PoloDriver

Manitou Group Volkswagen Polo R2 co-driver Henry Kohne reflects on the recent Toyota Cape Dealer Rally, and how Paulus Franken and he achieved the Manitou Group’s best result to date

On the weekend of 19-20 September the Toyota Cape Dealer Rally took place in the Western Cape, South Africa. This was the sixth round of the 2014 South African National Rally Championship and taking place on the home ground of driver Paulus Franken and myself.

We were looking forward to a promising event as we felt confident competing in front of our home crowd.

The rally started on Friday afternoon at Imperial Toyota Cape Gate. The first day consisted of one gravel stage, followed by two asphalt stages at Killarney race track and two spectator stages back at Cape Gate.

On Saturday, the teams tackled gravel stages around the Malmesbury area and finished the event with a final 2km spectator stage and podium ceremony at the beautiful Meerendal estate.

Paulus and I posted consistent stage times and steered our Volkswagen Polo R2 to second in the S1600 class and eighth place overall. This is our best result to date, scoring valuable championship points with only two events remaining in the championship.

Paulus was pleased with our result: ‘Completing an event without any technical problems and with everything running smooth is a great feeling. Myself and my navigator really put a lot of work into our pacenotes and preparations for this event and will look to carry this momentum to the next event.’

That next event will be in Polokwane on 17-18 October 2014.

Thanks to the support we receive from Manitou Group, Volkswagen Motorsport and SASOL Racing. Follow us at: www.facebook.com/Manitougroupsarallyteam

[Image: Sue Vacy-Lyle]

It was a mixed result for the Polo RX-powered Marklund Motorsport team at the World Rallycross of France at the 1.1km-long Circuit de Lohéac in Brittany, over 6-7 September. Reporting difficulties in getting its powerful Polos set-up, both Toomas ‘Topi’ Heikkinnen and Anton Marklund made it through the semi-finals but failed to qualify for the Supercar final itself, finishing fourth and fifth respectively.

A difficult first day saw engineers tweak the set-up of Heikkinen’s Polo and he finished fourth at the overnight point. Speaking on day two of the event, the Finn said: ‘There was a bit of traffic in the first two heats yesterday, but things were not as good as we expected with us, too. We were a lot slower yesterday. We changed the whole setup on my car – it was a big change so it was a risk, but it has worked.’

But it didn’t work enough. The truncated action saw Heikkinen slip down the overall drivers’ standings to third place, nine points behind Reinis Nitiss. Marklund meanwhile remains fifth overall.

There was no shortage of thrills and spills for the 70,000-strong crowd, though, as former WRC ace Petter Solberg took a sensational victory at the eighth round of the 2014 season at the home of French rallycross. Round nine of the 2014 FIA World Rallycross Championship will take place at Estering in Germany on 20-21 September.

2014 FIA WORLD RALLYCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP,

DRIVERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS

1 Petter Solberg, 185
2 Reinis Nitiss, 157

3 Toomas Heikkinen, 147

4 Andreas Bakkerud, 126

5 Anton Marklund, 124

Despite many tough battles at the sixth round of the 2014 Engen Volkswagen Cup, Dewald Brummer brought home the silverware at Zwartkops over the weekend of 30-31 August. Sheldon van der Linde emerged as runner-up for both races.

Van der Linde set the qualifying pace, closely followed by Brummer and Shaun la Reservée. Race one saw Juan Gerber in pole position with Brummer in second and van der Linde in third. Brummer finished the 10 laps first however, with Van der Linde behind him, followed by Mathew Hodges.

Hodges was on pole for the second race at the South African circuit, ahead of La Reservée and Brummer. Again, Brummer claimed the chequered flag after 12 laps, closely followed by Van der Linde and Tasmin Pepper.

When the overall race day results were taken in account, Juan Gerber was the fastest ‘Master’, having finished fifth and sixth in race one and race two respectively. Behind him was Hodges and Trevor Bland.

The weekend also saw a change in the championship lead. Van der Linde is now at the top of the points table, with his team-mate Daniel Rowe second with just six points separating the Ferodo Racing pair. Brummer ties with Rowe, so with two rounds of the 2014 series to go, the title fight is still very much wide open.

RACE RESULTS

Race 1
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)

Race 2

1 Dewald Brummer (2: MAD Racing / Grand Prix Models)

2 Sheldon van der Linde (16: Ferodo Racing)

3 Tasmin Pepper (31: PG Glass / Blue Label Telecom)

Overall

1 Dewald Brummer (2: MAD Racing / Grand Prix Models)
2 Sheldon van der Linde (16: Ferodo Racing)
3 Shaun la Réservée (7: Alpine Motors / Compendium Insurance)

MASTERS

Overall

1 Juan Gerber (M8: Haupt Racing)
2 Mathew Hodges (M3: ITR Africa / 959 Panelbeaters)

3 Trevor Bland (M6: PG Glass / Suburban Panelbeaters)



CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS

1 Sheldon van der Linde (16: Ferodo Racing), 249
2 = Daniel Rowe (11: Ferodo Racing), 243
2 = Dewald Brummer (2: MAD Racing / Grand Prix Models), 243

US driver Tanner Foust finished sixth in his Volkswagen Polo RX Supercar at the sixth round of the Red Bull Global Rallycross Championship in Daytona over 23-24 August.
The Top Gear USA presenter had a challenging race weekend which wasn’t without its problems.

Qualifying brought slick mud and a low finishing position thanks to a freshly-watered course. after a pair of solid heats, Foust once again faced problems in his semi-final when he suffered a major spin.

Braking serverly to avoid another car, Foust slid into the trackside tyre barrier. He was able to restart his 500bhp Polo RX and rejoin the race to finish third. That won him a spot in the final, bypassing the last chance qualifier.

Chaos is the best word to describe the 1-car final. The course was the longest in the series’ history, with each mile-long lap featuring fast straights punctuated by technical hairpin turns. The resulting traffic stacked up in the corners and contact was inevitable.

‘Fighting through traffic in those hairpins was absolute mayhem,’ said Foust. ‘In the final, with 10 cars on that track, it was packed. It almost felt like we were fighting for parking spots at the mall.’

Foust ran as high as third place, but suffered serious damage during a set-to with another close to the end of the eight-lap contest. It was everything he could do to take his Polo to the end. Even so, he was able to cross the line to earn sixth-place points.

‘I limped to the finish with a rear wheel that wasn’t attached at all and somehow still managed sixth,’ said Foust. ‘It was a crazy race and I feel for the Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross crew. They have their work cut out, but I have every confidence that we’ll be in great shape by the next round.’

Team-mate Scott Speed crashed out of the Daytona International Speedway final and posted a 10th-place result, while Hyundai driver Rhys Millen took the chequered flag. The Andretti Polo RXs were quick, though – Foust was at the top of the time chart in practice and set the fastest lap on race day.

Speed is currently third behind Piquet Jr and Ken Block with 190 points in the Drivers’ Championship with four race weekends remaining. Foust is seventh in the overall standings. The next rounds will take place (back-to-back) in Los Angeles on 20-21 September.

2014 RED BULL GLOBAL RALLYCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP,

DAYTONA: FINAL RESULTS
1 Rhys Millen, #67 Hyundai/Rhys Millen Racing Veloster Turbo
2 Ken Block, #43 Hoonigan Racing Division Ford Fiesta ST
3 Bucky Lasek, #81 Subaru Rally Team USA WRX STI
4 Patrik Sandell, #18 Olsbergs MSE Ford Fiesta ST
5 Sverre Isachsen, #11 Subaru Rally Team USA WRX STI
6 Tanner Foust, #34 Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross Polo R

2014 RED BULL GLOBAL RALLYCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP,

DRIVERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS

1 Nelson Piquet Jr, 245
2 Ken Block, 205

3 Scott Speed, 190
4 Joni Wiman, 188

5 Steve Arpin, 170



2014 RED BULL GLOBAL RALLYCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP,

TEAMS’ CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS

1 Ford, 561

2 Volkswagen, 330

3 Subaru, 272

4 Hyundai, 97

5 Chevrolet, 5

In an almost repeat of 2013, Volkswagen Motorsport’s two top drivers spectacularly crashed out of the 2014 ADAC Rallye Deutschland (Rally Germany), which ran around the Trier vineyard region of the country from 21-24 August. Stages included the legendary ‘Panzerplatte’, ‘Dhrontal’ and ‘Grafschaft’.

2014 World Rally Championship leader Sébastien Ogier went off the road on Saturday, with the then rally leader Jari-Matti Latvala following suit the following day.

However, as consolation, the third Volkswagen Motorsport driver Andreas Mikkelsen finished the event on the bottom step of the podium.

Overall victory went to Hyundai Motorsport’s Thierry Neuville and Nicolas Gilsoul driving an i20 WRC. The Belgians’ Spanish team-mates Dani Sordo and Marc Marti were one place behind them.

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