PoloDriver

Finally (or should that be Finn-ally)! Breaking a four-year non-Finnish win run, Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila reigned supreme at the 2014 Neste Oil Rally Finland, taking victory in their Volkswagen Polo R WRC.

The Finnish pairing won their home rally taking the victory all the way to the line, enduring a thrilling battle with team-mates Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia. The margin of victory? 3.6 seconds.

Latvala was dominant in the second day of the Finnish event, but suffered a setback in the afternoon. A large pothole damaged a brake line and his Polo R WRC had no braking on the front right-hand wheel, losing him and Anttila 27 seconds from his overall lead.

With a slimmed-down lead of just 3.4 seconds, the Finn summoned up tenacity and a determined spirit on the final day, demonstrating his driving skills to take a commanding victory.

But it was the tense and close duel between Latvala/Anttila and Ogier/Ingrassia which was the main story of Rally Finland, with 25 of the 26 possible best times being scored by one or the other of the two Volkswagen duos.

Only Citroën’s Kris Meeke and Paul Nagle managed to keep up with the Volkswagen pairs, finishing third.

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It may have been victorious in the recent Red Bull Global Rallycross Championship (GRC) round in New York, but the Polo-RX-powered Andretti Autosport team suffered a setback in its points fight at the fifth race of 2024 in Charlotte last weekend (26-27 July).

The North Carolina track was cruel to both Tanner Foust and Scott Speed’s 500+bhp Polo RXs, with both drivers failing to finish in the top three driver placings for the final. Speed was fifth, while Foust, hindered by tyre problems and a black flag incident with Sverre Isachsen, was three places further down the field.

‘It was a hard weekend at the dirt track. The course developed deep ruts and just about everybody got flat tyres,’ said Foust. ‘Our wheels are incredibly tough and stand up to the abuse, but it’s tough to keep up the pace when you’re running on metal instead of rubber.’

Foust continued: ‘I was in the middle on the start in the final and there just wasn’t room in the first corner for all three of us. I had a tyre go flat when we tried to squeeze through and my race was pretty much over right there.’

‘This sport is rough and my Rockstar Energy Drink Volkswagen Polo held up really well this weekend, the Top Gear USA presenter reported. ‘There were definitely battle scars from all the hits out there, but the crew worked hard and if it wasn’t for the flat tyre, we would have had a real shot at a win.’

Rallycross supremo Ken Block topped the podium at The Dirt Track, while former F1 driver Nelson Piquet Jr leads the overall standings with 227 points. Andretti Autosport’s Speed is in second place with 181 points. Round 6 of the Red Bull GRC will be at the Daytona International Speedway on 22-23 August.

2014 RED BULL GLOBAL RALLYCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP,

CHARLOTTE: FINAL RESULTS
1 Ken Block, #43 Hoonigan Racing Division Ford Fiesta ST
2 Sverre Isachsen, #11 Subaru Rally Team USA
3 Nelson Piquet Jr, #07 SH Racing Rallycross Ford Fiesta ST

2014 RED BULL GLOBAL RALLYCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP,

DRIVERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS

1 Nelson Piquet Jr, 227

2 Scott Speed, 181

3 Steve Arpin, 164

4 Joni Wiman, 162

5 Ken Block, 155

2014 RED BULL GLOBAL RALLYCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP,

TEAMS’ CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS

1 Ford, 472

2 Volkswagen, 293

3 Subaru, 196

4 Hyundai, 92

5 Chevrolet, 3

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The fifth round of the 2014 Volkswagen Polo Cup Russia was won by Arkady Bogomolov and co-driver Oleg Zimin. The 81-kilometre event, which was held as part of the Russian rally cup Rostov Velikiy, rewarded the Russian duo when Alexey Igatov had to retire.

Bogomolov and Zimin’s compatriot Andrey Vavilin took secind place, while Roman Katunin finished third. The next round of the 2014 Volkswagen Polo Cup Russia will be held between 8-9 August at the Rally Wyborg between Saint Petersburg and the Finnish border.

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US TV star Tanner Foust celebrated his first 2014 Red Bull Rallycross Championship (GRC) victory of the season on 12-13 July, as he won the race in Uniondale at the wheel of his Polo RX Supercar. He follows in the tyre tracks of his Andretti Autosport team-mate Scott Speed, who has claimed two 2014 Red Bull Global Rallycross Championship wins from three rounds.

It was a rough race. Foust, a two-time rallycross champion asserted himself ahead of Speed at the specially constructed 751 metre-long circuit at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum from the off. After two red-flagged starts and much paint-rubbing, the US pair both looked to be bringing home trophies with a Volkswagen 1-2 finish.

However, Speed suffered a disqualification for ignoring a flag during the race, handing second place to Nelson Piquet Junior. An unapproved adjustment done under the first red flag of the race was Speed’s downfall. Under the championship’s supplemental regulations, he was penalized from that point forward, resulting in a ninth-place finish.

Foust used the sub-two-second 0-60mph launches of the Rockstar Energy Drink Polo RX to maximum effect, blazing off the line. ‘The starts were the critical factor for me here,’ said Foust. ‘It can be very difficult to make a pass on a tight rallycross course and getting out front early and staying out of trouble is key to winning.’

‘Ultimately, it was a great end to a long weekend,’ said Foust. ‘The two guys with the most road racing and oval experience—Scott Speed and Nelson Piquet Jr— certainly were the ones to beat. Luckily it’s still a rallycross start, and I was able to get the nose of the No 34 Rockstar Energy Drink Volkswagen in there off the line.’

Speed commented: ‘Obviously it was a “not to plan” weekend for the No 77 7UP Volkswagen. We were the fastest car all weekend during practice and heat sessions and then we had engine problems on our starts. The Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross team did an incredible job, and the car definitely took a beating out there as we were pushing through the field.’

Speed is still second in the Drivers’ Championship point table, with a total of 149. The next round of the the Red Bull Global Rallycross Championship will be in Concord, NC, at The Dirt Track at Charlotte Motor Speedway, from 26-26 July.

2014 RED BULL GLOBAL RALLYCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP,

NEW YORK: FINAL RESULTS
1 Tanner Foust, #34 Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross Polo
2 Nelson Piquet Jr, #07 SH Racing Rallycross Ford Fiesta ST
3 Ken Block, #43 Hoonigan Racing Division Ford Fiesta ST
4 Joni Wiman, #31 Olsbergs MSE Ford Fiesta ST
5 Steve Arpin, #00 Royal Purple Racing/OMSE2 Ford Fiesta

2014 RED BULL GLOBAL RALLYCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP,

DRIVERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS

1 Nelson Piquet Jr, 184

2 Scott Speed, 149
3 Steve Arpin, 140
4 Joni Wiman, 124
5 Patrik Sandell, 116

2014 RED BULL GLOBAL RALLYCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP,

TEAMS’ CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS

1 Ford, 373
2 Volkswagen, 244
3 Subaru, 117
4 Hyundai, 86
5 Chevrolet, 3

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He’s the sixth different winner in as many rounds, but no matter, Toomas ‘Topi’ Heikinnen drove his Polo RX Supercar to victory at the Belgian round of the 2014 FIA World Rallycross Championship at Mettet. The young Finn showed consistently strong driving at the 1km-long Circuit Jules Tacheny over the weekend of 12-13 July.

Heikinnen and his 600bhp four-wheel drive Polo were third after the opening two heats, while team-mate Anton Marklund held first. But, during the final race, Heikinnen pulled out all the stops, to claim the top spot on the podium, with Marklund in fifth.

‘Topi’ was more than pleased with performance: ‘I am absolutely over the moon. It is my first World Rallycross Championship win and I hope now that this is just the start of a fantastic second half of the season.’

Victory in Belgium had added benefits for Heikinnen as he climbed one position in the World Championship standings. The Finn now lies third with 117 points. Marklund is currently fifth with 85 points.

Team Peugeot Hansen driver Timmy Hansen finished second with Johan Kristofferson third in another Polo – one of a pair run by the Volkswagen Dealer Team / Kristofferson Motorsport outfit in Sweden. Kristofferson’s podium position was only his second World RX outing this year, and was also crowned the winner of the third round of the FIA European Rallycross Championship (Euro RX).

‘This is only the second race for us and I would have been happy just finishing in the semi-finals,’ said Kristofferson who was also awarded the Monster Energy Super Charge Award after his rapid start. ‘To get to the final was amazing and to be on the podium is just the best feeling! We had a really good start in the final race as we were in pole position and I think that’s what really helped us get here.’

Other Polos in action over the 31 per cent gravel and 69 per cent circuit included local driver Francois Duval who lives less than 30 miles from Mettet. Piloting another Polo RX run by Marklund Motorsport, Duval is the only Belgian driver to win a round of the World Rally Championship.

He has a strong track record in rallycross after winning the Belgian round of the European Rallycross Championship when it was held at Maasmechelen back in 2010. ‘The car seems to be performing well and I’ll be aiming for a good result,’ explained Duval before the event. In the end, the Belgian set a good pace in the Belgian VW Club / Gordon and Raemaekers Polo RX, but finished the event out of the top twelve rankings.

The Polo S1600 of Christian Petrakovits finished fifth in Heat 4 of the Super 1600 category, while the Polo of Patrick Mertens came home fifth in the first semi-final of the Touring Car classification.

The next round of the championship will take place at the Circuit Trois-Rivières in Canada between 7-8 August.

2014 FIA WORLD RALLYCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP,

DRIVERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS

1 Petter Solberg, 125
2 Reinis Nitiss, 122

3 Toomas Heikkinen, 117
4 Andreas Bakkerud, 99

5 Anton Marklund, 85

2014 FIA WORLD RALLYCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP,

TEAMS’ CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS

1 Ford Olsbergs MSE, 221

2 Volkswagen Marklund, 202

3 Team Peugeot-Hansen, 154
4 PSRX, 117

5 Monster Energy World RX Team, 60

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