In America, a prototype of the eighth generation ring Volkswagen Golf TCR was lit up.
The museum division of Volkswagen Classic showed the racing version of the eighth generation Golf hatchback for the first time in public. The car was almost ready, but dieselgate prevented its launch into small-scale production.
A unique Volkswagen Classic racing Golf TCR was shown at the L'oe Show in Pennsylvania. The auto show is dedicated to Volkswagen, Audi, Porsche and other brands that are part of the VW concern. Unlike the legendary gathering on Lake Wörthersee in Austria, this is only the second time the American festival has been held.
The eighth generation racing Golf was created by Volkswagen Motorsport in Hannover under the rules of the popular international TCR series. It was supposed to replace the successful seventh generation TCR Golf.
Recall that these cars were equipped with a two-liter EA888 engine with a capacity of 340-350 horsepower and two types of gearboxes: a DSG “robot” or a sequential-type Sadev racing unit. Outwardly, they are easy to identify by the body extended by 15 centimeters. Since 2016, more than 100 cars worth from 95,000 euros have been manually built - by the standards of racing technology, this is a large circulation.
Small-scale production of the eighth generation car was supposed to start in 2021, but this did not happen: in December 2020, following the results of the diesel gate, Volkswagen management decided to stop all racing projects not related to electric vehicles.
But a test copy of the racing Golf was kept in the vaults of the Volkswagen Classic division. On this machine, the units were tested in racing conditions, the settings of the chassis and on-board electronics were verified. Since the car participated in sea trials on racetracks, the body was covered with a camouflage film with a camouflage pattern. The sticker has been preserved ever since. And the attentive reader will notice that inside the prototype there is a dashboard from the Seat Leon Cupra.
By the way, along with the ring Golf, a unique example of the third generation rally Golf was brought to America from the museum - this all-wheel drive with the A59 index was created for the World Rally Championship in the early 90s, but the project was canceled at the last moment due to financial problems. A detailed article about this car "Motor" published a few years ago.

An unusual competition took place in the Netherlands.
Red Bull likes to put on unusual competitions for its athletes, and on the eve of the Dutch Grand Prix at the Zandvoort circuit, Japanese Scuderia AlphaTauri driver Yuki Tsunoda and reigning world champion Dutchman Max Verstappen from Oracle Red Bull Racing took place. The pilots were put behind the wheel of DAF subcompacts and sent to the race, in which they had to move in reverse. The test proved challenging for riders accustomed to riding the traditional way at much higher speeds.
A feature of the cars was the branded Variomatic gearbox, which the Dutch company developed for its models. The transmission had only two gears - one forward and one reverse - which made it possible to move in both directions with the same maximum speed.
For Yuki Tsunoda and Max Verstappen, the ability to reverse at speeds of up to 120 kilometers per hour was an unexpected discovery, since they had never had experience of participating in such competitions. Before the race, a special track was created, which had to be overcome backwards.
“I have never experienced something like this before, it was definitely a special event and I had a lot of fun despite the accident,” Yuki Tsunoda said. “I have never driven in reverse so fast before, of course we all reverse from time to time, but very slowly, so it was a new experience,” said Max Verstappen.