PoloDriver

If you were excited by the idea of the Polo going rallying when Volkswagen unveiled the Polo R WRC a couple of weeks ago, then you may be pleased to learn that a pumped-up Polo rally car isn’t the only way with which the model can flex its motorsport muscles. The Polo has been a circuit racer since the mid-1980s when Volkswagen ran the one-make Polo Cup, and similar, later championships have been staged in the China, Germany, India, Turkey and the UK, using all generations of Polo. 2011 for example, sees the Engen Volkswagen Cup (Volkswagen Polo Cup South Africa) in South Africa and the Volkswagen Polo Cup India 2011 in – surprise!– India. And while the former uses last-generation Polo-based Polo Vivos, the latter uses fully-fledge Polo track racers, based on the latest fifth-generation 6R model.

Now, added to all that track-based activity, is the introduction of the Polo-T touring car. Run in the 2011 Chinese Touring Car Championship (CTCC), the five-door shell is powered by an FIA-approved 1.6-litre turbocharged engine producing 250bhp/184kW. Shanghai VW 333 Racing have entered four cars into the 2011 CTCC, and we’ll be keeping an interested eye on the cars for the rest of the season. Three classes make up the CTCC. There is the China Production Class (CPC) – formerly the 1600cc class – and the Super Production Class with naturally aspirated engines (SPNA), as well as the new Super Production Turbo class (SPT) class for cars with 1.6 litre turbocharged engines, in which the Polo-Ts compete.

The wide-arched and big-winged Polo-Ts will rub body panels with Suzuki Swift Turbos and Chevrolet Cruzes over the eight race weekend series (which ends in November), and are driven by Han-Han, Wang Rue, Gao Hua Yang and Sun Chao. The first round on 9 and 10 April saw moderate success, with Gao Huayang’s Polo-T winning the SPT class, beating Chen Huping’s Suzuki Swift Turbo into second place. The only SPT class finishers at the STC circuit in Shanghai, the next round of the series takes place on 28 and 29 May at the ZIC circuit in Zhuhai.

[Source: vwwatercooled.org // Images: Shanghai VW 333 Racing]

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The BP Volkswagen Polo Vivo S2000 team fought a hard HMC Rally in Mpumalanga, South Africa, over 13-14 May, and while all four factory cars crossed the line within the top 10 finishers, the fourth, fifth, seventh and ninth places were some way off 2010’s form. The pairing of Jan Habig/Robert Paisley were the top placed VW team, despite Paisley still suffering from a broken collarbone from the Sasol Rally. The duo remained in the top five throughout most of the two days of stages, slipping on three of the eleven trials. Team mates Hergen Fekken/Pierre Arries were unfortunate on stage six, when an accident with a photographer halted their progress and the stage was stopped. The event resumed on stage seven. After much deliberation, the pair continued the rally, and scored a fifth-placed finish, just behind Habig/Paisley.

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Here it is then. After months of speculation, Volkswagen has finally announced that it is to mount a full World Rally Championship (WRC) assault in 2013 with the wide-arched and aggressive-looking Polo R WRC. Pulling the covers off the Polo R WRC in Sardinia barely an hour ago, Volkswagen Motorsport Director Kris Nissen said, ‘We look forward to this new challenge and are working on this project with the same passion with which we won the Dakar Rally in the past three years.’ Final specifications are yet to be finalised, but expect 300bhp from a 1.6-litre TSI engine and four-wheel-drive. The timing of the unveil is significant: today is the eve of the Rally d’Italia Sardegna, and both Series 2 and Series 5 Polos were unveiled in Sardinia.

New technical rules have come into effect in the WRC this year. For the first time, engines with a maximum displacement of 1600cc, direct-injection and turbochargers are permitted. Citroën, Ford and Mini currently field cars in the championship – DS3, Fiesta, and Mini Countryman respectively – and Volkswagen sees the WRC as a perfect fit. ‘Downsizing, high efficiency and reliability are top priorities for our customers. The timing of the Wold Rally Championship debut is optimal for Volkswagen. The big task of engineering a vehicle that is competitive and capable of winning at a large number of challenges holds great appeal for us,’ said Dr Ulrich Hackenberg, Member of the Management Board of the Volkswagen Brand, Development Division.

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In the third rounds of the 2011 Engen Volkswagen Cup last weekend at the Scribante Raceway near Port Elisabeth, Devin Robertson and Lee Thompson each celebrated a race win. In the aggregate score of both races, victory of the day went to the 18-year-old Robertson in front of Lee Thompson and Kosie Weyers, who clinched second and sixth places respectively in the field of the 25 Volkswagen Polo racers.

The 2011 Engen Volkswagen Cup series is similar to the other racing VW Polo Cup single-series championships run in both Europe and India. Just as in those series, the one-make format particularly highlights a wealth of new young driving talent. In the Engen championship, as many as thirty drivers regularly take to the track in technically-identical, 2.0-litre, 234bhp Volkswagen Polo Vivo racers. The next rounds of the 2011 Engen Volkswagen Cup are scheduled for 4 June at the Phakisa circuit in Welkom.

[Source: Volkswagen South Africa // Images: keino@quickpic]

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The second outing of 2011 for the South African BP Volkswagen rally team went even less to plan than the first, but, despite the punishing stages, the lime green liveried fleet of Polo Vivo S2000s lived to fight another day. The 20th Sasol Rally in Mpumalanga from 15-16 April really did punish the Volkswagen team, and it was one of the rare occasions when there were no Polos on the podium. Instead, the spoils went to Toyota teams Leeroy Poulter/Elvene Coetzee in first and Johnny Gemmell/Drew Sturrock in second, while Ford drivers Conrad Rautenbach/Nicolas Klinger came in third.

Polo pilots Jan Habig/Robert Paisley were favourites from the start, setting the pace with three consecutive stage wins, although a damaged brake pipe soon curtailed them. Mechanical work completed, they went on to finish just 0.4 seconds off the rally leaders at the end of day one. The second day brought more drama, with Habig’s biggest crash for 14 years. One of his Polo Vivo S2000’s rims was damaged on a yump on stage 12, and on landing, the car headed straight for the bushes, rolling end over end for over 240 metres. Injuries were thankfully light; Habig suffered bruising, while Paisley got away with a broken collarbone.

With Habig/Paisley out, the pressure was on for Hergen Fekken/Pierre Arries, who claimed seventh position overall at the rally’s end, but even that was hard won. The first day saw the duo in the top six drivers – and that was bettered on day two when the team were in the top four – but one stage after the Habig/Paisley crash, their Polo Vivo S2000 suffered a broken propshaft, leaving them more than four minutes behind the rally leaders. Climbing up the leaderboard from ninth, Fekken/Arries’ seventh position had the dubious honour of being the highest-placed BP Volkswagen rally car.

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