PoloDriver

Co-driver of the Manitou Group SA rally team Polo S1600, Henry Kohne, recounts how the team finished second in the S1600 class at the 2015 Imperial Toyota Tshwane Motor Rally, the sixth round of the 2015 South African National Rally Championship

The 2015 Imperial Toyota Tshwane Motor Rally took place on the weekend of 14-15 August 2015. The event kicked off at Fort Klapperkop in Tshwane on Friday and stretched out to the Cullinan area for a total of 10 gravel stages on Friday and Saturday.

Character-building weekend
It was a character-building weekend for the team. A puncture on day one and an electrical issue causing a misfire on day two meant the team struggled to keep up with the pace over the course of the weekend.

The competition was fierce with only seconds separating the stage times of the top five. The Manitou Group SA rally team was in fifth position at the end of day one but managed to fight its way back to second position in class S1600 at the end of day two.

‘Home event’
‘We are fortunate with our result, it was a frustrating weekend at times but when all went well we posted good stage times. We are now looking forward to the last two events of the series. Cape Town is my home event, but we have a lot of hard work to put in if we want to take the fight for the championship,’ said Polo S1600 driver Paulus Franken.

Paulus Franken and Henry Kohne in the Manitou Group supported Volkswagen Polo R2 are now 2.5 points behind Championship leader, Guy Botteril in the S1600 class with two rounds remaining in the 2015 South African National Rally Championship.

The next event is round seven, the Toyota Cape Dealer Rally, which takes place from 18-19 September. The Manitou Group SA rally team is supported by Manitou Group, Supa Quick Birchleigh, Volkswagen Motorsport and SASOL Racing.

[Image: Dave Ledbitter/rallyworld.net]

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After a disappointing 2015 World Rally Championship season so far, Volkswagen Motorsport’s Finnish drivers Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila took the win at their home event, Rally Finland, which was staged from 30 July to 2 August.

In front of thousands of jubilant spectators, the pair finished the event at an average speed of 125.44km/h and claimed best times on half of the 20 Special Stages. Their overall lead over second-placed team-mates Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia was 13.7 seconds.

‘Kings of Speed’
Latvala and Anttila’s victory in the canopy-lined forests of Finland makes it their third. The new-found ‘Kings of Speed’, the pair have now scored fastest times on both gravel and tarmac events. The Finns moved into the lead at Rally Finland during the legendary ‘Ouninpohja’ stage and clocked Latvala’s 400th stage win of his career, as well as the fastest speed of 132.18 km/h.

Taking second place in the final ‘Myhinpää’ power stage, Latvala and Anttila scored another two points towards their Drivers’ Championship standings. Ogier and Ingrassia were victorious, however, and took the full three points. It was the French duo’s 23rd power stage success and the 26th for Volkswagen Motorsport.

Celebratory mood
‘I can’t even begin to tell you how happy I am,’ said a Latvala, in celebratory mood. ‘This win means all the more to me after all the ups and downs this season. My motivation coming into this rally and my desire to win were immense.

‘After all the ups and downs I’ve been through this season, this victory means a huge amount. I would like to thank the entire team for its great work. They have always believed in me, even in times when things have not run so smoothly,’ he continued.

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The fifth round of the 2015 Engen Volkswagen Cup in South Africa was dominated by Sheldon van der Linde, as the 16 year-old took a brace of wins at the Zwartkops Raceway on 8 August. The championship leader won the first race ahead of Tasmin Pepper and was in front of Mathew Hodges when the second drew to a close.

3.329-second advantage
Van der Linde had a 3.329-second advantage over Pepper by the end of the first race’s eight laps. Daniel Rowe rounded out the podium, 4.549 seconds behind Van der Linde. Pepper started on pole, but Van der Linde didn’t hang around and soon went into the lead. Pepper hung on, though, as was rewarded with second place.

In race two, Hodges was 7.955 seconds behind the race leader having started in pole position, with Rowe taking the third step on the winners’ rostrum yet again, 9,460 seconds adrift of the uncatchable Van der Linde. Pepper finished second to last when she failed to finish due to a gearbox problem.

Van der Linde was also fastest in qualifying with Christopher Shorter and Trevor Bland rounding out the top three. Amazingly, the fastest 12 competitors crossed the start/finish line in their Polo Vivo GTs with just a second separating them.

Avoiding action
Shaun La Reservée meanwhile started both races, but was unable to complete a single lap in either. Pushed off in the first corner of the first lap in race one and then eliminated from race two in the second-last corner while taking avoiding action in an incident involving other competitors, it just wasn’t La Reserveé ’s day.

The incident in the first race saw it red-flagged after lap one and then restarted, while in the second race the competitors ran under the Safety Car while the track was cleared of debris. Newcomer Justin Oates was awarded the ‘Driver of the Day’ award and finished 16th and 12th to claim 12th overall for the day in his Engen Volkswagen Cup debut.

The sixth round of the 2015 Engen Volkswagen Cup will be hosted at Dezzi’s Raceway in Port Shepstone on Saturday, 29 August – and the field will tackle a race track that has never seen Engen Volkswagen Cup competition before.

RACE RESULTS

Race 1

1 Sheldon van der Linde (1: Champion)
2 Tasmin Pepper (31: PG Glass / Plastomark)
3 Daniel Rowe (2: Ferodo)

Race 2
1 Sheldon van der Linde (1: Champion)
2 Mathew Hodges (M1: Makopano / Phoenix Signs / 959 Panelbeaters)
3 Daniel Rowe (2: Ferodo)

OVERALL
1 Sheldon van der Linde (1: Champion)
2 Daniel Rowe (2: Ferodo)
3 Mathew Hodges (M1: Makopano / Phoenix Signs / 959 Panelbeaters)

MASTERS

Overall

1 Mathew Hodges (M1: Makopano / Phoenix Signs / 959 Panelbeaters
2 Juan Gerber (M8: Haupt Racing)
3 Trevor Bland (M2: PG Glass / Alpine Motors)

CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS
1 Sheldon van der Linde: 252
2 Mathew Hodges: 235
3 Daniel Rowe: 212
4 Trevor Bland: 197
5 Matt Shorter: 184

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The Volkswagen Polo R WRC claimed another World Rally Championship (WRC) one-two finish at Rally Poland from 2-5 July, its 12th in 33 starts. Sébastien Ogier and Andreas Mikkelsen performed well on the gravel tracks in the Masurian Lake District, with Ogier and co-driver Julien Ingrassia taking victory by 11.9 seconds.

Thrilling duel
Not for the first time, fans were treated to a thrilling duel between two Volkswagen drivers. In temperatures upwards of 30 degrees C, Ogier and Mikkelsen produced flawless drives with the young Norwegian keeping the pressure on the Frenchman right until the final power stage.

Aided by co-driver Ola Fløene, Mikkelsen put in one of his strongest performances to date. It’s been a privilege to watch the development and rise of one of WRC’s hottest young stars, and its; no wonder Volkswagen Motorsport has renewed the 26 year-old’s contract.

Mikkelsen was very pleased with his performance: ‘That was by far the best WRC rally of my career. I like the characteristics and high-speed rallies like the one here in Poland. I came close to bagging a first win, and it ultimately just came down to a few minor details.

‘I am incredibly proud of our performance here in Poland. Sure, we came close in Sweden too, but that was our home rally. To be battling for victory on a par with the world championship here is of a completely different, far higher significance. I am confident it is only a question of time before we get our first win,’ he proclaimed.

Mikkelsen posted the fastest stage time on the fastest two stages of the season so far: ‘Gorklo’ saw an average speed of 131.09kph while the Norwegian’s speed on ‘Wieliczki’ even out at 128.13kph. Ogier averaged 121.41kph across the whole event, with over 60 per cent of the rally taken at full throttle. He’s not a two-time world champion for nothing.

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Henry Kohne, co-driver of the Manitou Group SA rally team Polo S1600 recalls how the team took the S1600 top spot at the 2015 Volkswagen Rally on the Eastern Cape, the fifth round of the 2015 South African National Rally Championship

Heavy rains
The 2015 Volkswagen Rally took place in Port Elizabeth on the weekend of 17-19 July and the Manitou Group SA Rally team won the S1600 class ahead of Matthew Vacy-Lyle and Schalk van Heerden’s Toyota Etios R2 in very tricky conditions.

The event consisted of twelve gravel stages running over two days – the second day provided extreme weather conditions with heavy rain fall. Two of the twelve stages were cancelled due to the heavy rains but the teams had to battle it out in the remainder of the stages.

The conditions made it especially challenging for the S1600 teams, being only front-wheel drive and difficult to handle in the wet conditions. Many of the teams were caught out and forced to retire, but the Manitou Group SA rally team managed to steer clear of trouble and finish on the top spot of the podium.

‘According to plan’
‘We were hoping for a good event as it is almost like a home event to us with Volkswagen being based in Uitenhage. We had a good test before the event and were confident with the car and in the team that we could finish well, providing that we didn’t have any issues on the event,’ said driver Paul Franken.

‘Our car was great and everything just went according to plan. This was a special win for the Manitou Group team as it also puts our championship back on track,’ Franken added.

The Manitou Group SA rally team is supported by Manitou Group, Supa Quick Birchleigh, Volkswagen Motorsport and SASOL Racing. Round six of the 2015 South African National Rally Championship is the Cullinan Rally in Gauteng on 14-15 August.

[Image: RunRideDive.com]

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