this year the Australian in his Dallara-Volkswagen took places four and eight. Ricciardo, who has won as many as three races this season, continues leading the overall standings with a dominant 89-point advantage. Robert Wickens, like his team-mate at the wheel of a Dallara-Volkswagen of the Carlin Motorsport team, immediately clinched a podium place in his first race of the 2009 British Formula 3 Championship.

ADAC Formula Masters powered by Volkswagen
Daniel Abt takes overall lead

In the first race of the ADAC Formula Masters powered by Volkswagen Klaus Bachler added further fuel to the suspense in the junior series by clinching his second win of the season. The 18-year-old Austrian from the champion team URD Rennsport won at Hockenheim in front of Burkhard Maring (D) and Rene Binder (A). At the second round Daniel Abt (D) was triumphant for as much as the fourth time this season, in front of Bachler and Adrian Campfield (GB). The gaps between the front runners in the standings are extremely narrow after eight rounds. Abt is leading with 112 points ahead of Campfield (105) and Bachler (101).

Porsche Supercup
Volkswagen Junior Rast is runner-up for the third time

Volkswagen Junior Rene Rast mounted the podium for the third time in the current Porsche Supercup season, at its fifth round. The reigning champion of the Porsche Carrera Cup from Steyerberg finished the race at Istanbul as the runner-up. Rast had clinched second place at the races at Bahrain and Monaco as well. Overall, Rast is now ranking in sixth place. The gap to third place is just seven points.

Swedish Touring Car Championship
Ekblom achieves points finish with Biogas-Scirocco

Frederik Ekblom (S) achieved an eighth-place finish at the third race weekend of the Swedish Touring Car Championship (STCC) at Goteborg and scored points for the first time in the biogas-powered Volkswagen Scirocco. In the second race the Swede came tenth and thus barely missed a points finish. His team-mate and compatriot Patrik Olsson occupied places 15 and eleven in the innovative Volkswagen.

Swedish Junior Touring Car Championship
Olsson celebrates podium position

Niclas Olsson (S) finished the first of two races of the Swedish Junior Touring Car Championship (JTCC) at Goteborg as the runner-up. His compatriot Christoffer Graff - like Olsson at the wheel of a Golf - scored points as well with a fifth-place finish. In the second round the Volkswagen trio of Olsson, Marcus Jansson (S) and Graff took places six to eight. In the JTCC standings Graff (33 points) holds the split first place; Olsson is fourth with 28 points on his tally.

Volkswagen Polo Cup South Africa
Weyers dominates at East London

Kosie Weyers is the big winner of the fourth race weekend of the Volkswagen Polo Cup South Africa at East London. In both races the 27-year-old was the first to cross the finish line. After the first round Devin Robertson and Brennon Green joined him on the podium. In the second race all drivers benefited from the fact that pole sitter Bryan Morgan was unable to start due to a technical problem. Weyers was victorious again, while Mathew Hodges and Miguel Pasqualli came behind him, celebrating positions two and three.

Formula Volkswagen South Africa
Auby and Orr triumph

Formula Volkswagen South Africa offered turbulent motorsport in the first of two races at East London. Shortly after the start Simon Moss and Gordon Connelly collided. Moss retired while Connelly continued the race only to have a run-in with Christiano Morgado shortly afterwards. The stewards red-flagged the race. After it was re-started Jimmy Auby won with a commanding twelve-second lead in front of series rookie Tschops Sipuka and Paulo da Cunha. The winner of the second round was Wesleigh Orr. Christiano Morgado and Jayde Kruger took places two and three.

Volkswagen Endurance Cup the Netherlands
Team "KingCap Racing" wins third round

The third race weekend of the Volkswagen Endurance Cup the Netherlands was dominated by the "KingCap Racing" team. The driver duo Robin Vogel and Henk Maassen van den Brink won the 3-hour race on 5 June and finished the 1-hour race on 7 June in third place. These results translate into first place overall. The "Accord Uitzendbureau" team with drivers Robbert Vlaanderen and Michael Koel finished as the overall runners-up. Third place was occupied by the "Peter Kommer Autosport" team. The lead in the overall standings was taken by Accord Uitzendbureau with 150 points ahead of Peter Kommer Autosport with 145 points.

Volkswagen Scirocco Cup China
New one-make cup unveiled in Beijing

The Volkswagen Scirocco Cup China was presented in Beijing on 2 June. The Chinese one-make cup will have its inaugural race in the middle of 2009 and continues Volkswagen's one-make cup tradition with maximum equality of opportunities. Centrally fielded Scirocco cars developed by Volkswagen Motorsport will be used in China. 30 of the 200-hp touring cars with 2.0-litre TSI engines were built as a small series for fielding in six races in China. The rounds will be held between July and November at the circuits of Beijing, Shanghai and Guangdong. The season opener is scheduled for 26 July in conjunction with the Chinese Touring Car Championship at the Shanghai International Circuit.

Formula 3 Masters at Zandvoort (NL)
Volkswagen provides nine contenders in the Formula 3 highlight

A total of nine drivers "powered by Volkswagen" will compete at the "Masters of Formula 3" at Zandvoort (NL) from 12 to 14 June. The best drivers from the European Formula 3 series will meet at this tradition-steeped event. From the Formula 3 Euro Series the Volkswagen drivers Jean Karl Vernay, Mika Maki, Tiago Geronimi (all from Signature) and Jake Rosenzweig (Carlin Motorsport) will be running in the race, Daniel Ricciardo, Max Chilton and Henry Arundel (all from Carlin) come from the British Formula 3 Championship. Laurens Vanthoor (ATS Formula 3 Cup) and Samuele Buttareli complete the squad. All nine drivers compete in Dallara racing cars powered by the 210-hp two-litre engine from Volkswagen.

Coming up next...

13 --14 June
Formula 3 Masters at Zandvoort (NL)

13 --14 June
5th and 6th round, Volkswagen Racing Cup at Knockhill (GB)

-credit: vw