A VOLKSWAGEN Amarok ute which was constructed and prepared by VW Australia’s top tier apprentices has claimed a class victory at the World Time Attack Challenge at Sydney Motorsport Park over the weekend, beating the 1:59sec challenge set by the iconic Golf GTI hot hatch.
Assembling in Volkswagen’s Australian headquarters in Sydney recently, the team, comprised
The team of top-tier apprentices from Volkswagen’s head office workshop and its dealer network, spent a week dismantling and rebuilding a stock V6 Amarok Highline for a tilt at the Time Attack event
The apprentices worked with a team of mentors from VW and its supplier network stripping weight out of the Amarok, added a custom suspension package dubbed ‘The Big Bad Wolf’ by Bilstein engineers at Bilstein, fitting an AP Racing brake setup in collaboration with V-Sport technicians, wrapping it in custom vinyl and fitting it with a set of semi-slick Michelin tyres.
The team left the Amarok’s 165kW 550Nm V6 standard to prove its track-blazing credentials.
The national apprentice team was on-hand at the WTAC, presenting the ute to the eager crowd of motorsport fans, and to get their concept car ready for its four high-speed track sessions on the Friday and Saturday.
The apprentice team worked with the project mentors and took feedback from the Amarok’s race pilot, Ben Porter.
Porter put the modified Amarok through its paces, meeting the challenge’s 1:59sec lap time set by the stock Golf GTI and then, beating the time altogether with a best lap time of 1:57.01sec.
World Time Attack Challenge’s track commentary proclaimed it ‘The World’s Fastest Amarok’.
Director of Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles Australia, Carlos Santos said: “We’re enormously proud of our Amarok V6, which we’ve always seen as the leader of the pack in terms of power.
“Thanks to this incredible team of Volkswagen apprentices, we’ve been able to show just how much power is under the hood of the Amarok – 550Nm is great for towing a boat or caravan; and now we can add smashing lap times to that list.”
Project lead, PR and Brand Experience Manager, Kurt McGuiness added: “It’s fantastic that this team of young apprentices not only met the challenge head-on, but far surpassed it on the track,” Mr McGuiness said.
“It’s important for us at Volkswagen to offer unique learning experiences to our apprentices. Our Big Bad Wolf Amarok track car is not only an example of our superior engineering, it’s also a way for us as a business to support the lifeblood of our industry in Australia.”
