Three-time German rally champion Depping to compete in front of home crowd
After countless rallies and car races, he now makes his debut in the WRX
Depping: “I’m really looking forward to it, but also have a huge amount of respect for the races”
Surprise coup for the German round of the World Rallycross Championship in Buxtehude: Volkswagen test driver Dieter Depping will contest the race for PSRX Team Volkswagen Sweden in a third Polo GTI Supercar in addition to Petter Solberg and Johann Kristoffersson.
This will be the first time that the former three-time German rally champion and Dakar driver has competed since the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring in 2010. As a test driver and racing driver, Depping drove countless rallies and circuit races – Rallycross has been missing from the experienced rally driver’s career to date.
“When Motorsport Director Sven Smeets asked me if I could envisage starting at my home race in Buxtehude, I didn’t need to think about it for long,” explained the 51-year-old, beaming. “I’m really looking forward to the races at the Estering, but I also have a huge amount of respect for them – particularly the start.”
No surprise, considering that the Rallycross fireballs such as the Polo GTI are faster than a Formula 1 car when accelerating from zero to one hundred. “I will prepare well for the races and am already looking forward to the great setting at the Estering. My thanks also go to Petter Solberg’s team, who are taking me and my Polo under their wing for this competition.”
“Dieter Depping has done a valuable job for Volkswagen as a test driver and racing driver for many years now. He was part of the Dakar team, was involved in the development of countless racing cars and, last but not least, played a major role in Volkswagen bringing home a total of twelve world championship titles with the Polo R WRC,” said Volkswagen Motorsport Director Sven Smeets.
“The start in Buxtehude is a way of thanking Dieter Depping for his fantastic work, but we are also delighted to have a local hero lining up at the Rallycross highlight in Lower Saxony.”
German rally champion, Nordschleife ace, Dakar driver and maker of world champions
Depping, born on 7 August 1966 in Hannover, first came into contact with motorsport as a rally spectator when he was 18 years old. Then in 1990, he contested his rookie season in the German rally trophy in a Golf he built himself, winning the competition at the first time of asking.
Between 1992 and 1994, he won three titles in the German rally championship, three victories at ADAC Rally Germany (1994, 1996, 1997), and finished runner-up twice in the European championship in 1994 and 1995.
Then he took a break from professional racing and devoted himself to the family business, before joining Volkswagen Motorsport as a test driver and works driver in 2001. He made his debut in a Volkswagen Tarek at the Rally Dakar in 2003, as the team-mate of Jutta Kleinschmidt. In 2009, he made his second appearance, in a Race Touareg.
He also contested circuit races for Volkswagen, including the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring. As of the end of 2011, as a test driver, Dieter Depping made a crucial contribution to the development of the Polo R WRC, which also formed the basis for the Polo for the World Rallycross Championship.
