INNOVATIVE GOLF CHARGES ON TO THE RACETRACK

Britain's Volkswagen Racing Cup will be the stage for a motorsport world debut this season when a Golf GT equipped with the pioneering TSI supercharged and turbocharged engine takes to the track.

In road-going form the Golf GT's 1.4-litre, 16-valve engine produces 170 PS but the engineers at Volkswagen Racing UK, with the help of their technology partners at Superchips, Milltek Sport and Turbo Dynamics, have already boosted this to 230 PS and believe there is further power to come.

The Golf GT TSI is scheduled to make its maiden appearance in the Hankook-backed championship's opening rounds at Oulton Park in Cheshire on Easter Monday (9 Apr). It will be driven at Oulton by freelance motoring journalist Nick Trott.

'We are pulling out all the stops to get the Golf to Oulton,' said Volkswagen Racing UK Director Sam Roach. 'It's been a major technological exercise to prepare this sophisticated power unit for racing and our partners have provided massive support and expertise. To be able to extract 230 PS from a 1.4-litre engine is a major achievement.'

It's not the first time that Volkswagen Racing UK has led the world in this way; in 2002 the team drove a turbodiesel into victory lane, establishing a UK first, and in recent seasons has given the new Golf GTI and Polo GTI their world racing debuts.

The Golf GT TSI is the most ambitious project the team has yet undertaken. The TSI features an engine-driven supercharger and an exhaust gas turbocharger, arranged in series; the supercharger operates at lower engine speeds and the turbo cuts in as revs rise. The result is excellent driveability and performance throughout the rev range, with no turbo lag and high maximum torque. The power unit was named Best New Engine of 2006 in the International Engine of the Year Awards.

Trott, 32, is excited by the prospect of giving the GT TSI its world motorsport debut: 'The power to weight ratio is excellent and the package promises a lot - I only hope I can do the car justice!'

The Volkswagen Racing Cup is the perfect showcase for the innovative new racer. It's the sole saloon car supporting event to the prestigious British Formula 3 and British GT Championships and features 12 races at six weekend events on the UK's top circuits. All races are televised on the Sky Sport channel.

SUPERB SEASON IN PROSPECT

With six different race winners last year the Volkswagen Racing Cup enjoyed its most competitive season yet. Everything suggests that this year will be even more unpredictable.

Reigning Champion Paul Taylor, from Hertfordshire, whose four-wheel-drive Golf R32 claimed five '06 race victories, returns to defend his title and will be hard to beat - particularly on a damp track.

'I'm praying for year-long rain,' quipped Taylor, who will start the season with a Golf little changed from its successful 2006 specification. 'We've rebuilt the parts which needed rebuilding to maintain reliability, but otherwise the car is as it was. So I am hoping to be quick again from the outset, reliable and enjoy a bit of luck along the way. That said, there are a lot of quick drivers out there and I'm not underestimating the size of the task…'

Among those who triumphed over Taylor were Steve Wood and Tony Gilham; Gloucester-based Wood last season developed his Golf GTI into a race winner, while Kent's Gilham, who won once in a Beetle, now has his sights set on further victories at the wheel of a new Golf GTI.

Wood and Gilham will be joined on the grid this season by two further Mk V Golf GTIs, one in the hands of Gloucestershire's Mike Kurton and the other driven by Europcar's Michael McInerney.

The new machinery doesn't end there: Lincoln-based Graham Needham, the novice who won his maiden drive in 2005 courtesy a competition in Car (and then stunned by finishing third), is back in a new-model R32 equipped with DSG semi-automatic gearbox.

There are several newcomers: Surrey's Darren Blumson, the 2005 Stock Hatch Champion, who has taken over the Phil House/Gilham Beetle; Northampton-based Doug Ross, former Proton saloon champ, in a 2-litre Polo; ex-MG title winner Jamie Perry, from Essex, with his V6 Golf; and another Stock/Hot Hatch man, Richard Kingsnorth, also from Essex, who will race a turbodiesel Golf.

Two family teams will be in action - Westcountry brothers Alex and Adrian Dziurzynski, elder sibling Alex in a Corrado GTI and Adrian at the wheel of a Mk II Golf; and Hampshire father and son Barrie and Martyn Culley with their Vento VR6s. Martyn won two races in 2006, was championship runner-up to Taylor and has his sights set on going one better in '07.

Others to watch out for include the rapid Bora of Berkshire driver Joe Fulbrook; the VR6 Golfs of Tony Harberman (Coalville) and Andrew Smith (Sale); and the astonishing Caddy TDI of SEAT managing director Peter Wyhinny.

At the wheel of Beetle RSi 2.8s will be Isle of Man-based Paul Lloyd-Roach and Gloucestershire's Steve Chaplin, with Farnham Royal racer John Quartermaine driving his Golf GTI.

The Volkswagen Racing Cup in association with Hankook enjoys the additional support of Augustus Martin, Castrol, ECM Vehicle Delivery, Europcar, Milltek Sport, Mondial Assistance, KW Automotive, Superchips, TNT Logistics, Turbo Dynamics, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles and Volkswagen Financial Services UK.

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