PoloDriver

Fresh from its debut season running Volkswagen Polo Supercars, rallycross team Marklund Motorsport has announced that Global Rallycross and double X Games champion Toomas ‘Topi’ Heikkinen has signed with the Swedish outfit.

For 2014, the FIA European Rallycross Championship has become a global series, and Heikkinen will join Anton Marklund in a 500+bhp rallycross-prepared Polo.

The 22 year-old Finn will lead Marklund’s charge for the upcoming season and he and Marklund will debut new for 2014 Volkswagen Polo RX Supercars which are currently being built in the team’s workshops.

Heikkinen helped test and develop the car last season. After investment, team manager Jan Marklund believes Heikkinen will allow Marklund Motorsport to enter the new world championship as immediate title contenders.

‘Signing Topi shows the sort of progress that Marklund Motorsport is making going into the new season. His results speak for themselves and we are incredibly happy to have a champion leading our driver lineup,’ Marklund commented.

‘It’s a very exciting period in our project and shows the hard work and planning that we have put in is really paying off.’

Heikkinen agreed. ‘After a successful year winning the 2013 Global Rallycross Championship, my goal now is to win the new FIA World Rallycross Championship with Marklund Motorsport, and nothing less.

‘I’m confident that together we can develop a winning car and team. I want to thank Jan Marklund for this great opportunity to join Marklund Motorsport. I’m pumped for the season ahead.’

Existing Polo driver Anton Marklund battled against Topi in last year’s GRC and at each Global X Games and is fully aware of the talent and fighting spirit his new teammate possesses.

‘Topi is a great driver and a real competitor – I’m looking forward to working with him and seeing what this season brings.

‘We have been working extremely hard over the last 12 months and securing a driver as talented as Topi is testament to the incredible development the team has made. We want to win and be the best team in Rallycross,’ he said.

Marklund Motorsport has recently announced that it is helping develop Polo RX Supercars for the new Andretti Autosports team until its pair of Volkswagen Beetle Supercars are ready later in the season.

In a somewhat surprise announcement, ex-World Rally Championship winner Carlos Sainz will drive a 600bhp Polo R Supercar at the X Games in Barcelona this weekend. To be held at the Olympic Stadium in the Spanish city, Sainz’s car will be prepared by Marklund Motorsport, which also runs Anton Marklund’s car in the European RallycrossRX championship. ‘I tested the car at Montalegre in Portugal after the last race of the European Rallycross Championship. We talked about making changes but I hadn’t decided to race at that stage. Now, I am, and I will test it again to achieve a good set-up,’ Sainz said.

Pause Play Play Prev | Next

That set-up will be good, too, as the 51 year-old Spaniard played an important part in the development of the official Volkswagen Motorsport Polo R WRC car, which has seen great success in the 2013 FIA World Rally Championship. The X Games features athletes competing in BMX, skateboarding, rallycross and motocross disciplines, to decide who wins the 17 gold medals up for grabs. Broadcast on worldwide TV channels, the X Games Barcelona is the fourth stop on the 2013 X Games global city tour.

UPDATE, 20 May 2013: Unfortunately, due to heavy rain and resulting adverse course conditions, the rallycross competition at X Games Barcelona was cancelled. There is no word on a rescheduled date for the races.

Volkswagen enthusiasts knew that 2013 would bring Polo R WRC action, but it would appear to be a bumper year for Polos in motorsport. In addition to the 315bhp four-wheel drive machines tearing up the world’s rally stages, there are also the established Engen Volkswagen Cup and Volkswagen Polo R-Cup India circuit championships, and the squad of Polo S2000 cars which are competing in the South African National Rally Championship. In addition, Group N Polo 1600s are also rallying through India and South Africa, adding to the car’s motorsport pedigree. And this weekend – at the birthplace of rallycross, Lydden Hill, Kent – sees the UK debut of the most fearsome motorsport machine of the lot – Anton Marklund’s 550+bhp rallycross Polo T16.

Built to compete in the 2013 FIA European Rallycross Championship, the 20 year-old’s four-wheel drive Polo will compete in the Supercar category, the Swede moving up from the Touringcar class, which he won last season – his first full European championship. The number 92 car has been tested throughout the winter in Marklund’s native Sweden, and took runs at various end-of-season special events last year. ‘Testing on ice has let me learn a lot about driving a four-wheel drive car and made it possible for me to learn fast,’ Marklund commented.

> Read More