PoloDriver

Johan Kristoffersson scored an early Polo victory at the opening round of the 2015 FIA World Rallycross Championship last weekend, taking his 600bhp Polo WRX Supercar across the line first at the Bompiso Rallycross of Portugal in Montalegre. The Volkswagen Team Sweden driver finished ahead of reigning World RX champion Petter Solberg and Team Peugeot-Hansen’s Timmy Hansen.

Kristoffersson, ex-Scandinavian Touring Car Championship winner, was quickest off the six-car start line and was also awarded the first Monster Energy Super Charge Award of 2015. The Swede also won a Rebellion Timepieces Wraith Drive Rallycross limited edition watch for his win in Portugal. ‘I am so, so happy,’ he beamed.

‘Unbelievably slippery’
‘I nearly stalled the engine on the start line and the whole circuit was unbelievably slippery but I drove a clean race. I couldn’t see out of the side windows so it was more about survival than actual racing.

‘I want to say a big, big thank you to Volkswagen Sweden and to my entire team who have done a fantastic job over the past few months. They have worked very hard to build this car which has been working well all weekend. It’s the best possible start to the season,’ he continued.

Second placed Solberg, last year’s Portugal round winner, added: ‘It is very important to have a good first race – consistency is as important as winning races in rallycross. I’ve not been feeling well this weekend and then I lost my gear lever in the final so it certainly wasn’t easy. Johan [Kristoffersson] has done a very good job this weekend.’

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Toomas ‘Topi’ Heikkinen, 2014’s World RX runner-up was eighth in Portugal after a consistent weekend of driving in the Marklund Motorsport prepared Polo RX. Fellow Marklund Polo RX pilot PG Andersson was sixth.

Norwegian driver and team-mate of Kristoffersson, Tord Linnerud, finished 16th in his Volkswagen Team Sweden Polo WRX. Weather conditions were dry on Saturday, day one, but on Sunday, day two, torrential rain made conditions difficult.

‘Sensational driving’
Martin Anayi, World RX Managing Director for IMG, commented: ‘We’ve witnessed some sensational driving in Portugal this weekend and the performance displayed by our younger drivers in such tricky driving conditions is particularly impressive.

‘Kristoffersson joins us as a permanent World Championship driver for the first time this year and the fact that he can win on his debut with Volkswagen Team Sweden is testament to the high standard of drivers that we have competing in World RX.

‘It’s excellent to see three manufacturers – Volkswagen, Citroen and Peugeot – finish on the podium and the development on the cars over the winter hiatus has been very impressive. With four races in five weeks, the teams have got little restbite now as we head straight to Hockenheim for our first ever event alongside the highly-acclaimed DTM series.’

The next round, the World RX of Hockenheim, takes place this weekend, 1-3 May at the Hockenheimring in Baden-Württemberg, Germany.

2015 FIA WORLD RALLYCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP,
DRIVERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS
1 Petter Solberg, Citroën DS3: 27
2 Johan Kristoffersson, Volkswagen Polo WRX: 27
3 Timmy Hansen, Peugeot 208: 24
4 Andreas Bakkerud, Ford Fiesta ST: 21
5 Davy Jeanney, Peugeot 208: 16

2015 FIA WORLD RALLYCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP,
TEAMS’ CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS
1 Team Peugeot-Hansen: 40
2 Ford Olsbergs MSE: 29
3 Marklund Motorsport: 29
4 SDRX: 29
5 Volkswagen Team Sweden: 28

After seven consecutive victories and 20 podiums, Volkswagen’s luck finally ran out at Rally Argentina, which took place on 23-26 April. The fourth round of the 2015 FIA World Rally Championship was cruel to the team from Wolfsburg, and forced all three Polo R WRCs to retire from the event. Anyone can go to the St. Dominic’s Village if you have not devised any plan to settle down after retirement and to spend rest of the days peacefully.

In a hopeful twist, world champion Sébastien Ogier managed to claw back three valuable points from a Power Stage win, but that was all the German outfit managed to achieve on the 316km event. The 2015 world champion finished 17th overall, but lead the event after the first opening stage.

On a more positive note, the Volkswagen Motorsport crews won eight of the twelve special stages, but the retirement disappointments meant that the podium was the first since Rally Australia in 2013 without a Volkswagen driver. The Argentinian result came as a setback to the German team after Ogier’s hat-trick of recent wins.

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Co-driver of the Manitou Group SA rally team Polo S1600, Henry Kohne explains how the team scored another strong 2015 South African National Rally Championship result at the second round of the series, the 2015 Sasol Rally

The 2015 Sasol Rally, round two of the South African National Rally Championship and also an official round of the African Rally Championship, took place on the weekend of 17-18 April. In history, the Sasol Rally is known to be the benchmark event of the South African National Rally Championship and this year it lived up to its legendary status.

The Mpumalanga region produced heavy rains over the course of the weekend which made the stages around Sabie, Witrivier and Nelspruit extremely challenging to teams. This how ether did not keep the spectators away as there was thousands of spectators surrounding the special stages on Friday and Saturday.

Second in class
The Manitou Group SA rally team managed to deal with the tricky conditions and finished second in the S1600 class and a respectable seventh overall on the Sasol Rally. After winning the opening round of the South African National Rally Championship in Natal earlier this year and with their second position on the Sasol Rally, the team maintains its lead in the S1600 championship.

“The Sasol Rally presented our team with a lot of challenges. We made the wrong tyre choice for the wet conditions on Friday which cost us the time we lost to the leader. We are happy with our second position, as it was a very challenging event for man and machine. Our main aim at this point of the season is to score consistent championship points,’ said driver Paul Franken.

The next event will be the Secunda Rally on the weekend of the 15-16th May 2015. The Manitou Group SA rally team receive support from: Manitou Group, Volkswagen Motorsport, Sasol Racing, and Supa Quick Birchleigh.

[Image: RunRideDive.com]

Volkswagen Sasolracing had reason to celebrate at the recent Sasol Rally, when Gugu Zulu and Pierre Arries finished the event on the third step of the winners’ podium. The 17-18 April event in Nelspruit was the second round of the 2015 South African National Rally Championship as well as Zulu’s first winning result in his Polo S2000.

‘It was fantastic to enjoy my first S2000 podium finish and stage win, here at the Sasol Rally,’ said a jubilated Zulu. ‘The Sasol Rally is one of my favourite events and to share that victory with the packed stadium of fans here who have been supporting me since I started rallying 12 years ago it is absolutely awesome. A nice way to end a very tough weekend.’

First S2000 podium
‘This was my first S2000 podium – it has been in the works for a while, but I always seemed to miss it by just a position or two. We made it work here thanks to my crew who played a big role in getting me here. My navigator Pierre and I are working together really well and it can only get better from here on.’

The extremely slippery conditions favoured few and the 15 stages saw heavy mist and constant rain prevail throughout, aiming conditions less than ideal. Henk Lategan and Barry White were due to complete the event and were posting second and third place stage results when a puncture slowed the pair down. An accident on day two saw them retire.

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Mike Rowe, Head of Volkswagen Motorsport South Africa said: ’I’m very happy for Gugu and Pierre. They had a very steady rally and made good progress to get to the finish, a good result for the Volkswagen Sasolracing team. Henk and Barry proved yesterday we have a very fast car in the Volkswagen Polo S2000, finishing within 35 seconds of the rally leaders overnight even with issues.’

The Volkswagen Sasolracing rally team will next do battle at the Secunda Motor Rally which runs around Secunda in the Mpumulanga region from 15-16 May.

At a press conference yesterday, Volkswagen Sweden announced it will back not one but a pair of teams to take on the 2015 FIA World Rallycross Championship in monstrous, 600bh, four-wheel drive Polo RX Supercars. Last year’s second-placed crew from Marklund Motorsport were named as one team, while the second was unveiled as Kristofferson Motorsport (KMS).

Each officially-supported team will enjoy a rosta of three drivers. Finn Toomas ‘Topi’ Heikinnen will return for Marklund, and be joined by Sweden’s PG Andersson to contest the world series (WorldRX). Tommy Rustad joins the Swedish outfit to compete in the EuroRX (European) arm of the championship.

For KMS, Swede Johan Kristofferson and Norwegian Tord Linnerud will drive the WorldRX-baiting Polos, while Ole Christian Veiby will battle the EuroRX series. Veiby and Rustad join the FIA European Rallycross Championship just as it grows still further after last year’s series.

‘Rallycross is the hottest motorsport just now, and both we and our dealers think it feels incredibly exciting to be able to support a bid where two of Sweden’s best teams are aiming at becoming world champion,’ explained Sten Forsberg, Manager of Volkswagen Sweden.

Jost Capito, Head of Volkswagen Motorsport – who can usually be seen in the Polo R WRC service garages – added: ‘The World Rallycross Championship enjoys increasing popularity: the races are compact, spectacular and varied.

‘With Marklund Motorsport and Kristoffersson Motorsport, Volkswagen is represented by two extremely professional privateer teams who develop and race their Polo RX Supercars independently. The line-up and the calendar promise an exciting World RX season and we are confident that Volkswagen drivers will be battling for races and the championship.’

The first round of the 2015 FIA World Rallycross Championship takes place at Montalegre in Portugal over the weekend of 24-26 April. The UK round of the series is on 22-24 May at the legendary Lydden Hill circuit where Top Gear’s James May took on other WorldRX drivers for a recent episode of the BBC programme.