Volkswagen completes pre-season test for 2016 Vento Cup

The test was overseen by driver coach Rayomand Banajee and 2014 Polo R Cup champion Karthik Tharani as 18 drivers went through various programme to prepare for the new season.

For Day 1, the rookie drivers tested in a modified Polo car as the seniors drove the new upgraded Vento Cup car while on Day 2 all the drivers were given three simulations in the new car.

The 2016 Vento car has undergone changes on the bumpers both front and back with the front grille wider than its predecessor.

With their new partnership with MRF Tyres, the car dynamics see changes though the tyre size that of 200/605R17 remains the same.

In addition, VW has brought new KW two way adjustable dampers in place of existing one way adjustable Sachs dampers with several iterations of spring rates along with the toe and camber to suit the new tyres.

"We’ve had two eventful days of testing and preparation for upcoming round and are happy to see all the new drivers come to grips with the Vento Race Car and go well through the training imparted by our coaching team," said Sirish Vissa, head of VW Motorsport.

"Over the course of two days, we’ve once again proved how safe and strong both race Polo and race Vento are, because the drivers have walked away unhurt from two massive racing incidents.

"The most satisfying experience was to see a marked improvement in terms of overall performance of the race car after all the hard-work put in by the teams at Volkswagen Motorsport India and MRF Tyres," he added.

The entry list released for this weekend's opener see several changes from the original list revealed in March as the driver count is down to 18 from 20.

Last year's runner-up Karminder Singh along with Rajeev Srivastava who competed in 2015 join in with rookies Aditya Pawar, Abhishek Vakil, Jeet Jhabakh and Venkat Teja.

Missing from the earlier list are 2015 entrants Harjee Wadia, Neha Dabas and Sailesh Bolisetti along with five other rookies.

The calendar also sees a change in the date for the final round which now will take place on September 30 - October 2 as opposed to September 16-18.

Entry list: