PoloDriver

A three-race round of the Engen Volkswagen Cup took place at Zwartkops Raceway, Pretoria, South Africa on 26 May, and it was action all the way. A field of 34 Polo Vivo racers ran in the two six-lap sprint races and one longer clash, with Jordan Pepper leading race number one, until Kyle Barnes and Mark Silverwood overturned his lead and sprinted to the finish. Race two saw an inverted grid, so sixth-place finisher Kelvin van der Linde claimed pole position, with Kosie Weyers in second place, and Devin Robertson in third. On the off, Weyers took the lead, and dominated the field, pushing van der Linde into second place. Following a safety car lap, the top three positions stayed as they were before, with Weyrers taking the chequered flag, followed by van der Linde and Robertson.

The final race of the day saw five of the 34 cars retire after 12 laps, after many thrills and spills. With bumpers caught under cars and dragging along the track, and bonnets hitting windscreens, the circuit was awash with casualties. Despite it all, van der Linde romped home in first place, followed by Silverwood and Weyers. Rookie driver Sudhir Matai from Car magazine tangled with Dino Manelis in the first corner, after Matai was shunted from behind. But the incident wasn’t enough to stop either of them from crossing the finish line, although it did mean that their finishing positions weren’t as good as they could have been. The next round of the 2012 Engen Volkswagen Cup will be the Durban street race on 23 June, which forms part of the 2012 Top Gear Festival.

The 2012 Engen Volkswagen Cup series is similar to the other racing Volkswagen Polo Cup single-series championships run in China, Europe and India. Just as in those official Volkswagen-moderated series, the South African one-make format highlights new driving talent. In the Engen series, as many as 35 drivers regularly take to the track in technically-identical, 2.0 234bhp VW Polo Vivo racers.

RACE RESULTS
Race 1
1 Kyle Barnes (4: Gold Liberations/Conti Partner)
2 Mark Silverwood (38: Q8 Oils)
3 Jordan Pepper (46: PG Glass/Blue Label Telecoms)

Race 2
1 Kosie Weyers (2: Engen Xtreme/Tsogo Sun)
2 Kelvin van der Linde (31: Ferodo Racing)
3 Devin Robertson (1: Big Boss Auto/Sparco)

Race 3
1 Kelvin van der Linde (31: Ferodo Racing)
2 Mark Silverwood (38: Q8 Oils)
3 Kosie Weyers (2: Engen Xtreme/Tsogo Sun)

Overall standings
1 Mark Silverwood (38: Q8 Oils)
2 Kosie Weyers (2: Engen Xtreme/Tsogo Sun)
3 Kelvin van der Linde (31: Ferodo Racing)

Volkswagen Motorsport pairing Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia finished seventh in the Acropolis Rally, the sixth round of the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC). Claiming six championship points and a sixth consecutive S2000 class victory, the 22 stages offered every type of surface to test man and machine: gravel-like sub-soil, as well as fast and dusty sections. Changeable weather conditions only added to the challenge. Ogier set the pace in the S2000 class, but didn’t survive the 410-kilometre rally unscathed. Changing a bent track rod, and repairing a leak in the steering system on his Škoda Fabia S2000, Ogier was pleased with his final finishing position.

‘We can be really satisfied with the result,’ says the 28-year old Frenchman who won the same rally last year in a Citroën WRC car. ‘The Acropolis is one of the most famous rallies and was hard work this year due to the changing weather. We achieved the maximum with our Fabia S2000. The rally with its long days was also a real challenge for our team and I can only thank and congratulate the crew for its performance.’

‘The Acropolis Rally is one of the real classics in the WRC and also represents the toughest test in this year’s calendar: the perfect venue to prepare for 2013 with Polo R WRC,’ explained Volkswagen Motorsport Director Jost Capito. ‘Our team performed exceptionally well. The rally made huge demands of both man and machine: the drivers had to find a balance between speed and safety; at the same time a great deal of work awaited the crew during the short service breaks. We take a lot of valuable experience home which will go into the ongoing preparations for our 2013 entry.’

The Acropolis Rally wasn’t quite such a good event for fellow Fabia drivers Andreas Mikkelsen and Ola Fløene. The Norwegian duo had to retire due to damaged suspension after the 18th stage while running in tenth place. ‘On the one hand I’m very satisfied, and on the other somewhat disappointed,’ summarised the 22-year old Mikkelsen. ‘We were able to collect experience on the stages which were completely new to us and also see that we could essentially maintain the pace of our team mates. On the other hand, there is our late retirement: I misunderstood a statement for Ola and went into a corner too quickly. When I noticed I braked, but sideswiped a rock and damaged the left rear suspension,’ said the Intercontinental Rally champion.

Volkswagen Motorsport launched the Polo R Cup 2012 last week, and with it, announced a major change to the popular one-make series. Instead of 1.6-litre 128bhp TDI Polos, the championship is switching to petrol power, with new 1.4-litre, 178bhp TSI racers. Which of course means that a 1195kg Volkswagen Polo R Cup 2012 tarmac-spec racing car is powered by the same engine as the European and South African Polo GTI 6R. And Volkswagen Motorsport has been brave with the gearbox choice, as only a seven-speed DSG unit will be offered to the young racing drivers, again, like the Polo GTI road car.

The field of 20 drivers was also announced last week, all ready to contest the six-round championship which runs from July to December. Now in its third season, the Volkswagen Polo R Cup India 2012 is still sponsored by JK Tyres, and the participants will be run in three categories: Junior, Pro, and Master. Drivers of 16 to 26 years-old and with only 8 races under their belts in a national championship will be grouped in the Junior classification, while those with 8 race finishes or more in the same age bracket will be in the Pro category. Drivers over 26 years of age make up the Master group. Prize money for the race winners is INR 50,000, INR 40,000 and INR 30,000 for 1st, 2nd and 3rd positions respectively.

‘After two successful seasons of the Polo R Cup, we are looking forward to this year’s championship with a brand new car. It is a strategic decision for us to shift from diesel to petrol as we want to offer our young drivers a more powerful racing machine. The Polo R Cup programme has set benchmarks in Indian motorsport by being focused on professionalism, technology and safety. It has grown stronger year-on-year and has cemented its place on the Indian motorsport map’, said Prithviraj Siddappa, Head of Motorsport, Volkswagen India Private Limited.

‘We are delighted to present the new 2012 TSI Race Polo along with the 20 promising drivers today. Volkswagen is committed to developing motorsport in India along with the young talent through our Polo R Cup programme. We had an excellent season last year and we are looking forward to the upcoming season’, Dr John Chacko, Volkswagen Group Chief Representative India, President and Managing Director, Volkswagen India Private Limited, said. The first race in the 2012 championship will be under starter’s orders on 7 July at the Kari Motor Speedway in Coimbatore. Other rounds will take place at MMRT, Chennai and one round of the 2012 season will be hosted at the world-class Formula 1 race track in Noida, the Buddh International Circuit (BIC).

A 1976 Berg Cup-style Series 1 Polo racer will run at the ADAC 24-hour Classic race tomorrow at the Nürburgring. The wide-arch Polo will contest the 1300cc class at the Nordschleife event, and will be decked out in the latest Polo R WRC livery colours. Driven by the father and son pairing of Herbert and Michael Schmitz, the original Polo will be joined by the ex-Group 4, Oettinger 16V-engined 220bhp Mk 1 Golf GTI which starred at the Wörthersee GTI Festival last year, and a 1981 Group 2 Scirocco. More than 180 vintage and classic cars will fight for race positions and championship points at this year’s ADAC 24-hour Classic, which starts on Friday 18 May at 12.55pm.

The Volkswagen Polo R WRC rally car will appear at the 31st GTI Festival in Reifnitz, Wörthersee, Austria, this coming weekend, 16-19 May. Continuing the tradition set by the Scirocco GT24 and the Golf24 endurance racers which were also presented at Wörthersee, the Polo R WRC will be admired by more than 100,000 visitors to the three-day event. After the Polo R WRC’s appearance in Austria, the Volkswagen Motorsport team will head to Greece for the Greek round of the 2012 World Rally Championship on 25-27 May. Once again, two Škoda Fabia S2000s will be fielded, this time driven by the pairings of Sébastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia and Andreas Mikkelsen/Ola Fløene.