PoloDriver

The Polo GTI R5’s success continues away from the headline WRC 2 category of the World Rally Championship. Kris Princen and Bram Eelbode have won the 2019 TAC Rally in a version of the new Volkswagen Motorsport customer sports rally car. The BMA Autosport pair were victorious in six of the 14 special stages, which took place at Tielt in West Flanders.

Princen and Eelbode were initially embroiled in a thrilling battle with countrymen Cédric Cherain and Xavier Portier from the THX team, who were also in a Polo GTI R5, but Cherain and Porter retired after a crash on the third stage. The TAC win is the second for Princen and Eelbode, who also stood on the top step of the podium at February’s Rally van Haspengouw. A third Polo GTI R5 driven by Patrick Snijders and Thiery Davy finished sixth at the TAC Rally, which was round three of the 2019 Belgian Rally Championship.

Belgian driver Princen was delighted with his, Eelbode’s and the rallying Polo’s performance: ‘A great result. The pace was high the entire time and Cédric Cherain’s crash did not make it any easier at all, as we were constantly put under pressure by the chasing pack. It is very pleasing to have had no technical issues at all. Our Polo GTI R5 was fantastic. We have great faith in the car, even though we are still getting to know it.’

Crugnola and Ometto finish fifth at Rally Sanremo
Italian drivers Andrea Crugnola and Elia Pietro Ometto took their Gass Racing Polo GTI R5 to fifth place at the 2019 Rally Sanremo and won one special stage overall. The long-running event in the Italian Rally Championship featured 95 miles against the clock, spread over ten special stages. The Polo GTI R5 of Antonio Rusce and Sauro Farnocchia from X Race Sport finished ninth.

Italian Polo GTI R5 pilots Antonio Rusce and Sauro Farnocchia finished fourth at the 40th Rally Appennino Reggiano last weekend, missing the bottom step of the podium by just 3.1 seconds. The first round of the 2019 International Rally Cup, the Italian event featured 90 miles of stages.

Rusce and co-driver Farnocchia won one of the ten special stages in the R5 class at the Emilia-Romagna asphalt rally. The duo also finished in the top three eight times. The Rally Piancavallo on 11-12 May is the next round in the International Rally Cup series. Read more at www.ircup.it.

The Volkswagen Polo GTI R5 continued its winning ways at Finland’s Itärally on 2 March. Driver Emil Lindholm and co-driver Mikael Korhonen claimed their second R5 class win in the 2019 Finnish Rally Championship, holding the overall lead for much of the event. The 10th win for the new Volkswagen Motorsport customer sports rally car, the third round of the series was held around Joensuu in east Finland.

The duo lost out to Takamoto Katusta and Daniel Barritt after six stages. The Japanese and Great British pairing finished only 0.8 seconds ahead in their Toyota Yaris WRC. Even though they weren’t victorious, Lindholm was pleased with his and Korhonen’s performance: ‘It was more important for us to get the class win, so I did not want to take any risks on the final few kilometres. There was a lot of snow on the roads and the conditions were extremely difficult.

‘I just wanted to avoid making any mistakes – I think that was the right decision. There is no shame in missing out to a WRC works car by such a small margin,’ he continued.

2019 Volkswagen Polo GTI R5: Lindholm/Korhonen (Image: Taneli Niinimäki/AKK)

2019 Volkswagen Polo GTI R5: Lindholm/Korhonen (Image: Taneli Niinimäki/AKK)

2019 Volkswagen Polo GTI R5: Lindholm/Korhonen (Image: Taneli Niinimäki/AKK)

After three of seven rounds in this season’s Finnish Rally Championship, Lindholm is currently second in his Volkswagen Polo GTI R5. Victorious in the season-opening Arctic Lapland Rally, Lindholm missed the second event, as he was competing in Rally Sweden. The 2019 Finnish Rally Championship will now take a spring break, resuming with the Riihimäki Rally on 24-25 May.

Polo GTI R5 for Kajetanowicz and Szczepaniak

Elsewhere, Kajetan Kajetanowicz and Maciej Szczepaniak from Poland have committed to running a LOTOS Rally Team-branded Polo GTI R5 in the 2019 WRC 2 category of the World Rally Championship. Kajetanowicz, a 39-year-old, three-time European champion drove a handful of WRC 2 events during 2018, but will contest seven events this year.

His and Szczepaniak’s machine will be run by Raimund Baumschlager’s Baumschlager Rallye & Racing (BRR) of Austria, which has also announced a Polo GTI R5 for German rally champion Marijan Griebel. The Polo GTI R5 of Kajetanowicz / Szczepaniak will debut at Corsica Linea – Tour de Corse on 28-31 March; Grebel’s car will first appear a week earlier at the Portuguese Azores Rally on 21-23 March.

In other news, Polo GTI R5 rally machines have also been confirmed for Vojtĕch Štajf (Czech Republic), Dennis Rostek and Frank Christian (Germany, BMA Autosport), Pedro Meireles and Mário Castro, as well as Gustavo Saba and Fernando Mussano (Paraguay) who debuted their car on the 2019 Tierra Colorada Rally at Misiones in Argentina.

All 50 Polo GTI R5 for 2019 have been sold

Volkswagen Motorsport has also confirmed that all 50 Polo GTI R5s the outfit will build in 2019 have been sold. Reported by motor.es, Volkswagen Motorsport director Sven Smeets told Rallye-Magazin: ‘We will build about 50 vehicles until the end of the year and they are all reserved. We are also in contact with our customers and we appreciate their comments to improve the car. It was clear that the Polo GTI R5 was very good on dry asphalt, but in wet conditions we can still improve.’




2018 was yet another busy year for the Volkswagen Polo. The launch and introduction of the all-new sixth-generation model into the UK and the debut of the Polo GTI R5 rally car have been the biggest happenings, while, yet again, the PSRX Volkswagen Sweden Polo R has dominated the World Rallycross Championship in the hands of Johan Kristoffersson.

Historically featuring the current Polo, the South African Engen Volkswagen Cup also starred new sixth-generation Polo GTI racing cars, and while PSRX Volkswagen Sweden has bowed out of the World Rallycross Championship series for 2019, team boss and ex-rally champ Petter Solberg has promised there will be some action. Whether that turns out to be Polo-based or not, we’ve yet to find out.

Right now, though, we round up the Polo’s biggest achievements in 2018. (Bold entries are illustrated by the picture above that particular month’s list of events.)

January

• Sixth-generation Polo launched in South Africa
• Polo Vivo named the most popular passenger car in South Africa
• Polo is the fourth most popular passenger car in South Africa
• Fifteen orders confirmed for new Polo GTI R5 rally car as Petter Solberg tests the car in Sweden
• New Polo GTI chosen as basis for 2018 Engen Volkswagen Cup circuit racer.

February

• Sixth-generation Polo launched in Australia from $17,990
• New-generation Polo Vivo launched in South Africa
• Sixth-generation Polo named the most popular passenger car in South Africa.
• Polo Vivo is the second most popular passenger car in South Africa.

March

• Polo claims Car South Africa magazine’s ‘Top 12 Best Buys 2018 – Small Hatchback’ award (Polo Vivo and Mazda 2 runners-up)
• Polo named as ‘Best Car 2018 – Sub-Compact Cars’ by Auto Motor und Sport
• Volkswagen India replaces Polo 1.2 with Polo 1.0 MPI
• Indian-market limited edition Polo Pace launched
• Polo Vivo is the most popular passenger car in South Africa for Q1 2018 with 7,027 units sold
• Polo is the second most popular passenger car in South Africa for Q1 2018 with 6,610 units sold
• Polo Vivo named the most popular passenger car in South Africa
• Polo is the second most popular passenger car in South Africa
• Polo announced as the World Urban Car 2018 winner
• 2018 World Rallycross Championship Volkswagen Polo R Supercar revealed
• Jeffrey Kruger wins race one of the 2018 Engen Volkswagen Cup at Kyalami.

April

• Volkswagen Connect DataPlug and smartphone app-based connectivity system now standard on new Polo
• Polo named ‘Safe Car of the Year’ at inaugural FirstCar Awards
• 140bhp Polo VRS 1.2 TSI launched at 2018 Indonesia International Motor Show
• Volkswagen India launches the Vento Sport
• Polo Vivo is the most popular passenger car in South Africa
• Polo named the second most popular passenger car in South Africa
• Polo is the fifth most popular car in the UK
• Volkswagen Motorsport announces Polo GTI R5 set for competitive debut at 2018 Rally Spain
• Johan Kristoffersson and PSRX Volkswagen Team Sweden Polo R Supercar wins World RX of Barcelona; Petter Solberg fifth
• Johan Kristoffersson and PSRX Volkswagen Team Sweden Polo R Supercar wins World RX of Portugal; Petter Solberg third
• Jeffrey Kruger wins races two and three of the 2018 Engen Volkswagen Cup at Killarney.

May

• Rear seat belt safety issue found on sixth-generation Polo models
• Polo is the most popular passenger car in South Africa
• Polo Vivo named the second most popular passenger car in South Africa
• Polo is the fifth most popular car in the UK
• Petter Solberg and PSRX Volkswagen Team Sweden Polo R Supercar finish second at World RX of Belgium; Johan Kristoffersson fifth
• Johan Kristoffersson and PSRX Volkswagen Team Sweden Polo R Supercar wins World RX of Great Britain; Petter Solberg seventh
• Tasmin Pepper wins races four and five of the 2018 Engen Volkswagen Cup at Zwartkops.

June

• New South African-only Volkswagen Polo Vivo Maxx revealed
• Volkswagen South Africa launches new Polo GTI from R375,900
• Polo Vivo is the most popular passenger car in South Africa
• Polo named the second most popular passenger car in South Africa
• Polo is the fifth most popular car in the UK
• Johan Kristoffersson and PSRX Volkswagen Team Sweden Polo R Supercar wins World RX of Norway
• Johan Kristoffersson and PSRX Volkswagen Team Sweden Polo R Supercar wins World RX of Sweden
• Jonathan Mogotsi wins races six and seven of the 2018 Engen Volkswagen Cup at East London.

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Following Baumschlager Rallye & Racing’s (BRR) customer debut of the new Polo GTI R5 on the Prague Rally Sprint, another two teams have now received their cars. And one of them will be very familiar… World Rallycross Champion and PSRX Volkswagen Sweden Polo R driver Johan Kristoffersson will pilot the Kristoffersson Motorsport GTI R5 in the WRC 2 class at Rally Sweden from 14-17 February 2019.

A special delivery just in time for Christmas, Kristoffersson Motorsport’s Arvika workshops have received Polo GTI R5 number eight from the first batch of 15 cars. It will run the 270bhp machine under the Volkswagen Dealer Team Bauhaus banner. Johan Kristoffersson’s 2019 start will be his third time tackling the Swedish event. With news that the PSRX Volkswagen Sweden world rallycross team will be ‘paused’ and not contest the 2019 series, the two-time champion will also be lining up for the start of the SM Sprint in Sundsvall on 1 February.

‘Ever since Volkswagen declared that it would be possible to get a Polo GTI R5, it has been legitimate in our planning. It is in line with what VW does. There is a lot of interest in rallying among people, the dealership and our other partners,’ declared team manager Tommy Kristoffersson. ‘We have no definite programme yet, but are waiting to see how John’s international commitments look before 2019, but the rally initiative is rooted in our heavy partners, Volkswagen and Bauhaus,’ he continued.

‘Amazing and unique’
‘We have worked in rallycross, circuit racing and now rallying, which becomes a new part of the Kristoffersson Motorsport brand. It is amazing and unique to work with the same manufacturer and Johan in three different disciplines. Johan, is also a genuine VW product since the beginning of his career. Everyone in the workshop is enthusiastic. Rally is close to the hearts of several of our mechanics,’ said Kristoffersson.

A second Polo GTI R5 is expected to arrive with the team in 2019 to further inspire the team, and the pair of cars will be out hunting for wins, even when Johan Kristoffersson isn’t around.

‘Great interest’
Sten Forsberg, Head of Volkswagen Sweden, also focuses on the positives with the new car and its Swedish team: ‘Following the success of Polo in rallycross and Golf in circuit racing, VW Motorsport has now built the Polo GTI R5 which has attracted great interest among global rally fans. We are looking forward to how World Rallycross Champion Johan Kristoffersson and the Polo GTI R5 will perform next year.’

OTHER POLO GTI R5 ACTIVITY
In other Polo GTI R5 news, Emil Lindholm and Mikael Korhonen have taken delivery of a Polo GTI R5 with which they will tackle the 2019 Finnish Rally Championship plus two rounds of WRC 2 (Rally Sweden and Rally Finland). The car’s first outing will be the Arctic Lapland Rally from 24-26 January 2019. On 9 December 2018, the very blue HK Racing Polo GTI R5 of Alessandro Re and Fulvio Florean finished second in class at the Monza Rally Sprint.

It has also been announced that another example of the new four-wheel drive Polo rally car will contest the Ice Race at Zell am See from 19-20 January 2019. In all intents and purposes a further Polo GTI R5 works outing, the new customer-focused rally Polo will line up with a pair of motorsport-themed Mk 2 Golfs on the ice. Both the 1986 Group A Golf and the 1987 Pikes Peak twin-engined challenger will be in attendance and the legendary Volkswagen works driver line-up includes Romain Dumas (Pikes Peak 2018) and Klaus-Joachim ‘Jochi’ Kleint (Pikes Peak 1987).