New VW Caddy Makes its Racing Debut

07 June 2004

Volkswagen's exciting all-new Caddy racer made an encouraging track debut yesterday (Sun) at Snetterton in Norfolk.

Competing in the fifth and sixth rounds of the Volkswagen Racing Cup in the hands of Peter Wyhinny, the director of Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, the Caddy achieved its initial objective - to finish both races.

Fresh from its Motor Show launch, the Caddy qualified an excellent 15th on the grid and made swift progress towards the top 10 in its first race before making a pit visit to investigate an overheating problem. It continued to 17th spot.

There were further teething problems in the second race, in which the Caddy placed 12th, but Wyhinny expressed himself more than pleased: 'We have the makings of something really special with the Caddy. I'm very happy with the integrity of the chassis; the handling is excellent. It's a shame we had some overheating problems, but it's nothing we can't cure given some time and development.

'It also needs to shed some weight and, when it has, the new Caddy is going to be surprising a lot of the cars on the grid.'

The van-tastic Caddy has been converted for racing by Milton Keynes-based Volkswagen Racing UK. At its heart is a 16-valve 1968cc TDI powerplant which, with assistance from the engine tuning wizards at Superchips and a bespoke exhaust system by Milltek, is delivering 230 PS.

The Caddy's next outing is at Oulton Park in mid-July.

See 2004 series calendar for VW Racing Cup

Related Story 03.06.2004 - Motorshow Unveiling for Van-tastic Volkswagen Racer