PoloDriver

Manitou Group Volkswagen Polo R2 co-driver Henry Kohne looks back on the challenging and disappointing 2014 Volkswagen Rally

 
The Volkswagen Rally which took part on the weekend of 11-12 July 2014 presented the Manitou Group Rally team with yet another character-building weekend. This being the home event for Volkswagen, the team had the VW Polo R2 prepared to perfection and was ready to put in the effort for a good result.
 
The event started in Uitenhage – the South African home of the Polo and where it is built – and after the first gravel stage the team found themselves right among the top competitors in the S1600 class. Unfortunately soon after, in the following stage, the Manitou Group VW Polo R2 lost third gear, presenting a huge challenge to the team to complete the next three gravel stages without third gear.
 
Managing to get to the service park at the end of day one, the service crew did a great job in changing the gearbox of the Polo R2 in 45 minutes. Without losing too much time the team was in seventh position at the end of day one with only seconds separating them to fifth position, the challenge was on.
 
Bad luck continued on day two, getting a puncture on the second gravel stage of the day the team lost even more time. Just as the team thought things couldn’t get any worse, they picked up engine trouble in the next super special stage and were forced to retire from the event.
 
‘This was truly a frustrating event for the Manitou Group Rally team, we had plain bad luck. The whole team put so much effort into this event. Although it was a disappointment to retire we have once again learned a lot and would be working harder towards the next event,’ added Paulus Franken.
 
The Manitou Group Rally team can be seen in action again on 15-16 August at the Ford Dealer Rally in the Cullinan, Gauteng area.
 
Thanks to the support we receive from Manitou Group, Volkswagen Motorsport and SASOL Racing. Follow us at: www.facebook.com/Manitougroupsarallyteam

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It was success all round for the Volkswagen Sasolracing team at the Volkswagen Rally on 11-12 July. Not only did the pairing of Hans Weijs Jnr and Björn Degandt claim third on the podium, but Volkswagen Sasolracing won both the Team and Manufacturer’s Award at the event on the Eastern Cape.

Weijs and Degandt drove their Polo S2000 in challenging conditions over 15 stages, crossing the finish line at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium just ahead of their team-mates Gugu Zulu and Carl Peskin.

Weijs and Degandt ended the first day in third place, while Zulu and Peskin were sixth. ‘The Longmore Forest stages were just as good as I expected,’ Weijs reported. ‘We are doing well in the championship and our goal now is not just to finish on the podium – now we want to win.’

With two second-fastest stage times for the pair in the Volkswagen Rally, Zulu and Peskin are picking up the pace in their first S2000 season. ‘The Volkswagen Rally is renowned for being a very testing event, but it rates as one of the best in the country,’ said Zulu.

‘We have some work to do in terms of rhythm inside the car to make it a bit smoother, but the team have provided me with a fantastic car, now we just have to get it all together.’

The rally started well for Henk Lategan and Barry White as they produced the second-quickest time in the opening stage and were among the top five in nine of the 15 stages. Unfortunately hitting one of the many tree stumps in the forest forced them into a ditch and early retirement.

Mike Rowe, Head of Volkswagen Motorsport South Africa, was pleased with his team. ‘Hans and Björn drove well to achieve a podium position. The team is making good progress and now, with a second in the championship with four rounds to go, we are in a strong position for the fight to the end of the season.’

Raimund Baumschlager and his navigator Klaus Wicha joined the team for the Eastern Cape event. Volkswagen received the Manufacturer’s Award for the most points scored, while Weijs and Degandt and Lategan and White received the Team Award.

Other Polo finishers included Chad Van Beurden and Nico Swartz who came home sixth in their Polo S1600, 10th place AC Potgieter and Tommy du Toit (Polo S1600), 11th place Andrew Heine and Robbie Coetzee in another Polo S16000, and Paulus Franken and Henry Kohne who drove the Manitou Group Polo R2 to seventeenth place.

Polos which didn’t complete the event included the cars of Thilo Himmel and Armand Du Toit, and Raimund Baumschlager and Klaus Wicha. The fifth round of the 2014 South African National Rally Championship will see the Volkswagen Sasolracing team head to Gauteng on 15 and 16 July for the Ford Dealer Rally.

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It was Mathew Hodges who showed the rest of the field how to set the pace at the fourth round of the South African 2014 Engen Volkswagen Cup in East London on the Eastern Cape. The two races saw many close battles and fierce competition over the races’ 16 laps.

Masters class driver Hodges was dominant throughout the race day on 6 July and was rewarded with overall victory at the event. This moves him up to fourth place overall in the championship drivers’ standings and first place in the Masters category.

Hodges had competition in race one from Daniel Rowe and Dewald Brummer, with both fighting for the front of the field. Brummer was fastest qualifier while Rowe started on pole as a result of the top-six driver draw.

Hodges took advantage of contact between the pair and led the pack before a red flag stopped the race two laps early after an accident which saw Noel Greyling’s Polo Vivo suffer significant damage.

Brummer took victory in race two after 10 laps, with Sheldon van der Linde finishing second and posting the fastest lap time in the process. Hodges rounded out the podium, boosting him to the top of the race day results and sending him to the top of the Masters’ points table.

The fifth round of the 2014 Engen Volkswagen Cup will be at the Phakisa Freeway in Welkom on 2 August.

RACE RESULTS

Race 1

1 Mathew Hodges (M3: ITR Africa / 959 Panelbeaters)
2 Daniel Rowe (11: Ferodo Racing)
3Dewald Brummer (2: MAD Racing / Grand Prix Models)

Race 2
1 Dewald Brummer (2: MAD Racing / Grand Prix Models)
2 Sheldon van der Linde (16: Ferodo Racing)
3 Mathew Hodges (M3: ITR Africa / 959 Panelbeaters)

Overall
1 Mathew Hodges (M3: ITR Africa / 959 Panelbeaters)
2 Dewald Brummer (2: MAD Racing / Grand Prix Models)
3 Daniel Rowe (11: Ferodo Racing)

MASTERS
Race 1
1 Mathew Hodges (M3: ITR Africa / 959 Panelbeaters)
2 Trevor Bland (M6: PG Glass / Suburban Panelbeaters)
3 Juan Gerber (M8: Haupt Racing)

Race 2
1 Mathew Hodges (M3: ITR Africa / 959 Panelbeaters)
2 Trevor Bland (M6: PG Glass / Suburban Panelbeaters)
3 Juan Gerber (M8: Haupt Racing)

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Volkswagen Marklund Polo RX driver Toomas Heikkinen narrowly missed out on the final at the fifth round of the FIA World Rallycross Championship in Höljes last weekend (5-6 July), the Volkswagen Rallycross of Sweden. The 23-year old took fourth place in the 600bhp Polo RX Supercar in the semi-final. The Finn needed a third place finish to qualify for the final at the 1.2km Swedish circuit.

Team-mate Anton Marklund was also unfortunate at Höljes Motorstadion, missing out on reaching the semi-final by a very narrow margin. One heat victory, two heat second-place finishes and a breakdown caused by suspension and differentials failure was sadly not enough to qualify for the final race as one of the fastest six drivers.

Overall, though, Heikkinen is still in fourth place on 88 points in the championship standings, thanks to his four top 10 heat times, proving that consistent finishes can be just as important as winning races. Marklund is fifth on 64 points. Double DTM Champion Mattias Ekstrom won the event overall in his first outing, taking victory in the newly-developed Audi S1 Supercar.

Local Swedish rallycross stars Ole Christian Veiby and Johan Kristoffersson of Kristoffersson Motorsport also added to the Polo count, by putting their Local Dealer Team Polo RX Supercars through their paces.

The next races in the 2014 FIA World Rallycross Championship will be held on 12 and 13 June at the Circuit Jules Tacheny, in Mettet, Belgium. There will be more Volkswagen interest, too: rallycross star Francois Duval will appear in another Marklund Motorsport-prepared Polo RX Supercar.

2014 FIA WORLD RALLYCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP,

DRIVERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS

1 Reinis Nitiss, 112
2 Petter Solberg, 103
3 Andreas Bakkerud, 90
4 Toomas Heikkinen, 88
5 Anton Marklund, 64

2014 FIA WORLD RALLYCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP,

TEAMS’ CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS

1 Ford Olsbergs MSE, 211
2 Volkswagen Marklund, 152
3 Team Peugeot-Hansen, 123
4 PSRX, 117
5 Monster Energy World RX Team, 45

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At the fourth round of the Volkswagen Polo Cup Russia, Mikhail Krivospickiy and Marina Glushkova scored their debut win at the White Nights Rally in Karelia. Ahead of Arkadiy Bogomolov and Vladimir Melnikov, the Russian pair benefitted from a rare driving error made by Alexey Ignatov.

Ignatov led for most of the 124-kilometre Karelia race, and has also won the first three rounds of the season. He lost 17 minutes on the final special stage, as well as the resulting victory. The next round of the Volkswagen Polo Cup Russia will be held in Strugi Krasnye from 11-12 July.

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