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Fresh from winning the Sport Auto magazine’s 2013 Sports Car (Small Car category) award, Volkswagen has released 34 more photos of the purposeful-looking 217bhp Polo R WRC road car. The 2.0-litre, six-speed hot hatchback sees its first European deliveries in September. Prices start at €33,900 for each of the limited production run of 2500 cars needed for homologation. UK availability has yet to be confirmed. Click on the gallery above to see PoloDriver.com’s favourites from the latest batch of pictures of the hottest-ever Polo.

The 315bhp Polo R WRC will star at the 2013 Goodwood Festival of Speed, celebrating Volkswagen’s 60 years of importing cars into the UK. The event, staged from 12-14 July at Goodwood House near Chichester, will also see Volkswagen’s latest rally-winning car sprint up the famous Goodwood hill climb. Dr Ulrich Hackenberg, outgoing Member of the Board of Management of the Volkswagen brand responsible for development, will pilot the Polo WRC. Alongside the bespoilered Polo will be the XL1, Volkswagen’s high-tech ultra-frugal car, capable of 313mpg. The latest versions of the Golf GTI and Golf GTD will also be available for Festival of Speed visitors to see. Click here to purchase tickets for the 2013 Goodwood Festival of Speed. Follow Volkswagen on Twitter to find out more details about its present at the event as more details are confirmed.

The hottest-ever Polo, the R WRC, Volkswagen’s road-going version of its winning World Rally Championship rally car, has been crowned the 2013 Sports Car (Small Car category) by Sport Auto magazine. The 2.0-litre, 217bhp hot hatchback will see its first deliveries start in September. The Polo R WRC road car also features a six-speed manual gearbox (as opposed to the seven-speed DSG in the Polo GTI), 0-62mph in 6.4 seconds, alcantara-trimmed sport seats, 18-inch ‘Cagliari’ alloy wheels, and a white, blue, and grey colour scheme. Prices start at €33,900. UK availability has yet to be confirmed.

Volkswagen Motorsport and Sébastien Ogier proved an unbeatable combination once again, as the team and driver took victory at Rally Italy last weekend. Ogier, along with co-driver Julien Ingrassia now dominate the 2013 FIA World Rally Championship drivers’ leaderboard 64 points ahead of their in-house rivals Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila, while Volkswagen Motorsport sits atop the manufacturers’ standings. Ogier and Ingrassia triumphed in Sardinia over Ford driver Thierry Neuville, while Volkswagen Motorsport team-mates Latvala and Anttila took the final spot on the podium. Andreas Mikkelsen and Mikko Markkula meanwhile, retired from the action early, due to suspension damage.

Ogier and Ingrassia set seven fastest times out of 16 special stages, with Latvala and Anttila taking a further six. Ogier dominated the field from day one, and kept up his pace – but at the same time being easy on his tyres – resulting in his fourth win of the season. ‘It feels fantastic to be back on top of the podium again! I’m delighted – the team did a fantastic job and the Polo ran like a dream all weekend. We now have a very comfortable lead in the Drivers’ Championship rankings. The rally was incredibly demanding physically, due to the high temperatures. On the second day in particular, you came close to your limits and you easily lost three to four litres of fluid. My tyre-friendly driving style was no doubt one of the reasons for my victory. I was especially pleased to once again win the Power Stage. I had a tough fight on my hands with Thierry Neuville, who was incredibly fast,’ said an ecstatic Ogier.

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At last, he’s done it! Jari-Matti Latvala and co-driver Miikka Anttila finally finished first in a round of the FIA 2013 World Rally Championship over the weekend, clinching the top podium position at the Rally Greece. Volkswagen’s fourth win from six rounds so far this season, there was more good news for the German team. Andreas Mikkelsen and Mikko Markkulatook fourth place, while leaders of the championship, Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia, came in tenth after, retiring from the event in day one with technical problems. The Rally Greece is considered the ultimate test in the WRC, because of its severely dusty, coarse gravelled and rocky stages. With such difficult conditions, the drivers’ starting positions on the three days of rallying played a crucial role in determining their chances.

The first day started well. Ogier and Ingrassia set the fastest time in qualifying, earning them the chance to choose their starting position for the first day of stages. Mikkelsen and Markkula were sixth, while Latvala and Antilla finished ninth. Ogier opted to start the opening leg in eleventh place, making him the last of the drivers in the WRC category. Latvala was the fourth man out onto the route, right behind Andreas Mikkelsen, who started third. But the day’s good fortune, soon diminished. Fuel pressure problems on Polo R WRC #8 saw Ogier and Ingrassia’s lead slip away. A cable connection on the car had come loose, interrupting the supply of power to the fuel pump, and even though the Volkswagen Motorsport mechanics replaced the wiring loom, a 10-minute penalty was enforced on the French pair.

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