VW’s new 325bhp Golf racer has won. On its first time out

Remember that mighty 325bhp Volkswagen Golf touring car we showed you just last week? It has won in its first ever outing.

Yep, turns out the new Golf ‘TCR’ is annoyingly good. And it won at no less a circuit than the lightly terrifying Red Bull Ring in Austria – home to Top Gear magazine’s Speed Week 2015.

Driver Pol Rosell won the second race in the new Golf, finishing ahead of the Seat racers of Pepe Oriola and Jordi Gene. And remember, Volkswagen only fielded the big-winged Golf racer as part of its development, in order to potentially get it ready for customers to race in 2016.

“To come here, the first race of the Golf and my first in TCR, and to win, it’s just great,” explained Rosell. “I was involved in the testing programme of the new Golf, and it is a very good car, easy to drive, and I think we will see it often on the podium. 

“Of course, it shares many components with the Seat Leon, but the bodywork is different, and that leads to some differences also in the behavior and driving style required,” he added.

It is the first official Golf racing car spun off the seventh generation MQB platform, and features a set of wider tracks front and rear, a turbocharged 2.0-litre four-cylinder engine from the Golf R – with 325bhp and 302lb ft of torque – front-wheel-drive and new carbon fibre toys.

It’ll continue competing in the TCR series until the end of the year, too, the next races taking place in Singapore – sharing the bill with Formula One.