PoloDriver

Wednesday 16 January sees Volkswagen Motorsport’s development of the Polo R WRC take on a much more critical role – the 300bhp, four-wheel drive rally weapon finally has its competitive debut on the ‘mother of all rallies’, the Rallye Monte Carlo. With over 20,000km of testing under their belts the engineers and drivers can develop the car no more – we’ll finally see what it’s made of. First Volkswagen Motorsport signings Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia will be in car number 8, while Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila will be in car number 7.

‘I cannot wait to finally getting going. The entire team at Volkswagen is looking forward to the WRC debut of the Polo WRC,’ said Volkswagen Motorsport Director Jost Capito. ‘World Championship rallies in the top WRC class are new territory for the team. Furthermore, the Polo R WRC has been developed from scratch and features a lot of innovative ideas. The “Monte” will give us our first indication of how we compare with the opposition – our rivals already have two years’ experience of the regulations that came into force in 2011. Our goal for the Rallye Monte Carlo is to gain as much experience as possible and also to finish with both cars.’

The Rallye Monte Carlo was first held in 1911 and has legendary status. Run through the narrow-tracked mountain roads in the French Maritime Alps to the north of the prinicipality of Monaco, drivers are often faced with black ice and snow on the many mountain passes they are required to negotiate. This makes it essential to select the right tyre – and makes the ‘Monte’ one of the most difficult and complex rallies on the World Championship calendar. We’ll be reporting on the event next week, so be sure to come back and read how the first event and the beginning of a new chapter in the Polo’s motorsport career unfolds.