Which sort of implies that it was probably the World’s only ever, all-Volkswagen Kombi race! The winner was local sportscar ace Sergio Cardoso. More usually seen at the wheel of a Ford GT40, and shown here displaying his customary, lucky number thirteen.
27-Dec-22 historicracing.com
In a recent BBC radio interview, Brazilian double World Champion Emerson Fittipaldi was asked to name the worst racing car he that he’d ever been required to drive. The answer, rather surprisingly, was a Volkswagen Kombi! Emerson wasn’t a competitor that day at Jacarepagua though. That was very much a Carioca (a native of Rio de Janeiro) affair. But, not wanting to be outdone, the Paulista (a native of Rio’s rival city, Sao Paulo) contingent decided to give the idea a good looking at too. And, with dreams of fortune and glory in mind, a fresh, young Emerson Fittipaldi was let loose on the famous Interlagos circuit in an identical contrivance. Emerson was apparently barely out of the pits before he’d reduced the Kombi to its constituent atoms! Now formally declared a very bad idea, the exercise was not repeated. And that day at Jacarepagua remains to this day, the pinnacle of all known Kombi racing action.
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