Move Over Herbie, There's a New Beetle Racer in Town!

(Photo from VWoA Media)

Yesterday at the 2014 Chicago Auto Show, Volkswagen announced that they will be teaming up with Andretti Sports Marketing to enter the Red Bull Global Rallycross Series. The Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross team will initially begin the season with European rallycross-prepared Polos, then switch to a 560+ horsepower, All Wheel Drive GRC Beetle. Joining the team will be 2011 and 2012 GRC winner Tanner Foust, and former F1 and NASCAR star Scott Speed.

“Red Bull Global Rallycross is the perfect form of motor sports for a youthful, exuberant, and growing brand in the U.S. market,” stated Michael Horn, President and CEO, Volkswagen Group of America. “We’re excited to partner with Andretti Autosport, one of the great names in American motor sports, and delighted that we will be running the iconic Beetle in the series.”

What is Rallycross? 

Rallycross is a form of racing that's done on a mixed surface, closed circuit. The automobiles typically driven on this circuit are heavily modified production or specially built road cars. Rallycross has been a part of European and Australian motor sports since the late 1960's and reached our side of the pond in 2010, debuting at the X Games 16, under the name of SuperRally. 

Volkswagen Motorsports

(Rally Sweden 2014 - Photo from VW Motorsports)

Volkswagen started competing in the World Rallycross Series in 1978. After years of competing with variations of the Golf, VW left the series in 1990. After a quiet decade, Volkswagen Motorsports returned to the sport at the 2011 Rally Finland with two Skoda Fabia S2000's (Skoda is a Volkswagen Group automotive company from of the Czech Republic). They then later debuted their Volkswagen Polo R WRC at the beginning of the 2013 World Rallycross season, eventually winning the series that season with French rally drivers, Sebastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia. The Polo R WRC has a straight-four engine with turbocharger and intercooling, transversally mounted in front of the front axle, with a 0-100 km/h in 3.9 seconds. Truly a monster. The 2014 season began at Rally Monte Carlo, where Volkswagen Motorsports started off strong with a win by Ogier and Ingrassia in the Polo R WRC car #1. Rally Sweden began a few days ago, and will have live coverage until the 8th. The Finnish driver, Jari-Matti Latvala is currently in the lead in the Polo R WRC car #2 after day 2. 

Global RallyCross

(Photo from VWoA Media)

The Red Bull Global RallyCross Series is a rallycross series based in the United States, that began development in 2009. The first full season in 2011 was won by driver Tanner Foust, who as before mentioned will be joining the Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross team. With the expansion of the X Games, GRC expanded globally also in 2013, featuring races in Brazil, Germany and Spain. The season will open in May at the Top Gear Festival in Barbados, with the GRC Beetle will debut at the X Games in June in Austin, TX. And for those who have a tight travel budget this year, the series will have a race in the Washington DC area, scheduled for June 22nd.

Share your excitement for this terrific motor sports news with us at @stolhmanauto. Until next time!

Esther Cho

Volkswagen Product Specialist

@esther_ch5