Volkswagen thrilled with F3 opener

Mortara shares the championship lead with race one winner Mika Maki after finishing third in both races, and one of VW's eight cars was either first or second in the speed trap rankings in every session of the event.

Nissen says he wasn't surprised by engine's competitiveness but believes the result will give VW the confidence to keep improving the power unit.

"I was extremely happy with the weekend," he told autosport.com. "We had no problems with the engine, the teams did a fantastic job, and particularly the experienced drivers gave strong performances.

"I'm pleased to see that we're so close to the winners and the top speeds show that we're fighting with them. We hoped to be able to finish on the podium but you can never plan it this way because the Euro Series is so difficult and we don't yet have enough cars with experienced drivers to be able to finish in the top three every time."

"I don't think the guys needed any more motivation but it's nice for everyone to see this result for their hard work. It also gives the drivers confidence in the package so they know they can be at the front if they do a good enough job."

Mortara was also thrilled with the result but knows there is still work to do to match their Mercedes rivals.

"It's amazing to get the first podium for Volkswagen," he told autosport.com. "You wouldn't believe how hard everyone has worked over the winter to fix the problems that we had and to be in this position today.

"We are still losing a little bit on the straight to the Mercedes cars. You can feel the difference on the straight when you're not in the slipstream so maybe there is a little bit of acceleration to come but we have a strong base.

"We knew it would be difficult for us at the beginning of the season and we know some evolutions will come, but in top speeds we are very close already."