Volkswagen Begins Development Of New Vento-Based Touring Racecar

Volkswagen Motorsport India has started developing a new Vento-based touring racecar for its Customer Sport Programme. This new car is being developed in accordance with the TC4-A regulation, part of the new regulations which were rolled out by the FMSCI (Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India). Volkswagen claims that these new racecars will fulfil ASN a.k.a. the National Sporting Authority's aim to bring in modern cars into motorsport in India. The company has already developed two prototypes of the Volkswagen Vento racecars which will be driven in this year's National Championship season.

Karthik Tharani and Ishaan Dodhiwala will be driving the cars at the National Championship

The manufacture has also announced that Karthik Tharani and Ishaan Dodhiwala, the former champions of Volkswagen's one-make series will be driving the cars in the National Championship as a part of the car development programme. Talking about their involvement, Sirish Vissa, Head of Volkswagen Motorsport India said, "Karthik Tharani and Ishaan Dodhiwala are extremely talented drivers and have proven their potential in the previous years with titles to their names. Karthik is also an excellent development driver who has played a crucial role in fine-tuning our Ameo Cup race car in the past. The feedback provided by both of them will help us in developing these cars further and get them to a competitive level."

As for the car itself, the TC4-A Volkswagen Vento racecar is powered by a 1.8-litre TSI petrol engine mated to a 3MO sequential manual gearbox. The car has been designed also to adhere to the Indian Touring Car (ITC) regulations for turbocharged racecars up to 2,000 cc, which restrict the minimum weight of the racecar to 1,150 kg and a turbo inlet restrictor of 30 mm.

Commenting about the performance of the test cars, Vissa said, "With the limitation of an inlet restrictor, harnessing maximum power from the engine is an added challenge. However, our technical development team is working hard to overcome these obstacles and provide a thoroughbred race car for the future."