Volkswagen is jubilant to see its progress in the Formula 3 arena. With a brand new engine, the German team has made a successful debut at the Nürburgring during the DTM weekend.
"The new Formula 3 engine from Volkswagen has completed many hours of rig testing and reeled off plenty of test kilometers on the track. Now it's time to test it in direct competition," said VW Motorsport Director Kris Nissen.
Volkswagen initially equips three vehicles in the Formula 3 Euro Series. Maximilian Götz from Uffenheim (Germany) and Jonathan Summerton from the United States contest the series for the Italian Team RC Motorsport, while Marco Holzer from Augsburg (Germany) competes for AM Holzer Rennsport, using the new two-liter engine delivering about 210-horsepower of the automaker, the Auto Rider reported.
Wolfsburg-based manufacturer believes that the team’s performance at Nogaro last weekend shows the progress they are making with their Formula 3 engine. Gotz equaled his best qualifying result from the Nurburgring with another eighth place. And despite the fact that he was unable to score any points during the weekend, on Sunday, he was happy to finish just 6.339 seconds behind Sebastien Buemi, race 2 winner. For the two-liter, 4-cylinder 210-hp engine, it was the smallest gap in its young six-race career. With efficient VW engine mount, there’s nothing much to ask for. The VW F3 car is already complete!
For the third consecutive race Gotz, who competes for RC Motorsport, clinched the best starting slot of all the Volkswagen drivers in the 25-car field. In the first race on Saturday, the German took the chequered flag in 11th place. He then moved up two places in Sunday's second race. By capturing the seventh best lap time, Götz has proven early on that the engine can race competitively in the top third of the world’s toughest Formula 3 series.
"The car felt really good during qualifying, and in the race, I was one of the few drivers in a position to overtake. That shows the good work that's gone into the car, particularly from the Volkswagen engine," Gotz said in an interview.
Nissen added he believes the engine has improved since it made its debut one month ago at the Nurburgring. "The results in Nogaro underline the engine's positive performance curve," he said. "The fast individual laps during qualifying, as well as the speed over the course of an entire race, prove that we've been moving in the right direction with this engine from the very beginning."
Jonathan Summerton lost his opportunity for a better result as early as qualifying. "One time I couldn’t find a free lap and then the red flag went out twice while I was trying to improve my time,” said Summerton who started in slot 13. He finished 14th in the first race followed by 12th in the second heat.
"Overtaking on this circuit was extremely difficult. But I’m still positive. The car and the engine felt really good,” noted the Florida-based American F3 driver.