Capito returns to Volkswagen after brief McLaren stint - MotorSportsTalk

Volkswagen has announced the return of Jost Capito to the company in the role of managing director following a brief stint with McLaren.

Capito headed up Volkswagen’s motorsport for four years, overseeing its domination of the World Rally Championship before joining up with McLaren as racing CEO last summer.

Capito had been due to work under group CEO Ron Dennis, only for Dennis to resign from his role following a boardroom struggle at the end of last year. McLaren confirmed in February that Capito would also be leaving the team after five months.

Volkswagen has now confirmed that Capito has rejoined the company in a senior management role.

“With effect from June 1, 2017, Jost Capito is to be Managing Director of Volkswagen R GmbH and Volkswagen Zubehör GmbH,” a statement from Volkswagen reads.

“Volkswagen R GmbH is the competence center for design- and performance-oriented products of the Volkswagen brand. Volkswagen Zubehör GmbH develops and markets vehicle accessories throughout the world.

“Jost Capito succeeds Ulrich Riestenpatt gt. Richter, who had been managing director since 2009. Mr. Riestenpatt gt. Richter had already become the Plant Manager at Osnabrück as Speaker of the Management Board and Managing Director, Technical, of Volkswagen Osnabrück GmbH in October 2016 in parallel to his other responsibilities.”

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An IndyCar executive said there is “absolutely” disappointment that its long-awaited video game recently was delayed beyond its target date, but the series remains optimistic about the new title.

“Well, I don’t know how quick it will be, but the whole situation is important to us,” Penske Entertainment president and CEO Mark Miles said during a news conference Monday morning to announce IndyCar’s NTT title sponsorship. “Motorsport Games has spent a lot of money, a lot of effort to create an IndyCar title. What we’ve seen of that effort, which is not completely obvious, is very reassuring.

“I think it’s going to be outstanding. That’s our shared objective, that when it is released, it’s just widely accepted. A great credit both to IndyCar racing, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, something that our fans love.”

In June 2021, IndyCar announced a new partnership with Motorsport Games to create and distribute an IndyCar video game for the PC and Xbox and PlayStation consoles in 2023.

But during an earnings call last week, Motorsport Games said the IndyCar game had been delayed to 2024 to ensure high quality.

Somewhat compounding the delay is that IndyCar’s license for iRacing expired after the end of the 2022 season because of its exclusive agreement with Motorsport Games.

That’s resulted in significant changes for IndyCar on iRacing, which had provided a high-profile way for the series to stay visible during its 2020 shutdown from the pandemic. (Players still can race an unbranded car but don’t race on current IndyCar tracks, nor can they stream).

That’s helped ratchet up the attention on having a video game outlet for IndyCar.

“I wish we had an IndyCar title 10 years ago,” said Miles, who has been working with the organization since 2013. “We’ve been close, but we’ve had these I think speed bumps.”

IndyCar is hopeful the Motorsports Game edition will be ready at the start of 2024. Miles hinted that beta versions could be unveiled to reporters ahead of the time “to begin to show the progress in a narrow way to make sure we’ve got it right, to test the progress so that we’re ready when they’re ready.”

It’s been nearly 18 years since the release of the most recent IndyCar video game for console or PC.

“(We) better get it right,” Miles said. “It’s something we’re very close to and continue to think about what it is to make sure we get it over the line in due course.”