PoloDriver

In a surprise twist, the Polo Vivo has lost its best-selling car in South Africa crown to the fifth-generation Polo 6R, according to the latest sales figures released by NAAMSA. Topping the charts in an almost unbroken run since its launch in March 2010, the entry-level Volkswagen Polo Vivo ‘only’ sold 2324 units in August 2013, whereas the Polo 6R found 2625 new buyers. The fifth-generation Polo (6R) is available as a three and five-door hatchback starting from R165,300, in addition to the four-door Polo Sedan which has an entry price of R172,200. The hatchback range includes GTI, BlueMotion and CrossPolo variants.

It was heartache for Volkswagen Motorsport at the recent Rally Germany, which took place in and around the vineyards of the Trier region of Germany, near Cologne from 22-25 August. The team missed out on a podium place, and suffered repeated runs of bad luck on its ‘home’ event. The first time the Polo R WRCs haven’t scored a place in the top three finishers, both Sébastien Ogier and Jari-Matti Latvala were unlucky in the vine-lined tracks and surrounding countryside. Third driver Andreas Mikkelsen didn’t even start the event, as his co-driver Mikko Markkula was unable to compete in the rally due to two injured vertebrae. However, eight of the fifteen stages held were won by the Polo R WRC at this purely asphalt-based rally. Moreover, at least one Volkswagen driver finished every stage in the top three.

It started well for Ogier and his co-driver Julien Ingrassia, leading the event after two stage wins on day one. Entering day two as overall leaders, the French duo then skidded on a slippery corner, with Ogier missing his braking point, damaging their Polo R WRC’s front suspension. After trying to continue at a much slower speed, they were forced to sit out the rest of the day’s action, the stricken Polo sitting bonnet first in a row of vines. However, all was not lost – under Rally 2 regulations, the pair were allowed to resume on day three, and recorded three fastest stage times from a possible five. Day four’s fastest time on the rally’s final stage of softened the blow, with the Frenchmen adding the Power Stage’s three points to their tally in the drivers’ championship, which keeps them at the top of the pile.

‘Of course, that is not how we hoped the weekend would pan out, but we were still able to make the best of it. The win in the Power Stage at the end was a nice success and may still prove to be important in the shake-up for the World Championship. I’m sorry for the team that we were not able to win our home rally. I’m really happy for Dani Sordo, because he has had a tough season so far and a first World Championship win is always something special. I’m now looking forward to Australia, and both Julien and I will be trying to edge ever closer to that 2013 World Championship title,’ said a disappointed but wistful Ogier.

Following Ogier and Ingrassia’s retirement, Latvala and co-driver Miikka Anttila took the lead and the Finnish pair continued to build on their advantage until the eleventh stage. Their best asphalt performance to date, Polo R WRC no 7 clipped a ‘Hinkelsteine’ concrete block on the ‘Arena Panzerplatte’ stage, damaging the passenger door. Anttila then had to hold and relay pace notes in his left hand and stop the door from flying open on every corner with his right hand. The resulting slight delay in communication between co-driver and driver saw them slide from the track after damaging the rear suspension, forcing their retirement. But, like Ogier and Ingrassia, the Finns resumed under Rally 2 regulations, and collected valuable drivers’ and manufacturers’ championship points with a third place Power Stage finish.

‘Let’s start with the positive: I have improved on my performances on asphalt from the past. I had never led an asphalt-based rally before and the times show that I am getting better on this surface. There is still room for improvement, but I’m happy that I was able to pick up some more points for the team in the constructors’ championship after yesterday’s disappointment, even though the result was anything but perfect for me personally. Nevertheless, I’ll be going into the upcoming rallies with confidence and will do everything I can to give my team the best chance in the fight for the Constructors’ Championship. I’m happy for Dani Sordo, who is celebrating his first ever World Championship rally win here in Germany,’ commented Latvala.

Jost Capito, Director of Volkswagen Motorsport was reflective: ‘To win eight of the fifteen stages is a good sign and matches the amount we have been achieving prior to the Rally Germany. The Polo R WRC is also competitive on asphalt. However, our home race did not go as we had imagined or hoped it would. And that’s disappointing for us. Both Sébastien Ogier and Jari-Matti Latvala led the rally at some stage, but were forced to retire. We were close to victory, but missed out. In sport, you can’t plan success, and nor take anything for granted.

‘This is especially the case in the WRC, where it’s about every detail and no mistakes can be made. And it is exactly this which makes our sport so fascinating. We will now work hard to be successful at Rally Australia. We send our congratulations to Dani Sordo for his deserved maiden victory in the WRC, which was overdue.’ Spaniard Sordo’s Rally Germany win means Citroën remain undefeated on asphalt for almost ten years. Latvala/Anttila finished the ninth race of the season in seventh, while Ogier/Ingrassia were 16th.

2013 FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP, GERMANY: FINAL RESULTS

1 Daniel Sordo/Carlos del Barrio (E/E), Citroën: 3h 15m 19.4s

2 Thierry Neuville/Nicolas Gilsoul (B/B), Ford: +53.0s

3 Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen (FIN/FIN), Citroën: +2m 36.1s
4 Martin Prokop/Michal Ernst (CZ/CZ), Ford: +8m 00.8s

5 Robert Kubica/Maciek Baran (PL/PL), Citroën: +9m 1.3s

2013 FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP,

DRIVERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS

1 Sébastien Ogier, 184
2 Thierry Neuville, 109
3 Jari-Matti Latvala, 98
4 Dani Sordo, 96
5 Mikko Hirvonen, 88

2013 FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP,

MANUFACTURERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS
1 Volkswagen Motorsport, 262
2 Citroën Total Abu Dhabi WRT, 236
3 Qatar M-Sport WRT, 129
4 Qatar WRT, 124
5 Jipocar Czech National Team, 51

This morning, PoloDriver.com took delivery of L9 VWW, a Polo BlueGT fresh from Volkswagen UK’s press car fleet. We’ll be spending 10 days with the split-personality hatchback in the south-west of England, and it will no doubt be an interesting period. The Polo BlueGT features a 138bhp 1.4-litre TSI petrol engine with Active Cylinder Technology (ACT) which deactivates two cylinders under light engine loads. This helps the sporty-looking small VW to achieve quoted figures of 72.4mpg on the combined cycle, and only 107g/km of CO2. The Polo BlueGT gets from 0-62mph in 7.9 seconds, and a five-door like our test car costs from £18,155. See how we get on during the week by following us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/polodrivercom or by using the hashtag #bluegttosw

The Ford Dealer Rally which took place over 16-17 August saw the Manitou group Polo R2 take it’s first podium placing. Paul Franken and Henry Kohne kicked off the second half of the South African National Rally Championship in a higher gear. Heading into the event, knowing that they have the equipment and pace to be competitive, they looked forward to putting their bad luck behind them and score a good result. Preparing for the event, the Manitou team knew that day one was going to be tough and that they first had to survive it before they could think of a final result.

Franken and Kohne had a clean run through day one and found themselves second in class with a near 10 seconds separating the class top five on Friday afternoon. They knew that it would be difficult to keep their position through out the rest of the event, but were nonetheless up for the challenge.

The second day of the event presented many changes, and the Manitou duo were in a fierce battle with rivals for third position, which eventually became the battle for second place. With the duel heading right up to the final stage, pushing really hard for the top position, their luck paid off, and the team were presented with their first national stage win on the final stage of the event. Franken and Kohne finished the event in third place, 0.8 seconds adrift of second. Franken and Kohne are supported by Manitou Group, Volkswagen Motorsport South Africa, SASOL, and F3Racing.

It was celebrations in the Volkswagen Sasolracing team camp on 17 August, as Henk Lategan and Barry White claimed their first podium finish at the Ford Rally in Gauteng, South Africa. The pair were second fastest on the event, posting strong times during the rally to finish one minute and 16.9 seconds behind the rally winner. ‘The Volkswagen Sasolracing Polo S2000 was very good but a puncture three kilometres into stage five on Friday as well as a penalty cost us 55 seconds,’ said Lategan. ‘Deciding not to change the tyre actually meant we lost less time and we pushed where possible during the event.’

Lategan and White slipped down to fifth place over night due to the 20 seconds incurred to the puncture, despite having claimed two stage wins. Running in fourth place on day two, their pace kept the competition on their toes. At no point on day two were Lategan and White posting times lower than third fastest and they claimed three further stage wins. The second place finish is the best result the duo have achieved this season, and the pair have been the centre of attention both locally and abroad as they compete in the South African National Rally Championship and also miscellaneous rally events in Europe.

Lategan and White’s team-mates Enzo Kuun and Douglas Judd also put in a strong performance, finishing sixth. Hergen Fekken and Pierre Arries in another Polo S2000 unfortunately retired early, when their car struck a wooden post in stage two, damaging the steering. It was similarly bad news for defending S2000 Challenge champions Gugu Zulu and Carl Peskin. Day one saw them finish in 12th position overall, and fifth in their class overnight. But, they had to retire in stage seven, unable to finish the event.

In other classes, the Beurden Construction VW Polo R2 of Chad van Beurden and Nico Swartz came in second in the two-wheel drive S1600 class – Beurden’s best result in his first year of rallying. Third were Paul Franken and Henry Kohne (Manitou Group VW Polo R2) in their best result of the season, who were just eight tenths of a second behind after more than two hours and 160 kilometres of gravel road racing. The next round of the championship is the Toyota Cape Dealer Rally in the Western Cape on September 13 and 14.