Volkswagen Motorsport India has revealed the Vento ITC race car replacement, the Virtus GT race car. The new Virtus-based race car complies with the Indian Touring Car (ITC) regulations. The new Virtus GT race car will make its debut on 8th October 2022 with drivers Jeet Jhabakh and Sandeep Kumar. Thus it won’t be a long wait to see it in action. Jeet Jhabakh is the Volkswagen Ameo Cup Champion, while Sandeep Kumar is the Volkswagen Polo Cup Champion. The new Volkswagen race car will compete in the upcoming ITC Championship.
Volkswagen Virtus GT Race Car – Highlights
Being a race car meant for the race track, the Virtus GT gets a host of changes compared to the production model. The interior of the car is stripped out to save weight. Additionally, it gets a racing bucket seat and an FIA-approved roll cage. The rear end of the race car also gets striking ‘Volkswagen Motorsport’ and ‘GT’ graphics.
Engineers at Volkswagen Motorsport India have made plenty of other changes as well. These include a strengthened chassis and more noticeable ones like lowered suspension and larger 17-inch lightweight alloy wheels with MRF slick tyres.
Volkswagen Virtus GT Race Car – Powertrain
The Virtus GT is not all show and no go. Powering the Virtus GT race car is a 1.5-litre TSI EVO four-cylinder turbo-petrol engine. This is the same TSI EVO engine that does duty in the standard Virtus GT. But, Volkswagen Motorsport India has tuned it to make 213 BHP and 300 Nm of torque.
That’s more than one-third more power than the standard Virtus and 50 Nm more torque! The race car also ditches the 7-speed DSG gearbox from the standard Virtus in favour of a race-spec 6-speed sequential gearbox. Since Volkswagen Motorsport India built the Virtus GT race car under the current ITC regulations, it also features an engine cut-off mechanism.
Also Read: Volkswagen Virtus exports from India commence
