ENDURANCE FUN

Going flat-out for 24 hours and setting records

- ABHAY VERMA

You can put ‘pedal to metal’ for hours at a stretch on a simulator, but you can’t do that in the real world, can you? Now, how about doing that for a full 24 hours? 24 hour endurance racing is one of the toughest, most challenging forms of circuit racing. And like most forms of motorsport, endurance racing is a crucial test bed for developing technology for road cars for manufacturers.

On the other hand, 24 hour endurance runs help manufacturers establish the solidness of their cars’ engineering, besides establishing reliability of the products to prospective buyers. And as a petrolhead, any opportunity to be a part of such a 24 hour endurance run is one I’m willing to give an arm and leg for. Why? Because while it is extremely enduring, at the same time it’s also an experience that has your adrenaline pumping for more than those 24 hours.

I’ve been part of several 24 hour endurance runs over the years and like I said, it’s an opportunity I’m never missing. So when Volkswagen India invited me to join in its attempt to set new endurance records with its Taigun and Virtus, I just had to go. Now, the Taigun and Virtus are cars we are extremely fond of at TURBOCHARGED. Not just because they’re powered by turbocharged petrol engines or because they’re sporty and fun to drive, but also because we celebrated our second anniversary (January 2023) with the duo, driving them from Kashmir to Kanyakumari and from Gujarat to Arunachal Pradesh. Of course, both cars passed the acid test of being driven across India’s length and breadth with flying colours!