The track battle resolves a friendly rivalry between colleagues leading similar cars
February 10, 2025 at 21:03
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- VW CEO, Thomas Schafer, faced VW R Jonas Thielebein’s main engineer.
- The CEO has led an edition of Golf R Black, while the engineer chose golf R Wagon.
- The challenge included a quarter of a mile race, a battle on track and several attempts to drift.
Even business leaders need a break in strategy meetings and PowerPoint marathons. Volkswagen decided to spice things up for his CEO, Thomas Schafer, throwing him into a friendly competition against Jonas Thielebein, the principal engineer of the VW R. division.
Captured in a YouTube video, the challenge has placed the two pilots through a quarter of Mile Dragsters race, a hot tour on a test track and a drift competition, all designed to present the performance of R models VW. Naturally, Schafer was not about to go easily. He chose the VW Golf R Black Edition, while Thielebein went up in the G Wagon golf, which, if nothing else, could at least boast of its upper loading capacity.
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The two cars have the same four -cylinder TSI turbocharged 2.0 -liter, producing 328 hp (245 kW / 333 PS). The power supply is sent to four wheels via an automatic DSG system with seven -speed and the 4motion all -wheel drive system from VW.
The difference is that the black edition is delivered standard with the performance package, unlocking a higher top speed of 270 km / h (167 MPH). It is also lighter and shorter than the wagon, which gives it an advantage in sprints and corners in a straight line.
Screenshots: Volkswagen News / YouTube
Armed with the slightly faster car, the CEO completed the quarter of Mile in 13.72 “, against 14.32” for the main engineer. However, the latter turned out to be considerably faster around the track, although he does not have access to the dedicated Nürburgring driving mode selected by the CEO. With a time of 1: 07.50, the engineer has comfortably beat his boss with a difference of 4.8 seconds.
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The final winner was decided on a damp tarmac plot, where the competitors had to finish as many drifts as possible within a fixed time. With the dedicated drift mode of the Golf R engaged, the CEO managed five successful drifts, well behind the main engineer, which succeeded 14, which earned him the unofficial title of the King of the German drift.
To be fair, the longer golf wagon (4,633 mm / 182.4 inches) probably had an advantage to drift, because its extended rear surhang moves more weight backwards, which facilitates initiation and maintenance Slides compared to the 4,284 mm shorter (168.7 inches) tailgate. You will find below a ventilation of the results, as well as the complete video of the challenge.
