The Volkswagen Motorsport entries into the first Sasol GTC Africa event at Zwartkops Raceway on Tuesday showed they will be tough competition for their rivals in the coming rounds. With podium finishes for all four entries, the scene is set for a titanic battle going forward.
Qualifying saw Mathew Hodges put the Volkswagen Jetta GTC into second spot by just 0.244 of a second behind the Audi A3 of Michael Stephen. In the GTC Production category, Daniel Rowe was in second place with his Volkswagen Golf GTI by an even narrower margin – 0.061 of a second, with Mandla Mdakane in the second Volkswagen Golf GTI close on his heels with the third-quickest qualifying time.
With a second-place grid start for the first race, Hodges made no mistakes and kept it smooth throughout the 14 lap event to power the Volkswagen Jetta GTC to second – and the first of the podium results for Volkswagen Motorsport. Rowe and Mdakane made sure to turn their second and third-place qualifying results into the same positions at the chequered flag for two more podium finishes.
“It was a great feeling, being able to bring home the first podium result for Volkswagen Motorsport,” says Hodges. “The Volkswagen Jetta GTC is definitely going to be tough to beat as we go forward, I think the performance today comes as a bit of warning to our rivals that they have work to do and we’re certainly not going to be slowing down to make it easy to catch us!”
For Mdakane it was also a good day at the office in his Volkswagen Golf GTI in the GTC Production category.
“The Volkswagen GTI has a formidable reputation as a hot hatch,” says Mdakane. “Out on track it is no different, all that engineering prowess comes to the fore you just know you can rely on the Volkswagen GTI when you have to push hard. Grabbing a podium result for the first race is a real confidence boost and I’m looking forward to more of them as the season continues.”
Race two saw Graeme Nathan race home for second place in his Volkswagen Jetta GTC and Rowe won the second race in the GTC Production category.
“The Volkswagen Golf GTI is really good, it handles very well,” says Rowe. “I made a small mistake in qualifying, but I still think we showed everyone how it is done today. Second in race one and winning race two to take first place in the GTC Production category for the day is exactly how I wanted to start my championship. There’s still a bit of work that needs to be done in terms of development, but we’ll get there and we’ve already proved to be a real threat to our competition.”
Nathan could hardly be happier with his Volkswagen Jetta GTC and has high hopes for the rest of the season.
“The Volkswagen Jetta GTC is just fantastic,” says Nathan. “It was a great day’s racing and I’m looking forward to the next event. The team have built a brilliant race car and I’m convinced it is going to get even better as the season continues. I’m loving being back in the driver’s seat and looking forward to lots more racing this year!”
The Volkswagen Motorsport team will face their next challenge at Aldo Scribante Raceway in Port Elizabeth on Saturday, September 10. This will be round two of the Sasol GTC Africa series and, with a six-round championship this year, will play an important role in the outcome for any championship hopeful.