Volkswagen Scirocco Cup 2010

The Volkswagen Scirocco R, one of AUSmotive’s favourite cars, is set to feature in a new one make series to support the DTM category in Germany. To help kick things off for the first round at Hockenheim this weekend five motorsport legends will participate in the racing action. Names such as Derek Bell, Frank Biela, Martin Brundle, Jacques Lafitte and Carlos Sainz will take to the track in the 275bhp race-prepped Sciroccos.

The horsepower legends will be a series within a series during the full nine race Scirocco Cup and Volkswagen will invite five new legends for each race. It’s a similar approach to the Uber-Star Car concept used in the Australian MINI Challenge.

In all 25 cars will take to the track for the Scirocco Cup with 20 regular drivers competing for either the Junior Cup or Pro Cup, depending on their previous motorsport experience. As the Hockenheim round Frank Biela will be competing against his own daughter, Isabella, who is one of the Junior Cup entrants for 2010. A father and daughter competing against each other in the same race, can’t say that happens every day!

The other headline feature of the Scirocco Cup category is its use of bio natural gas fuel which reduces the CO2 emissions of the field by around 80%. Clean, green motor racing, then. This new series is a further development on the two Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) Sciroccos that took part in the 2009 Nürburgring 24 hour race.

Based on the Scirocco R road car the race car uses a push-to-pass system that offers drivers shorts bursts of extra power. In standard trim the Scriocco Cup car produces 165kW (down from the road car’s 195kW), but the push-to-pass system boosts power up to 202kW. The system can be used strategically to initiate or defend overtaking moves.

Until we see a Scirocco on Australian shores—and there is at least one on its way—the Scirocco Cup provides great exposure for one of Volkswagen’s best looking models in their current line up. More pics and press releases follow below.

2010 Volkswagen Scirocco R-Cup

With bio-CNG power: motorsport legends compete in Scirocco R-Cup

Wolfsburg (18 April 2010). Rally and Sportscar world champions, Grand Prix winners and a DTM champion – Carlos Sainz, Derek Bell, Martin Brundle, Jacques Laffite and Frank Biela are the names of five high-calibre racers contesting the inaugural event of the new Volkswagen Scirocco R-Cup at Hockenheim (23/24 April).

The horsepower legends compete against each other in a dedicated classification in the field of 25 vehicles on the first DTM race weekend of the year – and for the first time in their long careers with bio natural gas power which reduces CO2 emissions by 80 per cent compared with conventional engines.

“Famous names like Sainz, Bell, Brundle, Laffite and Biela are a great enrichment for the world premiere of the Volkswagen Scirocco R-Cup, the most eco-conscious one-make cup racing series of all,” says Volkswagen Motorsport Director Kris Nissen. “All five of them have made motorsport history and, together with young talents and seasoned touring car campaigners, will be delivering exciting sport and a fantastic show at Hockenheim.”

Carlos Sainz: hot tarmac instead of high dunes

Carlos Sainz, who won the Dakar Rally in the Volkswagen Race Touareg in January and the World Rally Championship titles in 1990 and 1992, is looking forward to his run in the Cup Scirocco powered by bio natural gas. “It’s always a great thrill to take part in the maiden race of a new car and in a new racing series,” says the 47-year-old Spaniard. “I’m expecting the Cup Scirocco to be somewhat similar to the version I drove last year at the Nürburgring 24 Hours, though. The Hockenheimring on the other hand is totally new to me. During the practice sessions I’ll be driving on the circuit for the very first time.”

Derek Bell and Martin Brundle: gentlemen, start your Scirocco engines!

The two Englishmen Derek Bell and Martin Brundle are two big names from the Sportscar field to compete at Hockenheim. Bell, who is now 68, became Sportscar world champion in 1985 and 1986 and won the Le Mans 24 Hours a total of five times. His compatriot Martin Brundle won the Sportscar Championship in 1988 and the classic endurance race on the Sarthe in 1990. “The Volkswagen Scirocco R-Cup offers a field with a very attractive mix of young talents, established drivers and us, the seasoned campaigners,” says 49-year-old Brundle, who contested 158 Grands Prix in his Formula 1 career. “The push-to-pass option that provides a short-term boost of the Cup Scirocco’s power output by 50 to 275 hp is a particularly interesting feature. Since it takes 45 seconds before you can use it again you’ve got to make sure to use it in a way that best serves your tactics.”

Jacques Laffite: return of the Hockenheim winner

With a track record of 176 Grand Prix starts, Jacques Laffite was the record entrant in Formula 1 for a long time. The Frenchman who is now 67 won a total of six races in motorsport’s “premier league” between 1977 and 1981 and later caused a sensation with a victory in the DTM as well. “I’m very excited about Hockenheim,” says Laffite. “I’ve won races on the old Grand Prix circuit in Formula 1 and Formula 2. It’ll be a great thrill to be driving a completely new car and to compete with the other ‘old hands’.”

Frank Biela: unusual family duel

Frank Biela, the 1991 DTM champion, completes the group of five legends. The 45-year-old driver from Neuss (Germany) won the 24-hour race at Le Mans five times and will experience an unusual duel at Hockenheim: he will compete against his own daughter. “Isabelle was often with me at the paddock, at Le Mans for example. It’ll probably be a funny feeling to compete against her. It’s a totally new experience for me and we’re both looking forward to it very much.”

Scirocco R-Cup inaugural season with 20 registered entrants.

At the nine races of the season, the legends – who change at each race – will compete with 20 male and female drivers who contest the whole season. These drivers compete in two different classifications according to their previous motorsport experience: the Junior Cup and the Pro Cup. Eleven entrants compete in the Junior field. They include Kris Heidorn, who won the rookie classification in the 2009 ADAC Volkswagen Polo Cup, and Isabelle Biela. The seasoned campaigners include the Pole Maciek Steinhof, the 2009 Polo Cup champion, the American Timmy Megenbier, who won last year’s Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup in the USA, and former Formula 3 driver Stefano Proetto.

Volkswagen Scirocco R-Cup: start to a new one-make cup era

Wolfsburg (16 April 2010). The world’s most eco-conscious one-make cup is making its racing debut: on 23 and 24 April the Volkswagen Scirocco R-Cup season will open at the Hockenheimring, with key features like 80 per cent less CO2, 100 per cent racing, 25 ambitious entrants in the Junior, Pro and Legend Cup – and, of course, the thrill of being the first winner in the bio natural gas-powered Cup Scirocco that delivers p to 275 hp of power. In the 2010 season a total of nine races at seven events are on the Scirocco R-Cup calendar but the first one offers the drivers the best opportunity to make history.

“With the Scirocco R-Cup Volkswagen rings in a new one-make cup era,” says Volkswagen Motorsport Director Kris Nissen. “We are realising innovative ideas of an eco-conscious powertrain, other innovative technologies and new sporting concepts in the Cup. At Hockenheim, young talents will meet with seasoned pros and true motorsport legends. That’s the attraction of the Scirocco R-Cup. I’m sure that the season opener will mark a successful start to this trend-setting one-make cup.”

Bio natural gas and push-to-pass: innovative concepts start together

The renewable fuel, bio natural gas, powers the Scirocco R-Cup. It is fully produced from bio mass or renewable resources. Its carbon footprint with respect to production and logistics is neutral and during the combustion process bio natural gas enormously reduces carbon dioxide emissions. Thanks to bio natural gas the Cup Scirocco emits at least 80 per cent less CO2 – compared with conventional fuels for spark ignition engines, and without sacrificing power output. The two-litre engine delivers 165 kW (225 hp) and the drivers can draw on an additional 37 kW (50 hp) thanks to another innovation used in the Scirocco R-Cup: on the driver’s command the push-to-pass system increases the boost pressure of the turbocharged engine for a short time, which is strictly limited. The drivers use the system for tactical purposes by pushing a button on the sport steering wheel of the Cup Scirocco. On the one hand, this enables them to initiate overtaking manoeuvres and on the other to prevent them.

225 plus 50, 20 plus 5: the sporting mix of the Scirocco R-Cup

In addition to the push-to-pass system, the composition of the field of entrants promises to deliver thrilling racing action. Young talents who compete according to the successful concept of the “touring car school” meet with seasoned one-make cup campaigners. Junior drivers like Jann-Hendrik Ubben (D) or Isabelle Biela (CZ) compete with Cup champions like Maciek Steinhof (PL) or Timmy Megenbier (USA). Steinhof triumphed in the 2009 Polo Cup, Megenbier in the American Jetta TDI Cup. The entrants registered in the Junior Cup and Pro Cup classifications will also run against the guest entrants of the Legend Cup. Five prominent drivers, respectively, will contest the nine races of the Scirocco R-Cup season.

The entrants from eight nations extensively tested their new sporting equipment and the new push-to-pass function, completed starting exercises and also received theoretical instructions at the introductory training course at Oschersleben on Wednesday and Thursday. “I’m starting to the new season highly motivated,” says Maciek Steinhof, the last champion of the Polo Cup era. “Every racer aims to win in every race. But the Scirocco R-Cup season opener offers an extra dose of ambition, particularly because here you meet with juniors, pros and legends.”

New Volkswagen Scirocco R Cup as DTM partner series

Wolfsburg (19 February 2010). 80 per cent less CO2, 100 per cent motorsport: the new Volkswagen Scirocco R Cup will be staged as the partner series of the popular DTM in its 2010 debut season. On seven weekends – six in Germany and one in Great Britain – a total of nine races are on the calendar.

The field of some 30 contenders will see motorsport rookies, seasoned campaigners and horsepower legends fight for points and silver at a high level. Their sporting equipment: the racing version of the Scirocco R powered by an innovative biogas engine that achieves an 80-per cent reduction of CO2 emissions compared with conventional power-plants. This makes the Volkswagen Scirocco R Cup the most eco-conscious one-make cup racing series in the world.

Racing legends line up on the grid with biogas power

“We’re delighted about the opportunity to continue partnering with the DTM – a partnership that we’ve been living with the Lupo and Polo Cups ever since the comeback of this successful racing series in 2000,” says Volkswagen Motorsport Director Kris Nissen. “The new Scirocco R Cup continues our long-standing commitment to promoting young talent and makes new marks with innovative biogas power, true motorsport legends in the field as well as many fresh ideas. The DTM with its huge popularity offers an unrivalled stage for this.”

2010 Volkswagen Scirocco R Cup Race Calendar

1. 23/24 Apr Hockenheimring (D)
2. 04/05 Jun EuroSpeedway Lausitz (D)
3. 02/03 Jul Norisring (D)
4. 06-08 Aug Nürburgring (D) *
5. 03/04 Sep Brands Hatch (GB)
6. 17-19 Sep Motorsport Arena Oschersleben (D) *
7. 15/16 Oct Hockenheimring (D)

* two races; all other weekends: one race on Saturday