PoloDriver

As well as seeing action in the World Rally Championship, the Polo is to star in another high-profile FIA-sanctioned series, the World Rallycross Champinship presented by Monster Energy which kicks off on 3-4 May at Montalegre in Portugal.

More than 50 of the world’s best rallycross drivers will battle it out at the Portugese track, in Supercar, Super1600 and TouringCar classes.

Volkswagen Motorsport has teamed up with rallycross team Marklund Motorsport to run a two-car Polo RX squad with drivers Anton Marklund and Toomas ‘Topi’ Heikinnen. The Swedish outfit are well-known in rallycross circles and Anton Marklund ran a Polo RX during the 2013 season.

The 2014 Volkswagen Polo RX Supercar developed together with Volkswagen Motorsport generates an almost unbelievable 560bhp across all four wheels and can accelerate from 0 to 62mph (100km/h) in 2.1 seconds!
 
‘I can’t wait for the season to finally start,’ said Topi Heikkinen, adding: ‘We’re aiming for the championship title – but it’s going to be a tough fight, because seasoned professionals and fast up-and-coming drivers take part in the rallycross championship.’
 
Anton Marklund is chomping at the bit too: ‘I’m really looking forward to the start of the season in Portugal. I can no doubt learn a lot from my teammate Topi. And I couldn’t ask for any better support from the team. I’m feeling good about the new season.’

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In the first of nine rounds, Alexey Ignatov and Alina Kondratieff (RUS/RUS) emerged victorious at the recent opening stages of the Volkswagen Polo Cup Russia. The 165bhp Volkswagen Polo which conforms to the technical specifications of the RC5 rally class, led the fourth ‘Rally Masters Show’ in Moscow rankings early. The Russian duo led to the end of the rally, climbing onto the podium after 39 kilometres of six special stages.

Vadim Lelyukh and Alexander Danilov (RUS/RUS) finished second. The final step on the podium was awarded to a duo from Germany. Starting as a guest driver, Helmar Hinneberg (D), experienced rally co-driver and member of the Volkswagen Motorsport Meteo crew in the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC), navigated the German journalist Reiner Kuhn into third place.

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Round two of the 2014 South African National Rally Championship, the Sasol Rally, took place in Nelspruit on 11-12 April, and Volkswagen Sasolracing’s Gugu Zulu and Carl Peskin finished the gruelling event in fourth place.

Having a fearsome and tough reputation, the 2014 Sasol Rally certainly lived up to its name. Zulu and Peskin’s Polo S2000 was a victim of multiple punctures – two within the first 10km on day one’s action – but the duo ended the first half of the event in fourth place, a position they would keep up to the finish.

‘The Sasol Rally didn’t smile on us this year,’ said Zulu. ‘We recovered to fourth overnight and I did think we were in with a chance for a podium. It didn’t work out as this event is very unpredictable, but it felt good bringing home the first Volkswagen Sasolracing Polo S2000 at the Sasol Rally.’

Zulu and Peskin’s team-mates Henk Latagen and Barry White were only two places further down the field after the two days and 14 stages were over. ‘This is one of the toughest events I’ve ever done,’ remarked Lategan. ‘Sometimes things were perfect, but three punctures and other issues took their toll. But, we worked hard to make it to the finish, winning stage 11 in the process.’

Meanwhile, Hans Weijs Jnr and Bjorn Degandt finished the event under Super Rally rules on Saturday, claiming three stage victories in the process. Stages 10, 12 and 13 fell to their determined attack at an event the pair regard as a favourite amongst South African rallies.

The rally’s location in Mpumalanga, in the Nelspruit, White River and Sabie areas means a combination of gravel and tar stages. ‘I like these stages a lot,’ said Weijs. ‘Our times were good and it proves we are going in the right direction. I like this event, especially with the conditions. It is a big challenge and a nice event.’

Mike Rowe, Head of Volkswagen Motorsport was happy with his team’s result: ‘All of the Volkswagen Sasolracing Polo S2000s were there at the finish, racking up four stage victories in the process. We knew, and were expecting, extremely tough conditions at the Sasol Rally, it is one of the events where experience counts – and I believe that shows, we brought all of our cars home where not every team can claim that achievement.’

Other Sasol Rally Polo finishers included Thilo Himmel and Armand du Toit in their S2000 Challenge car (fifth overall and winner of the class), and Chad van Beurden and Nico Swartz in their S1600. Paulus Franken and Henry Kohne brought the Manitou Polo S1600 home 26th.

AC Potgieter and Tommy du Toit finished 28th in the number 72 Polo S1600, while the Polo S1600 of JemSport’s Marko Himmel and Francois Schoonbee was unable to complete the event.

The next round of the 2014 South African National Rally Championship is the PMC Rally, which takes place on 23-24 May in Gauteng.

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With all the attention focused on the Volkswagen Motorsport Polo R WRC currently contesting the World Rally Championship, let’s not forget the other, even more powerful super-Polo set to rip up the gravel in another high-level of motorsport in 2014 – rallycross.

Sweden’s Anton Marklund drove a 500+bhp Polo Supercar in the FIA European Rallycross Championship last year, and is set to return in 2014, only this time he will be joined by Finland’s Toomas ‘Topi’ Heikkinen in a two-pronged Polo attack.

There’s another change this season, too. The Marklund Motorsport team which will run the team as before will now represent Volkswagen Motorsport, so the Polo Supercars which the young men will drive have official approval. This is partly becuase the series is now the FIA World Rallycross Championship.

Yesterday at an even in Stockholm, the covers were pulled off the 2014 Volkswagen Polo RX Supercar and the 2014 livery was seen for the first time. More dynamic-looking than 2013’s car, and with echoes of the Polo R WRC in its predominantly blue and grey colour scheme (with Heikkinen’s car picked out with red highlights and Marklund’s yellow), the 2014 Polo RX looks like it means business.

Speaking to rallycrossrx.com, 23 year-old Heikkinen said: ‘The season will be tough with some well-known racing and rally drivers and there is also the battle between the manufacturers. Our goal is to win the first championship title, but it will be a challenge.’

Anton Marklund commented: ‘It will be good to know that the team will give us every opportunity to reach success. I want to be on the podium this year, and I think myself and Topi will make a strong team.’

Anton Markund’s father and team manager Jan Marklund spoke about their team’s relationship with Volkswagen: ‘The co-operation between Volkswagen Motorsport and Marklund Motorsport has made it possible to develop this car to a totally different level. We are happy for the support we have had from Volkswagen Motorsport in Germany as well as Volkswagen Sweden.’

As well as the two Polo RXs for its team, Marklund Motorsport is also lending support to Andretti Autosport who will run Polo Supercars for its two drivers until its officially-prepared Volkswagen Beetles come on stream later in the season.

The first round of the 2014 World Rallycross Championship is at Montalegre in Portugal on 3-4 May. The UK round of the series hits Lydden Hill Race Circuit in Kent on 24-25 May.

[Source: rallycrossrx.com]

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Rally Portugal from 3-6 April, the toughest event so far of the 2014 World Rally Championship season, saw Volkswagen emerge victorious for the third time this year. World Champions Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia fought hard to take their third podium, scoring the Volkswagen Polo R WRC’s record eighth consecutive event victory – the longest winning run in WRC history.

Ogier and Ingrassia’s team-mates Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila finished 14th after a major crash rendered the Finnish duo’s Polo R WRC undrivable on day two of the event. A super-human overnight effort by the crew’s mechanics saw the car restart the next day under Rally 2 regulations, looking as a good as new. Challenging for the lead from second place on the Friday saw Latvala make a minor mistake, which then flipped and rolled the #2 315bhp Polo.

But, picking up four valuable points for the Manufacturers’ Championship proved the efforts were worthwhile. Latvala and Anttila then went on to take two stage wins, and also finished runners-up on the Power Stage, picking up a further two bonus points.

Latvala was reflective: ‘The Rally Portugal has shown once again that it is deservedly seen as one of the most difficult rallies in the world. Our pace was very good, so we had the opportunity to finish on the podium. Unfortunately, however, an avoidable little mistake on Friday had pretty big consequences. That was very disappointing and put paid to any chances of a good result. We then altered our strategy and targeted the Power Stage.’

The final Volkswagen crew, Andreas Mikkelsen and Mikko Markkula, also endured a varied event. Making their second Rally Portugal start in the Polo R WRC, the pair created a new set of pace notes. However, the heavy rain and poor visibility during the recce meant their new notes didn’t correlate with the changing conditions. Mikkelsen and Markkula decided to set about a damage limitation exercise, and not take any risks. But, a fourth place finish is still something worth savouring.

‘The Rally Portugal did not go as I had hoped, although the eventual result was not so bad. We decided to write some new pace notes. However, the heavy rain during the ‘Recce’ made visibility so poor that I could not really put any faith in them. The variable conditions at the start of the rally also made me a bit cautious. I lost a lot of time, but the last thing I wanted to do was to take too many risks. That paid off, in terms of the result at least: fourth place is the best we could really have hoped for,’ commented Mikkelsen.

For Ogier and Ingrassia, though, the Rally Portugal victory was the icing on a difficult-to-bake cake. The ingredients were all there, from an early win on the pre-rally ‘Fafe Rally Sprint’ (in front of 140,000 spectators) to the powerful Polo R WRC. But, the French pair’s 19th triumph wasn’t easy, with the lead changing and three different manufacturers on the podium during the event.

‘Four wins in five years. It is no exaggeration: the Rally Portugal is one of my very favourites! The whole week has been fantastic. First the show in front of more than 100,000 fans at the ‘Fafe Rally Sprint’, and now the icing on the cake with our title defence at the Rally Portugal on the Algarve. The encouragement and support of the fans is rather special here. We only took as many risks as needed on soft tyres on the final day. I heard that Markku Alén is the uncrowned king with five wins in Portugal. We can achieve that too next year. That is our goal,’ said a determined Ogier.

With saturated surfaces and tyre choices proving significant, Rally Portugal was demanding. But Volkswagen Motorsport came through it, extending its lead in the Drivers’ and Manufacturers’ Championships. The record-breaking Polo R WRC now stands with the Citroën DS3 WRC as the car which has achieved the most wins in one run. The record was previously held by Citroën, who scored the same feat in 2011.

The rally monster from Wolfsburg also celebrated another milestone in Portugal. Contesting its 300th special stage on Friday, just as it had on its previous anniversaries – 50, 100, 150 and 250 – the Polo R WRC celebrated its latest achievement with another stage win. Seven special stages later it had taken another milestone: the 200th stage win since making its debut in 2013.

By the end of the Rally Portugal, Volkswagen had won 204 of the 312 special stages it has contested since the start of last season – a success rate of 65 per cent. Of 850 possible top-three times, 459 have gone to the Polo R WRC. Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia’s victory marked the 24th podium and 14th win in 17 rallies since 2013 for Volkswagen.

The WRC crews head next to South America for the Rally Argentina from 8-11 May.

2014 FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP,

RALLY PORTUGAL: FINAL RESULTS

1 Sébastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia (F/F), Volkswagen: 3h 33m 20.4s
2 Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen (FIN/FIN), Ford: + 43.2s
3 Mads Østberg/Jonas Andersson (N/S), Citroën: + 1m 12.4s
4 Andreas Mikkelsen/Mikko Markkula (N/FIN), Volkswagen: + 4m 50.5s
5 Henning Solberg/Ilka Minor (N/A), Ford: + 5m 10.2s

2014 FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP,

DRIVERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS

1 Sébastien Ogier, 91

2 Jari-Matti Latvala, 62

3 Mads Østberg, 48

4 Andreas Mikkelsen, 36
5 Mikko Hirvonen, 36

2014 FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP,

MANUFACTURERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS

1 Volkswagen Motorsport, 144

2 Citroën Total Abu Dhabi WRT, 75

3 M-Sport, 60

4 Hyundai Motorsport, 45

5 Volkswagen Motorsport II, 40

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