PoloDriver

The Volkswagen Polo R Cup 2014 got off to a thrilling start on 31 May-1 June at the Kari Motor Speedway in Coimbatore. Singh Matharoo won the opening race ahead of Anshul Manoj Shah and Lee Keshav Gupta – Karminder Pal Singh originally crossed the line in first position but was later given a penalty for having overtaken Shah under yellow flags.

An eventful start saw pole position winner Karthik Tharani Singh colliding with Shah at the beginning of lap one. The red flags were brought out, and although Shah could restart the race, Singh was unable to, due to the amount of damage his Polo TSI racer sustained. Gupta held the lead ahead of Shah, and Karminder Singh moved up into fourth position on lap four.

Shah continued to put pressure on race leader Gupta, and on lap nine made his move. Both cars touched, giving Shah the lead and demoting Gupta to fourth. Karminder Singh took advantage, attacking Shah, taking the lead at the start of lap 10. But his lead was short-lived.

While he crossed the line first, a post-race investigation saw him penalised for overtaking Shah on yellow flags. This resulted in a 30-second penalty, demoting him to 10th place.

Matharoo, meanwhile, who started in ninth position, was thrilled to inherit the victory and take the early lead in the championship. ‘It is not the best way to take the win but after a tough qualifying session I am very happy to win the race.

‘To start ninth on the grid and then win the very first race of the season is an exhilarating feeling. After an average performance in the qualifying, I am delighted to have been able to put in 100 per cent in the race and having won it!’ he commented.

Race two was won by Bonnie Thomas, following a battle with Matharoo and Anindith Reddy. The second race of the season saw the top five drivers separated by five seconds.

Thomas, a rally driver as well as a circuit racer, started in pole position, with Matharoo in eighth. Thomas started well, holding onto his lead, even after a safety car incident, with Reddy in second place.

Matharoo worked his way up the field, passing Reddy for second position. Spending five laps ion the tail of Thomas, he couldn’t find a way through, and ended the race on the second step of the podium. Reddy kept up the pace and came home third.

‘I just joined Volkswagen Polo R-Cup to learn. This round has been tough, my fellow drivers have been really good, but starting on pole gave me the advantage,’ he commented after his win.

Sirish Vissa, Head of Volkswagen Motorsport India, was happy to start the season in such an exciting manner. He said: ‘This is a very nice way for me to start here as the new Head of Volkswagen Motorsport India.

‘My team has been excellent since the beginning of the season and have worked hard behind the scenes. Our focus this year has been to invest in drivers and their development. What remains constant though is our endeavour of grooming of young racing talent in India from grass roots level.

‘With the inclusion of a mid-season test drive and a mid-season fitness camp we strive to increase drivers’ development.’

Volkswagen Motorsport India runs the Volkswagen Polo R-Cup India 2014 series in conjunction with JK Tyres. The field of young largely Indian racers drive identical and centrally-prepared 1.4-litre TSI-engined, 178bhp Polo R-Cup cars.

JK TYRE VOLKSWAGEN POLO R CUP 2014,

DRIVERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP
1 Angad Singh Matharoo, 54
2 Bonnie Thomas, 43
3 Anindith Reddy, 35
4 Anshul Manoj Shah, 34
5 Lee Keshav Gupta, 33

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The recent Taman Rally saw Alexey Ignatov and his co-driver Alina Kondratyeva score their third win in as many events in the 2014 Volkswagen Polo Cup Russia calendar. The event saw 11 teams compete in Polo rally cars against the clock. On the first day, Ignatov and Arkadiy Bogomolov fought duels over 81 kilometres and six Special Stages.

However, Bogomolov, who led at the halfway point of the event, skidded off the road on day two to leave the way free for Ignatov. Rounding out the podium’s overall results on the final day was Vadim Leluh who was second, while Vladimir Melnikov finished the event in third place. Both Polo hatchback and saloon (Polo Sedan) versions of Volkswagen’s globally-marketed small car are used in the series.

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The second round of the new 2014 FIA World Rallycross Championship visited the home of the sport in the UK last weekend. Over 37 rallycross 600bhp Supercars visited Lydden Hill for the World RX of Great Britain round of the series.

Marklund Motorsport Polo RX drivers Toomas ‘Topi’ Heikkinen and Tanner Foust finished fourth and fifth respectively in the exciting Supercar final, while Anton Marklund completed the semi-final in fourth place.

Heikkinen started the final from pole position after going fastest in the semi-final race. The Finn experienced power problems with his Polo, though, and had to settle for fourth place behind Ford Fiesta ST RX driver Andreas Bakkerud, who went on to emerge victorious overall at the 1.4-kilometre long British circuit.

Heikinnen started the final day of the meeting third overall and was fastest in his third heat. In his fourth heat he suffered a puncture on the penultimate lap, which out him in 26th place. But, despite the setbacks, the 23 year-old finished third after the heats and won his semi-final by waiting until the final lap to take his ‘joker’ lap.

‘I had a good start in my semi and my pace was good all the way. Petter Solberg and Andreas Bakkerud made their joker lap in the beginning but I waited until my last lap and kept ahead of them. My start in the final wasn’t perfect and I got stuck behind Robin Larsson’s Audi A1.

‘Then my engine started to lose power for some reason and I finished fourth. It’s obviously not the result I wanted after being fastest in the semi-final. But we are in a good position in the championship and ready for the next round,’ said Heikkinen.

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In the second of a series of updates, Henry Kohne, co-driver of Paulus Franken, recounts their performance at the South African PMC Gauteng Rally in the Manitou Group Volkswagen Polo R2 rally car

The PMC Gauteng Rally took place on 23-24 May 2014 in the Babsfontein area of South Africa. After not having the ideal start to their season, the Manitou Group team was hoping to have a better event in round three of the 2014 South African National Rally Championship.

The team got off to a good start. Having a trouble free run on Friday, they were in fifth position in class at the end of day one. With only 37 seconds separating them to second place, they knew that the battle would be fierce for positions on Saturday.

Paulus Franken commented on the team’s fortune: ‘Ernie van der Walt unfortunately had mechanical issues and we moved up one position after stage five. The rest of the event we were fighting for positions with Ashley-Haigh Smith and Chris Coertse, who both drove great events.’

At the end of the event ,the Manitou Group VW Polo R2 finished third in class and tenth overall. This result gives the team valuable points at this stage of the championship. Hoping that their streak of bad luck is now behind them, they are focusing on the remainder of the season.

The next event will be the Volkswagen Rally, 11-12 July 2014 in the Eastern Cape. Franken can’t wait to get started: ‘We look forward to this event as it is the home event for Volkswagen.’

Thanks to the support the team receive from Manitou Group, Volkswagen Motorsport and SASOL Racing.

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Andretti Autosport fired the opening salvo of its 2014 Red Bull Global Rallycross Championship last weekend, with a victory for US driver Scott Speed at the Top Gear Festival in Barbados. Speed was driving a Marklund Motorsport-prepared Polo RX Supercar with over 550bhp, similar to the cars driven in the FIA World Rallycross Championship. The former F1 and Nascar driver finished ahead of Ford drivers Steve Arpin and Brian Deegan.

Speed was pleased with his result. ‘What a fantastic weekend. We had the right pace from start. The team did an amazing job right from the word go and set the car up perfectly for the race. For Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross, it’s our first event as a team. There’s a lot of new guys here, and for us to come out with a win in our first stop, it’s great, because we’re only going to get better.’

Speed’s team-mate and Top Gear USA host Tanner Foust crossed the line at the Bushy Park circuit in eleventh place in the second Polo RX. The pair are using European Polo silhouette cars before their more US-centric Beetle racers arrive later in the season. The next round of the Global Rallycross Championship takes place at the Circuit of Americas in Austin, Texas (USA), on 7 June.

2014 GRC BARBADOS RACE RESULTS
1 Scott Speed, #77 Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross VW
2 Steve Arpin, #00 Royal Purple Racing/OMSE2 Ford
3 Brian Deegan, #38 Rockstar Energy Drink Ford

[Images: Alison Padron, Tanner Foust and Scott Speed]

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