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In a similar performance to that at the second round of the 2016 FIA World Rallycross Championship, both Volkswagen RX Sweden Polo RXs were among the front-runners at the third round of the series, the World RX of Belgium at Mettet. Both the 600bhp rallycross Polo Supercars of Johan Kristoffersson and Anton Marklund made it to the Supercar final at the 1.1km Circuit Jules Tacheny.

Fastest time
Kristoffersson once again – as at Hockenheim – set the winning pace in the Free Practice sessions on day one, and claimed the fastest time. The Swedish driver started form third on the grid in the Supercar final on day two, but a technical issue with his Polo meant he failed to capitalise on his prominent grid position.

Marklund meanwhile stormed into the lead and the first corner from the third row of the grid in the same race, and was awarded the Monster Energy Supercharge award. With both Volkswagen RX Sweden cars in the Supercar final, the team has closed the gap in the overall teams’ standings with 83 points. Kristoffersson’s sixth overall performance in Mettet leaves him third in the drivers’ championship points table, while Marklund’s fourth puts him 11th in the individual standings.

2016 Volkswagen Polo RX, World RX of Belgium: Kristoffersson

2016 Volkswagen Polo RX, World RX of Belgium: Kristoffersson

2016 Volkswagen Polo RX, World RX of Belgium

‘Good confidence’
Kristoffersson was pleased with his Polo RX’s speed: ‘I had a pretty good feeling through the whole weekend. I like the track in Belgium and I know the car suits it well. I came here with good confidence, we had the speed to win both of the first two events and I knew we would have the pace here.

‘Me and Anton finished side-by-side in Q1 but after that in every race I started in a worse position. The start at Mettet is so crucial: it’s just so competitive now. I was driving within myself and we used new tyres for the semi-final and things were looking pretty good. It feels like we still have a big headwind but the team is really great and we know we have the speed, so that is very positive.’

2016 Volkswagen Polo RX, World RX of Belgium: Marklund

2016 Volkswagen Polo RX, World RX of Belgium: Marklund

2016 Volkswagen Polo RX, World RX of Belgium: Marklund

Marklund was pleased with his best result of the season: ‘The pace has been really good all weekend. The guys worked so hard on the car between the races and our engine guys have done some really good work this weekend. We made a brilliant start from the last row, but after a small mistake at the chicane on the back straight we slipped down the placings. That’s where I lost a podium finish. Fourth is really good but the pace was there for the podium.’

EKS’ Mattias Ekstrom lead the 49-car Supercar field to victory at the World RX of Belgium. The fourth round of the 2016 FIA World Rallycross Championship, the World RX of Great Britain, takes place at Lydden Hill in Kent from 27-29 May.

2016 FIA WORLD RALLYCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP,
DRIVERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS
1 Mattias Ekström, Audi S1: 78
2 Petter Solberg, Citroën DS3: 73
3 Johan Kristoffersson, Volkswagen Polo: 58
4 Toomas Heikkinen, Audi S1: 46
5 Robin Larsson, Audi A1: 38

2016 FIA WORLD RALLYCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP,
TEAMS’ CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS
1 EKS: 124
2 Volkswagen RX Sweden: 83
3 Team Peugeot Hansen: 77
4 Hoonigan Racing Division: 43
5 World RX Team Austria: 39

[Images: FIAWorldRallycross.com]

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After a strong start last month at the opening round in Portugal, Volkswagen RX Sweden drivers Johan Kristoffersson and Anton Marklund were out of luck at the World RX of Hockenheim, the second round of the 2016 FIA World Rallycross Championship. Kristoffersson made the second semi-final and finished seventh overall at the event on 6-8 May, while Marklund was 15th.

Best results
Kristoffersson again showed the potential of the 600bhp Polo RX, the Swedish driver achieving the best results in the qualifying races, resulting in pole position in the second semi-final. The Volkswagen RX Sweden driver was second at the end of the first day of action at the iconic Formula 1 circuit. He also pulled off a killer move in the second round of qualifying by turning a spin into a leading move, soaring past other cars into the lead.

2016 Volkswagen Polo RX, World RX of Hockenheim: Kristoffersson

2016 Volkswagen Polo RX, World RX of Hockenheim: Kristoffersson

2016 Volkswagen Polo RX, World RX of Hockenheim: Kristoffersson

2016 Volkswagen Polo RX, World RX of Hockenheim: Kristoffersson

2016 Volkswagen Polo RX, World RX of Hockenheim: Kristoffersson

In that second semi-final, Kristoffersson’s Bauhaus-livered Polo got struck by championship leader Petter Solberg, though, which resulted in tyre and bodywork damage. However, the young Swede was still keen to put on a show for the assembled spectators at the 1.24km-long German track – which was also host to a round of the DTM the same weekend – and managed to retain the lead until the end of the fifth lap. He missed out on making the final by just one place, finishing fourth.

Poor grid position
Anton Marklund meanwhile was hampered by a poor grid position in Q1 and traffic in the majority of his races. Additionally, an incident with another car in Q1 made Marklund’s task even harder and he was forced to run in early qualifying races throughout the weekend, when the track was at its slowest. He was unable to fufill his potential and missed out on a place in the semi-finals.

EKS’ Mattias Ekström in his Audi S1 was the victor at the popular German circuit. In the overall drivers’ points table, Kristoffersson is now fourth with 39 points, while Marklund is 14th with nine points.Volkswagen RX Sweden remain second with 48 points in the team standings. The next round of the series – the World RX of Belgium – takes place on 13-15 May at Mettet in Belgium.

2016 Volkswagen Polo RX, World RX of Hockenheim: Marklund

2016 Volkswagen Polo RX, World RX of Hockenheim: Kristoffersson

2016 Volkswagen Polo RX, World RX of Hockenheim: Kristoffersson

2016 Volkswagen Polo RX, World RX of Hockenheim: Marklund

2016 Volkswagen Polo RX, World RX of Hockenheim: Kristoffersson

2016 FIA WORLD RALLYCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP,
DRIVERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS
1 Petter Solberg, Citroën DS3: 48
2 Mattias Ekström, Audi S1: 48
3 Toomas Heikkinen, Audi S1: 45
4 Johan Kristoffersson, Volkswagen Polo: 39
5 Robin Larsson, Audi A1: 34

2016 FIA WORLD RALLYCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP,
TEAMS’ CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS
1 EKS: 93
2 Volkswagen RX Sweden: 48
3 Hoonigan Racing Division: 40
4 Team Peugeot Hansen: 39
5 Ford Olsbergs MSE: 26

[Images: FIAWorldRallycross.com]

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After an eventful three days, Volkswagen Motorsport’s Sébastien Ogier and Andreas Mikkelsen stood on the second and third steps respectively of the 36th Rally Argentina podium. Hyundai Motorsport’s Hayden Paddon emerged victorious after an incident-packed fourth round of the 2016 FIA World Rally Championship (WRC), which ran around the gravel tracks surrounding Córdoba from 21-24 April.

Second-fastest time
After a six-week break, the Volkswagen team were all ready for the 364.68km Argentine event and, along with Hyundai, set the pace on Shakedown. Recording the second and third fastest times, the Hannover-based outfit Jari-Matti Latvala and co-driver Miikka Anttila were in the leading Polo R WRC, with Ogier and co-driver Julien Ingrassia third. Norwegians Mikkelsen and Anders Jæger were fifth.

Going into the action proper on the first special stage – a 1.5-km long spectator-lined spectacle in the centre of Córdoba – Volkswagen’s Ogier was keen to clinch victory as the South American round is the only one on the current WRC calendar the Frenchman is yet to win. It started well, with the Gap-born driver clocking the fastest time along with Hyundai’s Dani Sordo. Latvala finished twelfth, while Mikkelsen was just one place below his Finnish team-mate.

The first full day of action delivered action aplenty. Latvala and Anttila stormed ahead after 152 kilometres of stages to take the lead, leaving Ogier and Ingrassia trailing over seven seconds behind. Hyundai’s Hayden Paddon and John Kennard were an impressive third in the i20 WRC, one place ahead of Mikkelsen and Jæger.

2016 Volkswagen Polo R WRC, Rally Argentina: Ogier/Ingrassia

2016 Volkswagen Polo R WRC, Rally Argentina: Ogier/Ingrassia

2016 Volkswagen Polo R WRC, Rally Argentina: Latvala/Anttila

2016 Volkswagen Polo R WRC, Rally Argentina: Mikkelsen/Jaeger

2016 Volkswagen Polo R WRC, Rally Argentina: Service

Spectacular crash
Still on a high after their victory at Rally Mexico last month, Latvia and Anttila were on a charge. Sadly, it wasn’t to last. On stage 14 of day two, the Finns spectacularly crashed out after hitting a rock at the side of the road. The number ‘2’ Polo R WRC rolled several times, and the damage to the car was so severe, the pair were forced to retire. The Finns’ exit was great shame, as Latvala had finally seemed to have broken his 2016 start-of-season run of bad luck.

Almost unbelievably, Latvala’s departure handed the rally lead to young Paddon, who was 29.8 seconds ahead of world champion Ogier. Going into the last four special stages and 55.28 kilometres of the final day, it was a David and Goliath battle to play for. Mikkelsen and Jæger had kept up the pace, too, and finished the day 14.5 seconds behind Ogier and Ingrassia.

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The 2016 FIA World Rallycross Championship kicked off on 16-17 April with the first round of the 2016 series, the World RX of Portugal. Volkswagen RX Sweden driver Johan Kristoffersson found himself in third place in the overall drivers’ championship by the end of the – very muddy – action at Montalegre. Victory at the Portuguese 1.52km circuit went to former WRC ace Petter Solberg.

Sixth place
However, qualifying heats round one (Q1) winner Kristoffersson was awarded the Monster Energy Super Charge Award, after beating his competitors to the first corner of one of the semi-final races. The Swede ended the event in overall sixth place, but points amassed through setting fastest times in both the qualifying heats and one semi-final saw him higher in the overall standings.

2016 Volkswagen Polo RX, World RX of Portugal: Kristoffersson

2016 Volkswagen Polo RX, World RX of Portugal: Kristoffersson

2016 Volkswagen Polo RX, World RX of Portugal: Kristoffersson

2016 Volkswagen Polo RX, World RX of Portugal: Kristoffersson

2016 Volkswagen Polo RX, World RX of Portugal: Kristoffersson

Kristoffersson failed to match his 2015 World RX of Portugal win following an on-track collision with Solberg when the current World Rallycross champion exited his joker lap. The smash broke one of the Swedish driver’s driveshafts on his Polo RX Supercar.

For the 2016 series, the four timed qualifying rounds previously known as heats – which determine each driver’s position at the intermediate classification – are now called Qualifying. This is to fall in line with other World Championships run by the FIA. The four rounds will be called Q1, Q2, Q3 and Q4 for 2016.

2016 Volkswagen Polo RX, World RX of Portugal: Kristoffersson

2016 Volkswagen Polo RX, World RX of Portugal: Kristoffersson

2016 World RX of Portugal

2016 Volkswagen Polo RX, World RX of Portugal: Marklund

2016 Volkswagen Polo RX, World RX of Portugal: Kristoffersson

Polo RX potential shown
Kristoffersson’s Volkswagen RX Sweden team-mate Anton Maryland took his 600bhp Polo RX through to one of the semi-final races but failed to qualify to the last race itself. However, with both drivers scoring highly, the potential of the latest 1.9-seconds-to-62mph Polo RX was shown in Montalegre. Volkswagen RX Sweden is currently second in the teams’ championship overall standings.

The next round of the 2016 FIA World Rallycross Championship is the World RX of Hockenheim, which takes place on 6-8 May at the legendary F1 circuit.

2016 FIA WORLD RALLYCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP,
DRIVERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS
1 Petter Solberg, Citröen DS3: 29
2 Robin Larsson, Audi A1: 21
3 Johan Kristoffersson, Volkswagen Polo: 21
4 Toomas Heikkinen, Audi S1: 20
5 Andreas Bakkerud, Ford Focus RS: 20

2016 FIA WORLD RALLYCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP,
TEAMS’ CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS
1 EKS: 39
2 Volkswagen RX Sweden: 28
3 Team Peugeot Hansen: 26
4 Hoonigan Racing Division: 20
5 Ford Olsbergs MSE: 12

[Images: FIAWorldRallycross.com]

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It’s not only the World Rally Championship that sees mega-power Polos take to gravel tracks around the word. In case it has escaped your notice, rallycross has been back in a globally big way over the past three years and Volkswagen’s small hatchback also competes this this FIA-regulated championship, too – and the Polo RXs have twice as much power as their Polo R WRC counterparts.

Twelve-round championship
Announced at the start of the year, the Volkswagen RX Sweden team will campaign the ‘official’ Polo RX cars in the twelve-round 2016 FIA World Rallycross Championship (those ‘cross’ / ‘RX’ words and letters are important) with Johan Kristoffersson and Anton Marklund as its young-gun principal drivers.

These two have form – Kristoffersson won the World RX of Portugal last year, while Maryland raced a Polo RX before switching to an Audi S3 RX. Oh, and his father, Jan Marklund ran Marklund Motorsport, a kind of satellite team of Volkswagen Motorsport which has contested the rallycross championship with Polo RXs for the past three years. The new team itself is a merger of Kristoffersson Motorsport and Marklund Motorsport.

Blue, cyan and white livery
The new 2016 Volkswagen RX Sweden Polo RX Supercar was unveiled recently and its livery now bears comparison with that of the Polo R WRCs prepared in Hannover – dark blue is the dominant colour, while the white rear half and cyan streaks bring to mind the German-prepared Polo rally machine, too. Volkswagen RX Sweden also cites the Swedish flag and sponsor colours as inspiration.

Volkswagen RX Sweden by team manager Michael Schneider is aiming high with his new team and his new 600bhp Polo RX: ‘It is with great pleasure that we present our car for 2016. Our competitors have not been standing still in progress and they continue to develop their cars – but so do we.

2016 Volkswagen RX Sweden Polo RX Supercar

2016 Volkswagen RX Sweden Polo RX Supercar

‘The best of both concepts’
‘We have spent a lot of time to analyse the strengths and weaknesses of last year’s cars from Marklund Motorsport and Kristoffersson Motorsport, and we have tried to combine the best of both concepts in the new car. The whole team has worked hard and I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone involved who has contributed to the construction of this car. We all have the same goal and we are willing to do our utmost to achieve it.’

Kristoffersson can’t wait to get started: ‘The new car looks absolutely stunning and I feel proud to see my name on it. I look forward to the start of the season, but for now the focus is on pre-season tests in order to get as much out of the cars as possible. I’ve driven six rallies during the winter, which has helped me find a focus, develop and find new ideas for the Rallycross Championship.’

‘Simple, sleek and aggressive’
Marklund meanwhile is pleased with both the team’s and the car’s progress: ‘The car is really good, the team has put a great job on every single detail and it has a look I really like. It is simple, sleek and aggressive at the same time. I’ve known Johan (Kristoffersson) from the rallycross championship and he is a fun and relaxed guy. Our different experiences of life and the racing will help the team moving forward.’

The Volkswagen RX Sweden team has worked hard over the winter at its base in Boliden to ensure that the Polo RX Supercar’s performance lives up to its new look, and to also be ideally prepared for the first round of the season in Portugal which runs from 16-17 April at Montalegre. The Polo RXs have always been strong performers on the World Rallycross Championship stage. Now, with official backing, that performance could be about to gain some extra muscle…

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