PoloDriver

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]

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.

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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

Round two of the 2014 Engen Volkswagen Cup saw close and exciting racing at the Killarney race circuit in Cape Town, South Africa over the weekend of 29-30 March. Dewald Brummer scythed his way through the pack from ninth place to emerge as the winner of race one. But, as is usually the way with a grid full of Polo Vivos, that race wasn’t without incident.

An on-track clash between Mathew Hodges and Eddie Rodrigues saw Rodrigues at the side of the circuit with a damaged Polo. Moments before, Juan Gerber ended up on his roof after striking the tyre wall, bringing out the safety car. Until that point, Brummer had been fighting a close battle with Daniel Rowe.

Once the sorry-looking cars had been removed from the circuit, the resulting two-lap sprint to the finish finished in favour of Brummer.

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First past the chequered flag, she had Sheldon van der Linde almost hanging onto the bumper of her PG Glass-sponsored Polo Vivo during the last few laps. Van der Linde started in second place and had to hold off Jano van der Westhuizen.

Championship leader Daniel Rowe cemented his lead at Killarney. Posting the fastest qualifying times, he started each race from fifth place on the grid, but finished on the podium once the each event’s action had ended.

In the Masters category, Trevor Bland was the winner, ahead of Hodges and Shaun Holtzhausen. Bland took the lead of the Masters runners off Hodges who lead the category at the end of each round one.

RACE RESULTS
Race 1
1 Dewald Brummer (2: MAD Racing / GMP)
2 Daniel Rowe (11: Ferodo Racing)
3 Jano van der Westhuizen (15: Kwikfix)

Race 2
1 Tasmin Pepper (31: PG Glass)
2 Sheldon van der Linde (16: Ferodo Racing)
3 Daniel Rowe (11: Ferodo Racing)

Overall
1 Daniel Rowe (11: Ferodo Racing)
2 Tasmin Pepper (31: PG Glass)
3 Sheldon van der Linde (16: Ferodo Racing)

Masters
1 Trevor Bland (M6: PG Glass)
2 Mathew Hodges (M3: ITR Africa / 959 Panelbeaters)
3 Shaun Holtzhausen (M9: Firequip / Phoenix Signs

Championship Points (unofficial)
1 Daniel Rowe (11: Ferodo Racing): 90
2 Sheldon van der Linde (16: Ferodo Racing): 78
3 Jano van der Westhuizen (15: Kwikfix): 73
4 Mathew Hodges (M3: ITR Africa / 959 Panelbeaters): 72
5 Tasmin Pepper (31: PG Glass): 71
6 Dewald Brummer (2: MAD Racing / GPM): 67
7 Trevor Bland (M6: PG Glass): 64
8 Andrea Bate (37: Monroe Racing): 52
9 Michael Gibson (21: MAD Racing / GPM): 43
10 Christopher Shorter (33: Hollard / Glass Group): 31

It was a good start to the season for the Volkswagen Sasolracing team over the weekend of 14-15 March, as the regrouped South African rally squad scored its first podium result of the 2014 season. Hans Weijs Jnr and Björn Degandt claimed third place in KawZulu-Natal, their Polo S2000 proving to be a more than capable steed.

It was the duo’s first event back in South Africa and the Tour Natal provided high temperatures and humidity levels, as well as challenging slippery and loose gravel surfaces.

‘The stages here in KwaZulu-Natal are quite slippery,’ said Weijs. ‘We made notes on our recce pass and used those for the first of the stages, pushing harder on the second run. Running first on the road on Friday was quite taxing but we made sure to keep our times quite close to the leaders. It feels good claiming a podium in this event, we are on a good level and think we will be pushing from stage one at the next rally.’

It was a good event for the other Sasolracing drivers, too. The new partnership of Henk Lategan and Pierre Arries worked well, with the pair claiming fifth place overall. Always in the top five times of each stage on day two saw them pushing for a podium spot.

‘Running wide on a corner in the second-last stage, we beached the car,’ said Lategan. ‘The surfaces here are so slippery that if you get it just a little bit off the line, things can go wrong quickly. Overall it wasn’t a bad rally and Pierre and I are working well together. I think it will take a few more rallies to get up to speed, but it is going well.’

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‘This is a whole new way of driving,’ said Zulu. ‘The brakes, the suspension, the grip, the level of control is just so different, so advanced over the previous generation we raced last year. I still need to build full confidence, but the car is amazing and I hope to get to grips with it very quickly.’

Mike Rowe, Head of Volkswagen Motorsport was pleased with his team’s result. ‘This event is notoriously tough with difficult road conditions. Hans and Björn did very well on Friday, but sweeping the roads at the head of the field certainly took its toll in terms of time. Henk Lategan and Pierre Arries are doing well, their partnership solidified tremendously after the first day and we could see the increase in pace today. Gugu Zulu and Carl Peskin showed a lot of pace and this shows real promise for them the rest of the season.’

Other Polo finishers included AC Potgieter and Tommy du Toit who came in 13th in their Polo S1600 and 19th-placed Chad Van Beurden and Nico Swartz also in a Polo S1600. Paulus Franken and Henry Kohne brought their Manitou Polo S1600 home in 23rd place, while Volkswagen Sasolracing Polo S2000 pair Thilo Himmel and Armand Du Toit finished one place below Franken and Kohne.

The next round of the 2014 South African National Rally Championship is the Sasol Rally, which sees the drivers head to Nelspruit on 11-12 April.

Ahead of its planned debut next year, the next version of the Polo R WRC will appear later this year, Autosport magazine reports. With a homologation date set for 2015, the revised World Rally Championship Polo will take part in two national-level events in Europe before the end of 2014. The new development of the championship-winning car is expected to see revised aerodynamics and a paddle-shift gearbox. With 42 days allocated for testing per season, running on the additional smaller events means no time is lost from that tight and limited window.

[Source and further information: Autosport]