The young man is incredible – and incredibly fast: almost as quickly as he races around the track in his Golf TCR, Benny Leuchter whizzes around his Golf VII GTI Clubsport S with the camera. The car is number 01 of a special series of just 400. ‘I love this car, I just love it,’ he repeats time and again – and it doesn’t sound at all trite. On the contrary, when you meet this likeable, down-to-earth and exceptional racing driver, it is difficult to do anything other than give a knowing smile.
‘I love this car’
Few other cars are so deeply rooted in the lives of their drivers as the Golf. In the series entitled ‘It’s my Life’, we present people who drive the Golf – and live for it. In part 7, Benny Leuchter confesses his love for the Golf VII GTI Clubsport S.
The special series of the Golf GTI Clubsport S is limited to 400 cars; Benny Leuchter owns the car that bears production number 01 – and guards it as if it were treasure.
Benny, a Duisburg man born and bred, is 31 years young and competes with the best of them in the FIA World Touring Car Cup (WTCR). In 2016, amid all the events to mark the 40th anniversary of the Golf GTI, he set a new Nordschleife record at the Nürburgring. Precisely 7:49.21 minutes – a best time that Benny beat by two seconds a little while later with a time of 7:47.19 minutes – in the Golf VII GTI Clubsport S. A record! The fastest front-wheel-drive production car!
The Golf GTI will forever be associated with him, there can be no doubt. It couldn’t be any other way, neither historically nor emotionally. ‘My mum drove a Golf II GTI 16V, “Fire and Ice” special edition,’ says Benny. ‘And I knew even back then that the GTI was something quite special.’
228 kW / 310 PS, 0 to 100 km/h in 5.8 seconds: the Clubsport S is the most powerful Golf GTI of all time – to date.
Made for each other: one of the fastest racing drivers in the world in his Golf GTI Clubsport S.
It seemed somehow written in the stars that her son would one day become one of the fastest touring car drivers in the world, particularly since mum still also whizzes around to this day. ‘And it was also clear from very early on that my first car would be a GTI,’ says Benny Leuchter, while carefully steering his 228 kW / 310 PS GTI Clubsport S around his home town of Duisburg.
Careful, because this particular Golf is number 01 and has done just 431 kilometres in three years. ‘It normally sits well wrapped and preserved in my garage,’ explains Benny, who saved hard for a new Golf VI GTI during his apprenticeship to become an industrial mechanic and while studying mechanical engineering.
Benny’s Golf GTI Clubsport S usually sits well wrapped and preserved in a garage.
Also impressive in the dark: the Golf GTI Clubsport S knows how to make a statement.
‘I then picked up the Mk VI GTI personally in Wolfsburg. The special suspension and wheels were already back home in Duisburg, along with the software for the chip tuning, which was written by a specialist,’ grins Benny, who was ultimately discovered for the Volkswagen Driving Experience and got into the ‘racing circus’ via this job. And he has never been out of the Golf since. When Benny is asked which word he would use to describe his Club S, the current Volkswagen brand ambassador and Motorsport representative mischievously replies: ‘Fast!’
The man clearly has a real flair for torque curves, speed points, chassis tuning and gearbox configurations. In other words: he has petrol and physics pulsing through his veins, combined with dynamism and lightning-quick perception in any situation. ‘The car has to be driveable. What use are spinning wheels to me in first gear if there is nothing to back it up afterwards?’ says Benny, summing up his maxim, which has also applied to the GTI for decades.
How would you describe your Golf in a word, Benny?
‘Fast!’
Still: ‘My best experience with the Golf was when I overtook all of the Porsche GT3, McLaren and other cars with flashing headlights during test runs. The “greats” were vexed – I like that!’ laughs Benny.
He just loves this car.
