Former footballer Robbie Savage has gone head to head with the former Stig, Ben Collins, in a Volkswagen Fan in a Van Football Ground Challenge, which is available to view online at Mirror.co.uk/vwcv from today.
The challenge included visiting as many football grounds as possible in a day on one tank of fuel and in the quickest time, but also using the minimum amount of fuel. To ensure fair play, both stars used the same vehicle – the efficient, new Volkswagen Transporter BlueMotion with a combined fuel economy of 44.8 mpg and a potential 780 mile range on one tank of fuel.
Football grounds visited include Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur, Fulham, QPR, Watford and Dagenham and Redbridge, and as an added twist both stars were accompanied by a ‘fan in a van’ selected via a social media competition on the Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles Facebook page and Twitter account.
More used to driving a Lamborghini than a van, Robbie Savage said: ‘We’ve all heard of the hare and the tortoise, this time it’s “the hair and the tortoise”. Ben’s used to racing around circuits. This time he’s on a public road. Trust me, I’ve got him beat on this one.’
But as a racing driver, Ben Collins had some valuable experience to bring to the challenge: ‘Managing your fuel consumption during a race can be the difference between winning and failing to finish, so I’ll be looking to take that experience into this challenge. With the Transporter’s class-leading fuel consumption figures, it should be a doddle.’
The Mirror.co.uk online promotion with Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles (mirror.co.uk/vwcv) also includes van-buying and fuel saving tips, a secret ‘love of vans’ confession by motoring journalist Vicki Butler-Henderson, and a competition to win a Transporter BlueMotion for three months.
