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Volkswagen has continued where it left off at the end of the 2014 FIA World Rally Championship (WRC), and taken victory at the 2015 Rally Monte Carlo. The opening event of the 2015 season last weekend actually saw a Volkswagen podium lock-out, with Sébastien Ogier taking first place, Jari-Matti Latvala finishing in second, while Andreas Mikkelsen rounded out the third step of winners’ rostrum.

The second-generation Polo R WRC was unveiled a week prior to the legendary ‘Monte’, and with tweaks including a paddle-shift gearbox and 3bhp more powerful engine, powered Volkswagen to become only the fifth manufacturer ever to claim a one-two-three at one of the world’s most iconic motorsport events. Ogier and Latvala took control of the new-for-2015 Polo R WRC in Monte Carlo, while Mikkelsen and his co-driver Ola Fløene were piloting the 2014 championship-winning car.

23rd Polo R WRC victory
The Rally Monte Carlo 1-2-3 was Volkswagen Motorsport’s 23rd victory with the Polo R WRC, as well as the 11th time it has had more than one crew on the podium since it joined the WRC in 2013. It was Ogier and co-driver Julien Ingrassia’s 25th podium in Monte Carlo, the second consecutive year the pair have done so. Other manufacturers to have scored a Monte Carlo ‘triple’ finish are Audi, Citroën, Lancia and Renault-Alpine.

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While Volkswagen Motorsport in Germany was taking the covers of the 2015 Polo R WRC rally car on Thursday 15 January, Volkswagen Motorsport India was unwrapping the Volkswagen Vento Cup race car. The new Polo Sedan-based racer will star in the 2015 Volkswagen Vento Cup, a new one-make series which will replace the Volkswagen Polo R-Cup India which enjoyed its first season in 2010.

The unveiling in Pune saw the debut appearance of the Vento Cup racing car, based on the standard production car made at Volkswagen India’s Chakan factory. Rather than the road-going car’s 103bhp petrol or diesel engines, the Volkswagen Vento Cup cars will be powered by the 180bhp 1.4-litre TSI engines from the previous Polo R-Cup cars.

The Vento Cup machine has a dry weight of 1,225kg, an increase of 30kg over the previous Polo racer. A six-speed DSG gearbox sends the power to the front wheels, while compulsory FIA safety equipment includes a roll cage, a racing seat with six-point harness and a fire extinguisher.

The 2015 Volkswagen Vento Cup championship will run, as did the Polo series, in partnership with JK Tyre Motorsport. Registration is open now, and drivers will be placed in Junior, Pro and Masters classes. Entry fees start at Rs 8 lakhs for the Junior class, Rs 12 lakhs for Pro classifications, while the Masters drivers will pay up to Rs 14 lakhs for a seat.

Head of Volkswagen Motorsport India, Sirish Vissa said: ‘The Polo R-Cup car was more of a go-kart. This new car will require drivers to be more wary of the weight at the rear of the car but will also allow them to use the increased oversteer to get the car to turn in faster, too.’

Rayo Racing will aid driver selection, which will be completed by a series of karting heats. A pre-season training camp will then take place. The 2015 Volkswagen Vento Cup series will start in June. Interested drivers can register at www.volkswagen-motorsport.in.

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Ahead of the 2015 Monte Carlo Rally next week, Volkswagen Motorsport pulled the covers off the second-generation Polo R WRC today in Wolfsburg. The car will contest the 2015 World Rally Championship. While full technical details will be released next week, the new 318bhp Polo R WRC has a paddle-operated hydraulically activated gearbox among its technological highlights.

The most striking difference between VW’s new rally weapon and the 2014 car is the external livery. Still keeping the blue and white colours of Volkswagen Motorsport, the new Polo R WRC’s livery also centres on its sponsors.

The dark blue of Red Bull dominates the front end, while paler blue bars fade into a white rear end, visually referencing the outgoing car. A new larger rear wing dominates the area above the rear window. Mysteriously, there are no ‘R’ badges on the car at all.

Volkswagen Motorsport states that around 75 per cent of the components used in the 2014 Polo R WRC have been further optimised for the new car, with the aim of making everything ‘simpler, lighter, and stronger’.

Volkswagen Board Member for Technical Development Dr Heinz-Jakob Neußer said: ‘The new Polo R WRC has undergone intense further development, both on the inside and the outside. Not only does it look even more dynamic and sporty than it did before, but our engineers have also been working meticulously on technical innovations under the bonnet.

‘We have improved many detailed aspects of the package that has been so successful for the past two years. The focus of this further development was on efficiency, reliability and performance.’

World rally champion Sébastien Ogier was excited with his new steed: ‘I am very optimistic that the new car will get off to just as good a start as its predecessor. We have done a lot of testing and we drivers have worked very closely with the engineers. We put a lot of effort into developing the new shift paddle, which represents real progress.’

Volkswagen number two driver Jari-Matti Latvala was equally revved up: ‘The new car feels really good, and we are ready for the new season – at last. We will be using the shift paddle on the steering wheel to change gear this year, and I really like it. On the whole, the new Polo is faster and even better than the 2014 car.’

Ogier and Latvala will line up at the start in Monte Carlo with the new-for-2015 car, while VW’s number three driver Andreas Mikkelsen will field the new and improved Polo R WRC from Rally Portugal, the fourth round of the 2015 World Rally Championship.

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The 2015 FIA European Rallycross Championship (Euro RX) will see rallycross veteran Tommy Rustad drive a Marklund Motorsport-prepared Volkswagen Polo RX in all five rounds of the upcoming series. The Norwegian will also contest a World RX round in Höljes, Sweden.

Rustad finished sixth in the 2014 Euro RX series in a Volvo C30 prepared by HTB Racing and is also an international touring car series driver. Swedish outfit Marklund Motorsport finished second in the teams’ standings in the 2014 World RX series running a two-car 600bhp Polo RX crew. Drivers Toomas ‘Topi’ Heikinnen and Anton Marklund finished second and sixth in the Drivers’ Championship respectively.

‘I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity Marklund Motorsport and HTB Racing gives me to be able to have better conditions for success in Euro RX,’ said Rustad. ‘Marklund Motorsport is one of the most professional teams in rallycross and they have helped to develop the VW Polo RX Supercar into a winning machine. I’m looking forward to testing the car working together with Anton Marklund and Toomas Heikkinen.’

Jan Marklund, Marklund Motorsport Team Principal, added: ‘We are absolutely delighted about this opportunity to offer a Volkswagen Polo RX Supercar to Tommy Rustad for the Euro RX series. Tommy isa very fast and experienced race driver. With our Volkswagen Polo RX he will be a top contender for the coveted Euro RX title in 2015. His presence will also boost our team and drivers – Anton and Topi – to go even faster in their World RX campaign.’

Marklund Motorsport teamed up with Volkswagen Motorsport to mount a factory-approved assault on the 2014 FIA Global Rallycross Championship in February last year, the start of a three-year partnership.

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It’s been another busy and exciting year for the Volkswagen Polo. Of course, the big news of 2014 has been the worldwide launch of a comprehensively revised version of the fifth-generation Polo. New engines, safety technology, interior refinements and a gently restyled exterior update it against refreshed competition.

On the asphalt and gravel stages of the World Rally Championship, the Polo has, like 2013, once again come out on top. Taking 12 event wins out of 13, the 300bhp four-wheel drive Polo R WRC has claimed the Manufacturers’ Championship title for Volkswagen Motorsport, and also carried Frenchmen Sébastien Ogier the Julien Ingrassia to their second consecutive Drivers’ Championship prize.

Other Polo-based motorsport series have also continued around the globe, with Wolfsburg’s small car competing as a rally, rallycross and also a track machine. Here, we round up the Polo’s biggest achievements in 2014. (Bold entries are illustrated by the picture above that particular month.)

January

– Refreshed fifth-generation Polo (known as ‘6C’) presented in Wolfsburg
– Polo ends 2013 as the eighth best-selling car in the UK
– 2014-specification Polo R WRC rally car unveiled

– Sébastien Ogier wins 2014 Rallye Monte Carlo with Polo R WRC

– Polo Vivo and is the best-selling car in South Africa for 2013; Polo 6R is runner-up

– Polo is the fifth best-selling car in the UK.

February

– Jari-Matti Latavala takes Polo R WRC to victory in Rally Sweden
– New Polo MY2015 production starts at Volkswagen Navarra factory
– New Polo BlueMotion, BlueGT and CrossPolo revealed ahead of Geneva motor show
– Volkswagen Motorsport signs rallycross partnership with Marklund Motorsport
– Polo is the sixth best-selling car in the UK.

March
– Mathew Hodges and Daniel Rowe take wins at 2014 Engen Volkswagen Cup opener
– Sébastien Ogier wins Rally Mexico, with Jari-Matti Latvala in second place
– Polo hatchback and saloon prices reduced in Brazil
– Volkswagen Sasolracing Polo S2000 triumph at 2014 Tour Natal Rally
– New Polo released for UK ordering – prices and full specifications announced
– Dewald Brummer and Tasmin Pepper take Engen Volkswagen Cup spoils at Killarney
– Polo is the seventh best-selling car in the UK.

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