Brundle joins Polo set

Former grand prix drivers Christian Danner, Marc Surer, Jacques Laffite, Martin Brundle, David Kennedy and Ivan Capelli will return to the racetrack as part of the inaugural Chinese Grand Prix later this month in a Volkswagen Polo celebrity race

Sep 2, 2004, 1:57 PM

Eighteen VW Polos will take the start at Shanghai International Circuit, and the grid will also include 2001 Dakar Rally winner Jutta Kleinschmidt, now part of VW's rally raid squad, plus German TV stars Heiko Wasser and Florian König and local racers Tengyi Jiang and Kenneth Chan.

Volkswagen board member Wilfried Bockelmann said: "A new and important page will be turned in the history of the automobile with the Formula 1 premiere in Shanghai. We are proud to be represented with the Polo race as support race of this extraordinary event.

"Volkswagen has had a formative influence in the Chinese automobile market from the very beginning, and this is why we didn't want to miss out on this important milestone particularly as the Volkswagen Polo's Chinese manufacturing facility is close to the Shanghai race track."

Twenty Polo racecars will be shipped to China especially for the race. How many will be in a fit state to ship back will remain to be seen...