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TCR-spec Volkswagen Golf conducts secret test in Austria

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Liqui Moly Team Engstler’s new Volkswagen Golf has conducted a low-key test last week at the Spielberg circuit, ahead of its expected debut this weekend for the eighth round of the TCR International Series season this weekend.

The Golf, based on the same platform as its Volkswagen Audi Group racing siblings the SEAT León Cup Racer and Audi TT Cup, was driven by team principal and driver Franz Engstler at the Austrian circuit, which will stand in as a late replacement for the Argentinian round which was originally scheduled for Buenos Aires later this month.

The team had planned from the outset to compete with the Volkswagen Golf this season, with the car in development while the team raced with the Audi TT as a stand-in due to sponsor Liqui Moly’s preference to compete with a German marque. The Audi was driven by Engstler and Mikhail Grachev in the first three meetingss, alongside a SEAT León driven by Lorenzo Veglia.

The team switched to fielding two SEAT Leóns for Grachev and Veglia since Portimao, where Nicki Thiim had taken pole position and won the first race in the TT in a one-off outing with team, before the coupé was declassified from competition.