PoloDriver

The final event of the 2014 Volkswagen Polo Cup Russia calendar, the Rally Tmutarakan was won by newcomer Denis Rostilov, ahead of Yury Uryukov and Andrey Vavilin. The eight-stage, 112km event saw Alexey Ignatov finish fourth which was enough to see him take the 2014 drivers’ title.

Ignatov struggled with tyre trouble on his Polo, but his rival Arkady Bogomolov also had problems with the gearbox on his car, leaving the title challenger to finish in sixth place. A total of eight teams lined up to compete in the final rally of the Volkswagen Polo Cup Russia season.

The penultimate round of the 2014 FIA World Rallycross Championship in Instanbul, Turkey on 11-12 October saw strong performances from Polo RX drivers Toomas ‘Topi’ Heikkinen and Anton Marklund, taking Marklund Motorsport to the top of the series’ team standings.

Heikkinen’s drive in his 500bhp Polo RX saw him hold on to second place in the Drivers’ Championship. His command over four gripping heats and battles with Timmy Hansen’s Peugeot 208 RX saw the young Finn score enough points to see him defend his runner-up position.

Former WRC ace Petter Solberg has already been crowned 2014 champion.

‘Volkswagen Marklund are now leading the teams’ standings by four points – we’ve been tied at the top on two separate occasions this year but now we are leading it by ourselves,’ explained Heikkinen.

‘My driving hasn’t been perfect this weekend, I made a few small mistakes but I’m happy to have got some crucial points for the team.’

Ford Olsbergs MSE driver Andreas Bakkerud was the overall winner of the World RX of Turkey. With Ford, Peugeot and Volkswagen all represented on the podium, the fight for the first ever Teams’ Championship will now be decided at the final round in San Luis, Argentina, on 28-29 November.

2014 FIA WORLD RALLYCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP,

DRIVERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS

1 Petter Solberg, 250

2 Toomas Heikkinen, 200

3 Reinis Nitiss, 182
4 Timmy Hansen, 179

5 Andreas Bakkerud, 173
6 Anton Marklund, 159

2014 FIA WORLD RALLYCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP,

TEAMS’ CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS

1 Volkswagen Marklund, 359
2 Ford Olsbergs MSE, 355

3 Team Peugeot-Hansen, 335

4 PSRX, 237
5 Monster Energy World RX Team, 102

Following on from a top five finish at the Toyota Dealer Cape Rally, Hans Weijs Jnr and Hans van Goor claimed a podium spot for the Volkswagen Sasolracing team at the Polokwane Rally.

A second place was due reward for the pair at the penultimate round of the South African National Rally Championship, which took place in Limpopo Province from 17-18 October.

A mix of rocky conditions and tight corners made the two-day, 11-stage Polokwane Rally tough. Weather varied from cold and windy on day one, to hot and sunny on day two.

New co-driver van Goor stepped in for Björn Degandt at the last minute, making Weijs Jnr’s rally that little more challenging.

‘The result is good for the team and good for us as well,’ said a pleased Weijs. ‘Hans did a good job for Volkswagen Sasolracing at short notice and it is nice to be back on the podium.

‘This means we are in a strong position for the final result this season. It is a pity that Björn missed this event, our best finish of the year so far.’

It was good news for Gugu Zulu and Carl Peskin, too, who finished fourth overall and third in the S2000 category, their first S2000 podium result of the season.

‘It is always a good feeling to produce strong results,’ said Zulu. ‘The Volkswagen Sasolracing team does a lot of work behind the scenes in preparing the cars and it is nice to express our appreciation for their effort by delivering strong rally performances.’

It wasn’t the same fortunate story for Henk Lategan and Barry White, as technical problems prevented them from taking the finish.

‘Henk and Barry showed good pace at the event,’ said Mike Rowe, Head of Volkswagen Motorsport. ‘It is unfortunate that small issues kept them away from the finish, their opening at this event had them on track for a very strong finish.’

Over all though, he was pleased with his team’s performance. ‘This is an excellent result for the Volkswagen Sasolracing team. These are the results we’ve been working hard to achieve and it is good to be back on the podium.’

‘For Volkswagen Motorsport the spirit of competition is as important as winning,’ he continued. ‘We were able to provide a top-notch navigator to a rival, keeping the excitement of rallying alive for the rally fans.’

Other Polo finishers included Paulus Franken and Henry Kohne who came second in the S1600 class and seventh overall; 10th place S1600 Polo drivers Andrew Heine and Robbie Coetzee; 13th place Marko Himmel and Francois Schoonbee; and AC Potgieter and Tommy du Toit who finished one place behind.

The final rally in the SANRC is the Toyota Gauteng Dealer Rally on 21 and 22 November, which takes place in the Northwest region.

It was celebration time again for Volkswagen Motorsport at Rally France (3-5 October), as Finnish duo Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila claimed victory after a tough fight with Norwegian and Finnish team-mates Andreas Mikkelsen and Ola Fløene.

The Nordic pair finished second. Latvala and Anttila are the first Finns to win an all-asphalt event for just under 15 years. The victory narrows their drivers’ championship challenge to leaders Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia.

It wasn’t quite so clean cut for Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia. The Frenchmen suffered a faulty gear-shift sensor on their Polo R WRC and submitted a time card incorrectly, resulting in a 13th place finish on their home event. It wasn’t not all bad news, though, as they won the Power Stage, picking up three bonus points for the Volkswagen Motorsport team.

Latvala and Antilla were dominant throughout Rally France, taking the lead from the opening stage. They dropped it only once, handing it to Mikkelsen and Fløene. They won nine of the 18 special stages, finishing in the top three on six of the remaining nine stages.

In total Volkswagen won 17 of the 18 special stages with the Polo R WRC, the German outfit’s duos occupying a total of 42 top-three positions over the course of the rally.

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The tenth round of the 2014 FIA World Rallycross Championship at the Autodromo di Franciacorta in Italy over the weekend of 27-28 September saw the Marklund Motorsport team edge closer to winning the series Team’s Championship title. Even though the Swedish outfit’s two drivers failed to make the Supercar final in their Polo RXs, enough points were scored to place the team within reach of the top of the championship table.

Anton Marklund and Toomas ‘Topi’ Heikkinen finished seventh and eighth respectively in Italy, meaning that Marklund Motorsport now tie with Ford Olsbergs MSE at the top of the Teams’ Championship standings table with 313 points – with only two rounds of the season remaining. Heikkinen is second in the Drivers’ Championship, but sadly lost out on the title to former WRC ace Petter Solberg, who finished third in Bresica, taking the top spot. Overall victory went to Timmy Hansen.

A surprise leader at the Autodromo di Franciacorta was Sweden’s Johan Kristoffersson, driving his Volkswagen Dealer Team Sweden Polo RX. Kristoffersson blitzed the opposition to take the lead at the end of day one, finishing fifth overall at the end of day two. The eleventh and penultimate round of the FIA World Rallycross Championship will take place at the former F1 venue of Intercity Istanbul Park in Turkey from 11-12 October.

2014 FIA WORLD RALLYCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP,

DRIVERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS

1 Petter Solberg, 235

2 Toomas Heikkinen, 175

3 Reinis Nitiss, 167

4 Timmy Hansen, 152
5 Timur Timerzyanov, 148

2014 FIA WORLD RALLYCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP,

TEAMS’ CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS

1 = Ford Olsbergs MSE, 313

1 = Volkswagen Marklund, 313

3 Team Peugeot-Hansen, 300

4 PSRX, 227

5 Monster Energy World RX Team, 85