PUNE: Volkswagen Motorsport India is all set to enter its 10th year in the country. The brand began its journey in Indian motorsport with the premium one make series Polo Cup in 2010.
With a clear ambition to develop young talent in touring car racing, Volkswagen Motorsport set up a series based on their global platform where selected drivers from across the country were given equally-built race cars to compete against each other.
This way, the top driving talent was identified through a complete season and promoted to higher racing series through proper coaching and streamlining sponsored opportunities at the international level.
Starting off with a 1.6-litre diesel car, Volkswagen Motorsport constantly kept moving forward by stepping up the performance of their cars. In 2012, the Polo Cup cars were upgraded from 130 PS diesel engines with manual gearbox to 1.4-litre TSI engines with DSG that produced 180 PS of peak power.
The idea was to get closer and closer to the international spec touring cars so as to develop the Indian drivers for the bigger global challenges. In 2015, Polo Cup cars made way for the Vento Cup cars with the same drivetrain but a completely different chassis that was easier for new comers to get a hang of.
The biggest step up for the programme came in 2017 when Volkswagen Motorsport India fielded Ameo Cup series with a car that was completely localised at the race shop in Volkswagen Pune Plant in Chakan. Powered with a 1.8-litre TSI engine and mated with a sequential gearbox with paddle shifters, this one was the most powerful car ever built by the Motorsport team with a peak power of 205 PS.
For the upcoming 2019 season, Volkswagen Motorsport India will continue with the Ameo Cup with cars running minor tweaks. The driver selection for the 2019 season has already been successfully conducted and the season will begin with pre-season testing, fitness camps in June followed by competitive racing at India’s all three racing circuits in Coimbatore, Chennai and Greater Noida.
