Formula 1 world champion Vettel debuts in Scirocco R-Cup

This weekend saw a great honour for the world’s most eco-conscious one-make cup vehicle as the newly-crowned 2010 Formula 1 world champion Sebastian Vettel got behind the wheel of the 275 PS Volkswagen Scirocco R-Cup and worked the crowd at the Arena in Düsseldorf up into a frenzy at the Race of Champions.

Alongside record world champion Michael Schumacher, Vettel from Heppenheim in Germany won the Nations’ Cup for the fourth time in a row.  After making it to the final round, the German pairing claimed overall victory against Team Great Britain with Jason Plato and Andy Priaulx.

The Champion of Champions title was sensationally won by the Portuguese Filipe Albuquerque who prevailed against world rally champion Sébastien Loeb.

‘The successful inaugural season of the Scirocco R-Cup has culminated in the Race of Champions,’ says Volkswagen Motorsport Director Kris Nissen.  ‘We’re very proud of the fact that the new Formula 1 world champion Sebastian Vettel has inspired the crowd here at the Race of Champions in the Scirocco R-Cup, and obviously we’re also happy that the organisers of the Race of Champions selected the racing version of the Scirocco as one of the cars fielded in the event.  This shows the worldwide prestige which the Scirocco R-Cup enjoys as an innovative and eco-conscious one-make cup.’

However, of all the cars it was the Scirocco in which the new Formula 1 world champion had to suffer a defeat.  In a direct duel US star Travis Pastrana, not least thanks to making clever use of the push-to-pass button which allowed every driver to activate a limited number of 50 PS boosts, clinched a surprising victory against Vettel.

’The front-wheel drive Scirocco is not easy to drive on this narrow circuit but the car is good fun in any event,’ said Vettel.  The American racer Pastrana was absolutely elated by the power boost at his fingertips:  ‘The push-to-pass button is an ingenious idea, simply huge fun.  By using it, I caught Sebastian on the finish straight at the last moment.’
 
The list of top drivers who were enthusiastically celebrated by the crowd of 65,000 spectators at the Race of Champions in Düsseldorf reads like international motorsport’s hall of fame.  The grid included Formula 1 world champions Michael Schumacher, Sebastian Vettel and Alain Prost, seven-time Rally champion Sébastien Loeb, eight-time Le Mans winner Tom Kristensen, three-time World Touring Car champion Andy Priaulx, Carl Edwards (NASCAR) or ex Motorcycle world champion Mick Doohan.

For the first time in 21 years, and since the first showdown on the Müllenbachschleife of the Nürburgring back in 1989, the Race of Champions took place in Germany again. The fielding of the Cup Scirocco also marked the first entry of a car with an alternative drive concept.  Thanks to being fuelled by bio natural gas the two-litre engine’s overall carbon footprint of racing plus logistics is reduced by 80 per cent – compared with conventional racing petrol.

For more information about the Scirocco R-Cup or Volkswagen Motorsport, please visit www.volkswagen-motorsport.info