After successfully racing the VW Jetta in the world of Africa’s Global Touring Cars (GTC) racing series for the past 4 years, VW has announced that the new Golf 8 GTI will be the replacement for the newest GTC entry.
“For the past four years we have been racing with the Jetta,” said Martina Biene, head of Volkswagen brand in South Africa. “Since the Jetta is no longer offered in right-hand drive markets, we had to find an appropriate successor and that is where the idea to use the Golf 8 GTI came from. Even though the Golf 8 GTI will only be officially launched and available from South African dealers in 2021, we wanted to use this opportunity to showcase the Golf 8 GTI’s performance attributes ahead of the local market introduction.”
The South African GTC was launched in 2016 with two Championships divisions, The (GTC1) and the higher class (GTC2).
Two Golf 8 GTIs will compete in GTC1. To be driven by the 2019 GTC champion Keagan Masters and Daniel Rowe the 2016 GTC2 champion.
The 2016 Driver Search winner and 2017 Polo Cup Rookie winner, Jonathan Mogotsi will represent VW Motorsport in the SupaCup which replaces the GTC2.
To comply with GTC rules, all vehicles must have to follow the GTC rule book which features a common chassis and running gear, as well as suspension and tires. The technical specifications of the car are yet to be discussed with the public but the rumors say that the car could make around 370 kW (496 Horsepower).
The start of the 2020 racing season has been delayed due to the global pandemic COVID-19. The official date for the first race hasn’t been confirmed yet but rumored to happen sometime in August.
Source: Volkswagen of South Africa
