Scirocco R-Cup invite turns into wins for Rene Rast

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Scirocco R-Cup invite turns into wins for Rene Rast Posted: 19 Sep 2010 02:14 PM PDT Gallery after the jump! Rene Rast jumps in with guest invite and wins Round 6 in the Volkswagen Scirocco R-Cup from Oschersleben. The 911 GT3 Cup car may have 175hp more than the Scirocco R but Rene Rast made great use of the push-to-pass boost of 50hp to win. On top of the top Scirocco drivers, the field was stacked with the likes of Frank Biela and Marco Werner. Kris Heidorn leads Jann-Hendrik Ubben in the points race followed by Maciek Steinhof. USA’s Timmy Megenbier sits 10th in the Championship. Captivating overtaking manoeuvres, three Le Mans champions in the sprint race and a winner who has the potential to become a future legend – the seventh round of the eco-friendly Scirocco R-Cup offered premium entertainment to the spectators at Volkswagen’s home race at the Motorsport Arena Oschersleben. René Rast, who in recognition of his Porsche Supercup victory received the guest run in the Scirocco as a gift from Volkswagen Motorsport Direktor Kris Nissen, fought a duel across the whole distance (14 laps of 3.696 km each) with the overall leader Kris Heidorn (Germany). At the finish line the blue front of Rast’s vehicle had a razor-thin advantage after superb counters by Heidorn. Directly behind them Stefano Proetto (Germany) and Maciek Steinhof from Poland fought a tough but fair battle in the near-275-hp bio natural gas Scirocco (80 per cent less CO2 emissions) which the latter decided in his favour with a third-place finish. Now with a score of 244 points, he continues to stay on the heels of front runner Heidorn (268 points). Jann-Hendrik Ubben is third overall with 217 points. Thanks to the push-to-pass function which enables the drivers to use a power boost of 50 hp the large crowd of Volkswagen employees who had travelled to the circuit from Wolfsburg also saw numerous duels and spectacular overtaking manoeuvres at the rear of the field. The Legends classification was decided by the Australian David Brabham in seventh place, ahead of Marco Werner (10th) and Frank Biela (12th) – the three of them combined have an impressive track record of nine overall victories at the Le Mans 24-hour endurance classic. The Legends classification was completed by this year’s Dakar motorcycle winner Cyril Despres from France who finished his first car race in 24th place. Kris Nissen, Volkswagen Motorsport Director: “The push-to-pass button again ensured spectacular overtaking manoeuvres. I’m very proud of René Rast, who normally drives a car with rear-wheel drive and showed a strong performance with the front-wheel-drive Scirocco. But Heidorn, Proetto and Steinhof as well delivered a fantastic race. I’m sure we’ll be meeting these gentlemen at the very top of various series in the next few years again. What we’ve noticed is that our legends are having an increasingly difficult time. I think we’ll have to allow them to test more in future.” #52 – Marco Werner (2005, 2006, 2007 Le Mans winner) Qualifying: 11th place – race 10th: “According to the motto ‘put the pedal to the metal and have fun’ – obviously because it’s a bio natural gas car – I truly enjoyed the race. In the end I didn’t make quite enough use of the push-to-pass system, which caused me to lose contact with the front. Still, I’m pleased. I wanted to make it into the top ten – and I did. Whether push-to-pass would be suitable for Le Mans? On the straight I’d like to have that sometimes, but it probably wouldn’t be easy to implement.” #6 – Frank Biela (2000, 2001, 2002, 2006, 2007 Le Mans winner) Qualifying: 18th place – race 12th: ”Like at Hockenheim I was pretty pleased with the race at Oschersleben as well, every time it was better than in practice and qualifying. You can tell that the young drivers and permanent entrants clearly improve during the course of the season and make progress – and that it makes it quite a bit more difficult for drivers like us. But that’s the way it should be. It’s great that there are such thrilling races and everyone is fair on the track nevertheless.” #60 – René Rast (Steyerberg) Qualifying: 1st place – race 1st: ”I was a little slow at the start, so Heidorn surprised me. After the qualifying I didn’t think that it would be such a tough and tight race. I’d like to again thank the Volkswagen team and Kris Nissen: the guest run was a great surprise gift. When I was informed about it was clear for me that I’d want to win that race.” #4 – Kris Heidorn (Wunstorf) Qualifying: 2nd place – race 2nd: ”I won the start and obviously was pleased by it. When René struck back I left him pass because he doesn’t get any points. It was a nice fight and I’m extremely pleased with the result. The main thing was that I left Maciek Steinhof behind me.” #20 – Maciek Steinhof (Poland) Qualifying: 5th place – race 3rd: ”A podium finish after starting from fifth on the grid is a nice exploit for me. Unfortunately, like at Brands Hatch, I again made two mistakes. Once I was really lucky to get back onto the track again from the grass at full speed. For the next races the same as usual will count: full concentration, scoring many points – and maximum attack. Ubben, Heidorn and I now have the best chances for the title.” - Volkswagen Motorsport Subscribe to the comments for this post? Share this on del.icio.us Digg this! 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Volkswagen’s Carlos Sainz and Lucas Cruz win the 2010 Silk Way Rally Posted: 19 Sep 2010 08:47 AM PDT Gallery after the jump! The biggest challenge for Volkswagen at the Silk Way Rally was themselves. The 4th place competitor was over 6 hours back in the end. However, the teams and new Race Touareg 3 were under some heavy race conditions and we even saw Giniel de Villiers flip and retire. The organizers put together a great course that included wide open straights, letting the 310hp TDI stretch its legs and deep water crossings. This marks the 4th win for the Carlos Sainz and Lucas Cruz team. Volkswagen celebrated a one-two-three win at the Silk Way Rally through Russia: on the new Race Touareg 3’s competitive debut Carlos Sainz and Lucas Cruz (E/E) triumphed in front of their team colleagues Nasser Al-Attiyah/Timo Gottschalk (Q/D) and Mark Miller/Ralph Pitchford (USA/ZA) in predecessor models. The tough and demanding rally that led from St. Petersburg on the Baltic Sea to the Olympic city of Sochi on the Black Sea served as the team’s preparation for the 2011 Dakar Rally. The penultimate day saw a high-ranking visitor: Vladimir Putin, the Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, visited the Volkswagen team, had the squad show him the bivouac and “Dakar” winner Carlos Sainz explain the Volkswagen Race Touareg 3 to him. Putin expressed enthusiasm afterwards. Click here for gallery The new Race Touareg 3, which is powered by a highly efficient 310-hp TDI diesel engine, marked the next step in Volkswagen’s technical development for the Dakar Rally. Updated aerodynamics with improved air routing on the one hand and evolutions of the chassis and powertrain on the other are aimed at providing the basis for the third consecutive “Dakar” victory. In Russia the new components were subjected to in-depth testing on the new Race Touareg 3. The eight legs of the Silk Way Rally through the Volga Delta, the Kalmykian desert and the big Caucasus were a test in competitive conditions. On the quick gravel sections with long flat-out passages and stretches with small dunes both the technology and the drivers were taken to the limits. Another important aspect was to train the interaction with the co-drivers for the cross-country classic in January: some of the legs were up to 700 kilometres long. With their fourth victory in their fourth joint race the 2010 “Dakar” winners, Carlos Sainz and Lucas Cruz, continued the success story of the Race Touareg. The cross-country rally prototype has clinched a total of 14 overall victories and 42 podium places in 29 rally runs since 2004. 121 out of 225 possible stage wins and 120 leading days complement the successful track record of Volkswagen’s “Dakar” programme. At the 2010 Silk Way Rally Volkswagen celebrated eight out of eight possible stage wins and was leading the event on all eight days. The incident involving Giniel de Villiers and co-driver Dirk von Zitzewitz showed how difficult the “Dakar” dress rehearsal was. The South African-German duo opened the course on the fifth day of the rally when it hit a transverse rut at a blind spot and rolled over. Thanks to the high-level safety equipment of the Race Touareg the driver and the co-driver sustained no injuries but had to retire from the event due to a damaged cooling system. Click here for gallery Kris Nissen (Volkswagen Motorsport Director) “The decision to contest the Silk Way Rally as a Dakar Rally dress rehearsal paid off in every minute. For the new Race Touareg 3 it was the final endurance test for our run in January 2011 and it proved to work perfectly. For the entire squad it was important to internalise the processes and procedures again. And last but not least it was a big challenge for the drivers and co-drivers and the perfect opportunity to gel with each other. All in all, we can be more than pleased.” #100 – Carlos Sainz (E), 1st place overall “The Silk Way Rally was a real acid test for the Dakar Rally and a successful one at that. Our aim was to gain as much experience as possible with the new Race Touareg 3 and its new components. The route with the long special stages with difficult dune passages and hot days was virtually tailor-made for this purpose. We can take a lot of positive things home from Russia, primarily the knowledge that the Race Touareg 3 is a reliable and quick car. That’s encouraging for the ‘Dakar.’” #100 – Lucas Cruz (E), co-driver “The Silk Way Rally was at times tougher for the co-drivers than the Dakar Rally. There were countless branch-offs and directional changes in quick succession. Finding the right way was often a tough job. In addition, the Silk Way Rally gave us the first opportunity to test the stricter rules regarding the way points. This, too, was a good test for the ‘Dakar’. #101 – Giniel de Villiers (ZA), retirement “We’ve got to take the positive things home from the Silk Way Rally although the disappointment about our retirement predominates. My co-driver Dirk von Zitzewitz and I were very pleased with our performance up to this unfortunate incident and we were leading the rally. But the accident also showed that in cross-country rally events the race can be over within just a few seconds.” #101 – Dirk von Zitzewitz (D), co-driver “I’m impressed with what the organisers of the Silk Way Rally came up with this year. The route was a lot more demanding than last year. That was both a challenge and good fun. Up to our accident things had been going well for us. The crash itself was a mishap of the kind that is always possible in this type of sport. I’m also impressed with the solid team performance of all the Race Touareg crews. Being so close in terms of performance provides a positive feeling for the ‘Dakar.’” #102 – Nasser Al-Attiyah (Q), 2nd place overall “I experienced a lot of positive things at this rally, and learned a lot as well. In the dunes I made a big mistake and lost a lot of time in the battle for victory – this won’t happen to me again like this. In many respects the Silk Way Rally was a good test for the ‘Dakar’, also with respect to the teamwork with my co-driver Timo Gottschalk.” #102 – Timo Gottschalk (D), co-driver “This rally was extremely demanding – for the material as well as for us drivers and co-drivers. We started early each day. The road-books were loaded with information and thus meant a lot of work. This also took us to our physical performance limits with respect to concentration. I think everyone is exhausted – this also shows us what shape we’ll need to be in for the Dakar Rally.” #104 – Mark Miller (USA), 3rd place overall “At our personal ‘Dakar’ dress rehearsal we were struggling with some minor problems. There were two or three ‘Dakar‘-like legs. The teamwork between the driver and co-driver is complex. After the long ‘Dakar’ break Ralph Pitchford and I had a hard time finding our rhythm and were only working in perfect harmony towards the end. After the rally we’ll continue to work together on being able to deliver top performance at the ‘Dakar’ from the very first minute.” #104 – Ralph Pitchford (ZA), co-driver “The terrain at the Silk Way Rally was absolutely fascinating and challenging. It was a huge step compared with last year. The terrain was very varied and demanded the full amount of driving and navigational skills. The support by the local people was good as well. All in all it was a great event and a good decision to run here.” Click here for gallery Tentative final results Standings after leg 08, Maykop (RUS)–Sochi (RUS); 16/375 km SS8/total Pos. Team, Vehicle, Leg 08, Total time 1 Carlos Sainz/Lucas Cruz (E/E), Volkswagen Race Touareg 3, 19m 23s (4), 19h 42m 02s 2 Nasser Al-Attiyah/Timo Gottschalk (Q/D), Volkswagen Race Touareg 2, 16m 34s (1), + 8m 27s 3 Mark Miller/Ralph Pitchford (USA/ZA), Volkswagen Race Touareg 2, 17m 44s (2), + 40m 22s 4 Matthias Kahle/Thomas Schünemann (D/D), SMG Buggy, 22m 33s (8), + 6h 50m 09s 5 Binyamin Dzhepaev/Alexey Kuzmich (RUS/RUS), UAZ Pickup, 23m 27s (11), + 7h 12m 26s 6 Frédéric Chavigny/Jean Brucy (F/F), Nissan Pathfinder, 21m 26s (7), + 7h 12m 48s 7 Alexander Mironenko/Sergey Lebedev (RUS/RUS), Nissan Frontier, 3h 00m 00s (28), + 7h 28m 46s 8 Benediktas Vanagas/Saulius Jurgelenas (LT/LT), OSC Oscar, 19m 55s (5), + 9h 01m 13s 9 Alexey Berkut/Konstantin Mescheryakov (RUS/RUS), Mitsubishi Pajero, 17m 53s (3), + 9h 14m 53s 10 Raz Heymann/Hillel Segal (IL/IL), Mitsubishi Pajero, 24m 46s (15), + 9h 31m 12s Subscribe to the comments for this post? Share this on del.icio.us Digg this! 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