Liqui Moly Team Engstler’s Pol Rosell has hailed his first win in the TCR International Series, with the Spaniard taking victory on his and the new Volkswagen Golf TCR’s début in the championship.
23-year-old Rosell was drafted in to race the brand new Volkswagen Golf, which made its début in the TCR Series at the Red Bull Ring. Two cars were run by the Engstler Motorsport outfit, which had received the cars from Volkswagen Motorsport in the weeks running up to the Austrian event.
Rosell started race two from pole position, having qualified in tenth on Saturday. The Spaniard then controlled the race to score a win on the car’s début, beating the developed SEAT León cars of Craft-Bamboo Racing.
“It’s fantastic! To come here, the first race of the Golf and my first in TCR, and to win, it’s just great,” exclaimed Rosell. “It has been a tough weekend, it was difficult to find the right balance and I had to adapt to Michelin tyres, which were new to me, but eventually everything went well.
“I took a perfect start and was able to build some breathing space. I wouldn’t call that a real gap, but in the last five laps, I was struggling with the tyres and oversteer and it was hard to resist to Jordi [Gené] and Pepe [Oriola].
“I was involved in the testing programme of the new Golf, so it’s a special feeling to achieve this result. It is a very good car, easy to drive, and I think we will see it often on the podium.
“Of course, it shares many components with the SEAT León, but the bodywork is different, and that leads to some differences also in the behaviour and driving style required.”
Along with Rosell, SEAT driver Gené has also been involved in the development of the new car, which is based on the same foundations as the León built by the sister marque. The Spaniard was thus happy to see the car win, even if it meant him finishing second on the road to Rosell.
“I am happy with the outcome and also with the Golf’s first win, as I too did testing work with it, within my duties of development driver for the whole VW Group,” added Gené.