PoloDriver

The final race weekend of the South African 2012 Engen Volkswagen Cup on 27-28 October saw 16 year-old Kelvin van der Linde claim the championship title in his Ferodo Racing Polo Vivo. He also became the youngest racing driver in South Africa to win a national circuit racing title – an impressive feat considering that the young driver has only been competing in the national Volkswagen series for just two seasons.

‘We haven’t had an easy season. We had two retirements in Cape Town,’ said Van der Linde. ‘That affected our spirits, but we had to get back up and perform – which we did this weekend. We were leading the championship so anything was possible and it worked in our favour.’ Van der Linde had a flawless drive at the Kyalami circuit, taking victory in both races in the biggest field of competition in the WesBank Super Series.

Just behind Van der Linde in the championship table is 2011 title holder Devin Robertson, while Jordan Pepper took the final spot on the awards podium. Other accolades announced was The Rookie of the Year title taken by Jordan Pepper, who also won the Most Improved Driver award. Nathan’s Motorsport was presented with the Volkswagen Spirit Award and Big Boss Auto received the Volkswagen Team Award.

The 2012 Engen Volkswagen Cup series has seen grids with as many as 35 cars on the starting line. The final round of the season proved no less popular with 31 Engen Volkswagen Cup Polo Vivo race cars entered for the Kyalami event. For 16 years the Engen Volkswagen Cup has provided national motorsport action in South Africa, with the 2012 season being one of the best to date. The 2013 season is expected to be just as exciting.

RACE RESULTS
Race 1
1 Kelvin van der Linde (31: Ferodo Racing)
2 Kyle Barnes (4: Gold Liberations/Conti Partner)
3 Jordan Pepper (46: PG Glass)

Race 2
1 Kelvin van der Linde (31: Ferodo Racing)
2 Jordan Pepper (46: PG Glass)
3 Kyle Barnes (4: Gold Liberations Conti Partner)

Overall
1 Kelvin van der Linde (31: Ferodo Racing)
2 Jordan Pepper (46: PG Glass)
3 Kyle Barnes (4: Gold Liberations Conti Partner)

Volkswagen Motorsport once again took to the rally stages on the Rally Italia Sardegna on 18-21 October, and once again Sébastien Ogier turned the tables on the established WRC competition in his Škoda Fabia S2000. Outperforming the entire group of the WRC competitors on the fifth special stage with a time of 10m 16.1s, Ogier, along with co-driver Julien Ingrassia, finished in fifth place overall in Sardinia, as well as claiming the best position to have ever been achieved by an S2000-class car on an FIA World Rally Championship event.

‘All the teams had opted for soft tyres in the morning. Before starting on the special stage I noticed that the tyres of the WRC cars had already heavily worn – I knew that this was the chance of clinching a very good result. I tried to take it easy on my tyres while being as fast as possible,’ revealed Ogier. The 28-year-old continued to maintain a fast pace and from the eighth to the eleventh special stage, was running in fourth place among the more powerful WRC competitors. After having dropped to sixth place in-between, Ogier launched a final attack on Saturday afternoon and on the 14th special stage took position five.

The French duo’s team mates Andreas Mikkelsen and Ola Fløene completed the strong Volkswagen Motorsport performance on the Costa Smeralda by taking seventh place, scoring WRC points for the second time in 2012. ‘An outstanding showing by Sébastien underlines his class as a driver and his cleverness. He recognised the situation that the tracks in Sardinia at times put a very heavy strain on the tyres and made perfect use of it. The engineers and mechanics also provided both driver pairings with perfect cars through the entire rally,’ said an enthused and very pleased Volkswagen Motorsport Director Jost Capito.

Over the weekend of 13-14 October Ameya Walavalkar and Rahil Noorani crossed the finish line first, taking the chequered flag in the two races of the Volkswagen Polo R-Cup India. Championship leader Walavalkar had a good fast start in the first heat, overtaking pole-sitter Avdumber Hede, as well as Saurav Bandopadhyay. He was also on the podium for the second race, finishing second, from an eighth place start.

Noorani took victory, though, helped by Akhil Khushlani being imposed a 20-second time penalty for jump-starting at the start of the race. The second podium of the penultimate race weekend was rounded out by last year’s champion, Vishnu Prasad. Volkswagen India Motorsport runs the six-round Polo R Cup India 2012 series in conjunction with JK Tyres. The field of 20 young Indian racers drive identical and centrally prepared 1.4-litre TSI-engined, 178bhp Polo R Cup cars, new to the 2012 series.

It was widely expected in WRC circles, and this morning Volkswagen Motorsport confirmed the rumours by announcing the signing of Jari-Matti Latvala to its 2013 Polo R WRC campaign. The 27 year-old Finn comes complete with his co-driver Miika Anttila and both will be on the starting line on the Rallye Monte Carlo on 15-20 January 2013, along with Frenchmen Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia. The Finn goes to Volkswagen after five years at Ford (both it and Mini have withdrawn WRC works teams for 2013).

Latvala is both quick and experienced, according to Volkswagen Motorsport, and has seven WRC victories to his name. Finishing world champion runner-up in 2010, he was the youngest rally winner in WRC history, following his first success in two years before. ‘We’re proud and pleased to have gained Jari-Matti Latvala for our World Rally Championship project. He’s a true reinforcement for our team,’ said Volkswagen Motorsport Director Jost Capito. ‘In Sébastien Ogier and Jari-Matti Latvala we’ve got an excellent top-flight driver line-up for the debut of the Polo R WRC in the 2013 World Rally Championship.’

‘I’m very happy to be driving the Polo R WRC in the 2013 World Rally Championship. The determined approach of the Volkswagen team convinced me to accept this challenge,’ said Latvala. ‘My time at Ford was very valuable and I would like to thank everyone who supported me there in the past years – it wasn’t easy for me to say goodbye. At the same time, I see the change as a personal new beginning. I’ve taken this decision in order to make another step towards reaching my big aim: the world champion’s title with VW.’

Former Rally World Champion and Dakar winner Carlos Sainz thrilled a turnout of 60,000 spectators at the Rallylegend San Marino over the weekend. Reuniting with his co-driver Luis Moya, the pair piloted the Polo R WRC which served as the course car on the Republic of San Marino event. Spaniard Sainz performed spectacular jumps and wide drifts on the tarmac event, which featured over 200 participants over the 220km, multi-stage course. Other former World Rally Champions and legendary motorsport drivers taking part included Björn Waldegard, Juha Kankkunen, Harald Demuth, Per Eklund, Sandro Munari plus Volkswagen representative Jacky Ickx. Testing of the Polo R WRC ahead of its 2013 competitive debut continues with runs on the Panzerplatte in Germany near Baumholder.