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During this weekend’s 50th anniversary of Formula Vee celebrations in Daytona Beach, Capito took some time out from his busy schedule to talk with us about what is (and isn’t) in the cards from Volkswagen Motorsports. By way of example, Capito cited Klaus Niedwiedz, a German Formula Vee star who crashed his car in qualifying, drove to a nearby junkyard to buy a Beetle front end and rear axles for 200 German marks, then put his car on the podium the next day.
For now, the brand is concentrating its motorsport efforts on campaigning the Polo WRC in the World Rally Championship. Capito was initially responsible for Ford’s RS division and lead a project between two of the company’s departments, Special Vehicle Engineering and Ford Racing, which helped bring the Mk1 Ford Focus RS to market.As well as launching a ground breaking hot hatch under his tenure, the motorsport department also won the World Rally Championship manufacturers' title in both 2006 and 2007. “We need to decide what is right,” Capito said, “and a single marque series (like the Once that program starts winning stages on a regular basis, we’d expect to hear a lot more about Volkswagen's future racing efforts. Volkswagen Motorsport isn’t putting any kind of a time line on announcing new efforts or new series, but Capito seemed clear that no changes would happen in 2013. Despite achieving a remarkable second-place finish in the season-opening event in Monte Carlo, Capito is guarded about the team’s chances in 2013, which he views simply as “a learning year” for Volkswagen. But now that Volkswagen has diverted its motorsport attention to its customer racing programs, Capito won’t have an international race team to get his teeth into.
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A similar feat isn’t possible in today’s high-dollar world of racing.
“Talent,” Capito quipped, “wasn’t related to a racer’s budget.” He then managed the Sauber F1 team during the late 1990s.Arguably his most significant and influential role with the car industry started in 2001 when he joined Ford.
In 2001, he joined Ford and became the driving force behind such vehicles as the Ford Focus RS, the F-150 SVT Raptor and the Focus ST. He eventually went onto to manage all of Ford’s performance cars, globally.Capito carried on his success at managing rally teams when he joined Volkswagen as director of motorsport and led the team to the first three of its four WRC manufacturer and drivers’ titles. These days, Capito hangs his hat at Volkswagen, where he heads the brand’s motorsport efforts.
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Capito was clear that “there are no family restrictions within the Volkswagen group,” meaning that a Golf R could be campaigned against an Audi RS3, given the right future series. Jost Capito won three World Rally Championships as Volkswagen Motorsport boss prior to joining McLaren. Capito then moved to Formula 1, holding down executive positions with Sauber Petronas and Sauber Red Bull Formula 1. I understand that I can unsubscribe at any time. Now, after only a year as CEO of McLaren Racing, Capito has returned to Volkswagen to head-up the department in charge of the company’s performance cars, Volkswagen R GmbH, and its accessories and equipment division, Volkswagen Zubehör GmbH.As well as creating the Golf R and the R-line packages, Volkswagen R has also been responsible for the Polo WRC. You'll SAVE 39% on the shop price, and get evo for its original cover price for a whole year!Porsche’s GT division is prepping the new 992 GT3 RS and our spy photographers have bagged it.