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Volkswagen Motorsport’s first foray into WRC for a fair few years didn’t quite make the impact the team had planned. Entering a pair of Škoda Fabia S2000s on the Neste Oil Rally Finland on 27-30 July, Volkswagen Motorsport is using the Czech cars as technological, mechanical, and driver testbeds, but, on the Finnish round of the 2011 World Rally Championship both cars failed to finish. Andreas Mikkelsen/Ola Floene (Norway) suffered a damaged radiator during stage 17 while Joonas Lindroos/Pasi Kilpeläinen (Finland) retired from the event after rolling on the eighth special stage. Volkswagen Motorsport announced in May 2011 that it is contesting the 2013 World Rally Championship with the new four-wheel drive, 300bhp Polo R WRC rally car. The full Volkswagen Motorsport Neste Rally Finland press release and gallery is posted over in our Polo R WRC pages.

Rahil Noorani won his first Volkswagen Polo R Cup 2011 race in round 2 of the championship, held over 17-18 July at Coimbatore. The 21 year-old rookie driver beat championship leader Vishnu Prasad into third place (from a ninth-place start), ahead of Ajay Kini from Bangalore. Noorani had a great start and led into the first corner ahead of Kini and Avdumbder Hede. Oshan Kothadiya from Pune fought Kini for a podium place, ultimately losing out to Prasad. Commenting on his first victory, winner Rahil Noorani said: ‘It feels great to win. I qualified on pole and the only thing on my mind was to lead into the first corner and take it from there. I stayed focussed, which helped me to win the race.’

Prithviraj Siddappa, Head of Volkswagen Motorsport India, was pleased with the result: ‘Another great race to start off round 2. It was an action-packed race and it was good to see different winners on the podium. It is great to see drivers giving more attention in analysing their data to see where they can improve. This shows the drivers are enthusiastic and determined to do well in this championship. The Polo Race cars are performing greatly, and we are very happy with the performance and efficiency of their engines.’ The 2011 Volkswagen Polo Cup India is run by Volkswagen India Motorsport in conjunction with JK Tyres. The field of 20 young racers drive identical and centrally-prepared 129bhp TDI Polo R Cup racing cars.

Race 2 saw many crashes, collisions and high-speed spins which saw the lead change hands a number of times. A reverse grid start saw race 1 winner Noorani roll from eighth position, with Prasad ahead in sixth. Mihir Dharkar from Mumbai took pole position, although an unfortunate spin dashed his hopes of holding onto the lead until the end of the race. The lead was passed to Kothadia, closely tailed by Prasad. A safety car outing saw Prasad close in on the leaders and on the tenth lap, he passed Kothadia to take pole and win the race. Kothadia then forced Noorani into a spin with three laps to go, but both drivers ended up on podium in second and third places respectively. Round 3 of the Volkswagen Polo R Cup 2011 will take place on 19-21 August at the Irungattukottai Race Track in Chennai.

[Image: Rahul Basu/zigwheels.com]

In readiness for its full-scale WRC assault in 2013, Volkswagen’s development of the Polo R WRC continues apace. News comes this week that the company has selected both German driver Christian Riedemann and Hans Weijs from the Netherlands to contest the ADAC Rallye Deutschland from 18-21 August 2011 in a pair of 270bhp Škoda Fabia WRC Super 2000s. Using the Fabia S2000s to gain development information for the Polo R WRC, Volkswagen has also entered two vehicles of the same pedigree in the Neste Oil Rally Finland, which takes place this weekend (28-30 July). As with any contested WRC rounds in which Volkswagen Motorsport is using the Fabia S2000s, the ADAC Rallye Deutschland drivers will have the chance to qualify for future runs in the four-wheel drive Polo R WRC, as part of VW’s talent assessment programme. Find the full Volkswagen Motorsport press release over in our dedicated Polo R WRC section of the website.

Two cars from the BP Volkswagen Polo Vivo S2000 team finished in the top four places at last weekend’s (15-16 July) Volkswagen Rally. Highest-placed VW finishers on the Eastern Cape event were 2010 champions Enzo Kuun/Guy Hodgson, who crossed the line in third place after 12 gruelling stages. The Ford Fiesta S2000 of Mark Cronje/Robin Houghton won the event, with the Toyota Auris of Johnny Gemmell/Drew Sturrock took second. The Volkswagen Rally third place was, fittingly, Kuun/Hodgson’s third this season, and still puts them within reach of the 2011 championship, after the mid-way point of the season.

Below Kuun/Hodgson was the Polo Vivo S2000 of Jan Habig/Robert Paislay. Picking up a number of problems on the event – such as a broken exhaust – didn’t stop the duo, even though the mechanical maladies cost them precious time. Meanwhile, the Giniel de Villiers/Ralph Pitchford partnership picked up an eighth place finish on their maiden Volkswagen Rally. Hergen Fekken/Pierre Arries were less lucky. A broken wheel forced them out from the event, just as their Polo was perched for a podium position. They slipped down the leaderboard to 15th.

It was a similar story for Gugu Zulu/Carl Peskin. Their Polo Vivo S1600 retired in the first stage, due to engine damage. On the flipside, Megan Verlaque/Lirene du Plessis celebrated a S1400 class victory and a top 15 finish, even after a puncture cost them time. Other Polo finishers on the 29th Volkswagen Rally which took place around the Longmore Forest, Uitenhage and Port Elizabeth, included the team of Nicholas Ryan/Armand du Toit who placed seventh. Round six of the South African National Rally Championship takes place in the George and Knysna area of the Garden Route in the Western Cape, on 26-27 August.

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With the Volkswagen Polo R Cup India 2011 the only dominant competition series featuring motorsport-prepared versions of the Polo 6R – at last until the Polo R WRC comes on stream – car website Zig Wheels has gone behind the scenes and shot a film of what it takes to build a Polo R Cup racer. Starting with a painted body shell pulled from the production lines at Volkswagen’s Pune factory, it takes three days for the Volkswagen Motorsport engineers to transform the road car skeleton into the toughened racing car. Powered by 128bhp 1.6 TDI engines, the Polo R Cup cars only run in the special one-make Indian championship. Polo R Cup racing additions over a standard Polo include a hefty roll cage and an in-car drinking system to quench the drivers’ thirst and avoid dehydration. Zig Wheels’ video clip also features two racers in striking new-for-2011, Polo R WRC-inspired livery.