Skip to main content

WRC: Chess Champ Magnus Carlsen as Ogier’s Co-Driver in the Polo R WRC

Wolfsburg. Opposites attract: Chess World Champion Magnus Carlsen (N) met the reigning World Champion in the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC), Sébastien Ogier (F).

On his trip to Wolfsburg, chess genius Carlsen, the youngest world number one in the history of the sport, donned a racing suit and took his place alongside Ogier as his co-driver. That wasn’t the only highlight for the motorsport fan and current number one in the world rankings of the World Chess Federation FIDE.

First, he enjoyed a lap at lightning speed on the secret Volkswagen test site in Ehra-Lessien. Carlsen was chauffeured by works driver Michal Kutina in an Aventador of group brand Lamborghini. After the ride in the 700 hp sports car, the Norwegian chess genius got into the Volkswagen Polo WRC with Ogier. The two-time rally World Champion not only showed Carlsen his place of work and what everyday testing is like, he also really went for it sideways on the handling course near Wolfsburg.

Carlsen was impressed by the trip in the 318 hp Polo: “It’s fantastic how Sébastien masters his car and flings it around the corners,” said the 24-year-old. “Chess and rallying have more in common than you would think. They both require utmost concentration and precision. And you always have to look two steps ahead.”

This was followed by a tour of the Autostadt in Wolfsburg – and Carlsen signed the visitor’s book at the Volkswagen Group’s museum and amusement park. The day was rounded off with Carlsen being given an exclusive tour of the manufacturing halls belonging to the car manufacturer from Wolfsburg.

“I was delighted to meet Magnus,” said Ogier. “He is a great guy and a really interesting personality. As Chess World Champion, naturally he has an incredible memory. It’s crazy what Magnus can keep in his head. In the cockpit I noticed that he was really enjoying himself. I bet he could recite entire special stages after the ‘recce’ without even looking at the pace notes.”

The post WRC: Chess Champ Magnus Carlsen as Ogier’s Co-Driver in the Polo R WRC appeared first on VWVortex.



from VWVortex http://ift.tt/1GjryBS
via IFTTT
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

2018 Lamborghini Aventador S Roadster Review

“Supercars just don’t excite me anymore.” These words, spoken to me over a month ago by another journalist, friend, and (so-called) enthusiast were echoing in my head for far too long, but they’ve finally been drowned out. Drowned out by the wail of a naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12 engine mounted in the middle of the new Lamborghini Aventador S Roadster. My friend’s point is that back in the good old days, there was a crop of supercars that captured the imagination with amazing style, sounds, performance, and more. Today, it seems like everything is capable of supercar performance, with large luxury sedans outdoing some of the best and most dedicated teams of car nuts, while former pillars of automotive excellence are suddenly pumping out family-friendly SUVs. Beyond that, another league of supercars, dubbed hypercars have cropped up with hybrid gas-electric powertrains that make magical things happen quickly, but at the cost of the acoustic drama, visual flair, and engag...
Post a Comment
Read more

Project SportWagen: Going Stage 2 with APR

    When we last left you, the humble little SportWagen was fresh from the development process with our friends at AWE Tuning, sporting a new downpipe, exhaust and intake, allowing things to breathe a bit easier.  The car sounded great, but there was no getting around the fact that our wagon was still quite, well, slow.   While we realize that nothing we do to the Golf SportWagen at this point will make it a race car, we still felt compelled to do something .  To put it bluntly, we had a fever, and the only cure was more power. Flash forward a few hours, and we found ourselves at Waterfest, staring down APR’s palatial spread and the numerous tuned vehicles surrounding it.  Earlier in the year, APR had hinted to us that their 1.8 TSI files would be quite impressive, and based on what they were able to do with the 2.0 TSI found in the new GTI and our time in their Golf R, we knew it’d be worth the wait.  So with this in mind, we lined our G...
Post a Comment
Read more

Project Golf SportWagen- Intro

I’ve never really been one for SUVs and crossovers.  The current offerings aren’t the body-on-frame, go-anywhere specialty tools I remember from my youth, and what they lack in capability, they also lack in on-road performance. The current crop isn’t terribly good at handling or being efficient, which in my opinion are major components of our ideal driving experience.  So when it comes to space or utility, I usually look for something of the wagon variety- and it seems that I’m not alone. We hit quite a few shows around the east coast each summer, and we see modified Jetta SportWagens at nearly every event. Even amongst common consumers, these cars are highly sought-after. They don’t depreciate much, making even early Mk 5 2.5 versions expensive in comparison to other Jettas or Golfs of the same vintage. This year, Volkswagen launched their latest SportWagen, which is now billed as a Golf.  In many ways, this latest SportWagen is the best yet and it has certai...
Post a Comment
Read more