PoloDriver

Though a winning sight on the first three rallies of the year, forget the fearsome Polo R WRC for a moment. Last week we heard news of a second Group N Polo 6R rally car being prepared, following the sighting of one in South Africa on the Total Rally a couple of weeks ago. This new car was in India, and as it turns out, forms one of a pair run by Team Slideways Industries, an outfit based in Pune, not far from the Volkswagen factory which makes the Polo (and its Vento sister) for the local market. We’ll be following the team’s progress throughout 2013, and spoke to Aniruddha Rangnekar who looks after press and PR to find out more.

Set to debut the Group N Polo 1.6 at the AVT Premium South India Rally this weekend in Chennai, the Slideways Industries team will contest the six-round 2013 Indian National Rally Championship (INRC), which runs until December. The Polo is the first all-new car to debut in the INRC in over six years and the first hatchback in the rally championship in over a decade. Team Slideways Industries, backed by Pune-based Pinnacle Group, will enter two Polos in the South India Rally driven by Sirish Chandran (with co-driver Nikhil Pai) in the 1600cc class and Rohan Pawar (with co-driver Nitin Jacob) in the Junior INRC class.

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Reigning 2013 Engen Volkswagen Cup leader Kosie Weyers once again delivered a winning drive at the second round of the one-make championship on Saturday. Weyers took victory in both races at Killarney in Cape Town, boosting his championship lead by 27 points. Race one saw Weyers take the lead from Shaun La Reservée, who then fought back valiantly until the finish of the eight-lap race. It was almost a photo finish, with Weyers’ Engen Primax-sponsored car crossing the line 0.095 seconds ahead of La Reserveé’s Alpine Motors/Compendium Insurance-liveried racer. Third place was taken by Tasmin Pepper, claiming her first podium result of the season.

Weyers dashed for the lead again in race two, from a third place start. Mathew Hodges kept up the pace behind him, but Weyers steadfastly refused to budge. Pepper wasn’t quite so lucky, as an incident with Simon Moss forced her into the path of three more drivers, eliminating her, Juan Gerber and Ryan Rhode. Fourth-placed Trevor Bland then moved into third, which is where he finished, ahead of pole-sitter La Reservée and Mark Silverwood, who started the race down the grid in ninth place.

Guest racer Denis Droppa, who competed in the first two seasons of the Engen Volkswagen Cup championship in 1997 and 1998, found that the series is just as tough today as it was back then. While the younger and more experienced racers outpaced him, Droppa made good progress during the weekend improving his lap times by three seconds and within 2.3 seconds of the race winner. Droppa competed as a Masters racer, the category for Engen Volkswagen Cup competitors over the age of 27. In this category it was Eddie Rodrigues who put in the best performance of the day, winning both race one and race two – with his second race result in eighth place overall.

The 2013 Engen Volkswagen Cup series is similar to the other racing Volkswagen Polo Cup single-series championships run in China, Europe and India. Just as in those official Volkswagen series, the South African one-make format highlights new driving talent. In the Engen series, as many as 35 drivers regularly race in technically identical, 2.0-litre 234bhp Volkswagen Polo Vivo racing cars. For 2013, the Engen Volkswagen Cup cars are powered by the new Engen Primax fuel. The field will head to Port Elizabeth for round three of the 2013 series at Aldo Scribante Raceway on 6 April.

RACE RESULTS


Race 1

1 Kosie Weyers (5: Engen Primax)
2 Shaun La Reservée (14: Alpine Motors/Compendium Insurance)

3 Tasmin Pepper (31: PG Glass/Plastomark)

Race 2

1 Kosie Weyers (5: Engen Primax)

2 Mathew Hodges (12: ITR Africa/959 Panelbeaters)
3 Trevor Bland (15: PG Glass/Suburban Panelbeaters)

Overall standings

1 Kosie Weyers (5: Engen Primax)

2 Shaun La Reservée (14: Alpine Motors/Compendium Insurance)

3 Trevor Bland (15: PG Glass/Suburban Panelbeaters)

Masters

1 Eddie Rodrigues (M7: SEW Eurodrive)

2 Ettiene du Toit (M4: Zenith Product Design)
3 Gerhard Henning (M5: Goldwagen Roodepoort)

Rich Gooding is now 18 months into Polo GTI ownership. The car’s proving largely reliable, but maybe the driver needs some attention…

March 2013 marks the full 18-month anniversary of the Polo GTI’s and my time together. We’ve covered almost 20,000 miles in that time, and I’m please to say, we’re still the best of friends. Y464 GHJ has had quite a busy life since my last report in December, with a few unplanned for jobs being completed. First up, was the fitment of aero-style wiper blades. First fitted to Polos from the 9N in 2002, the single-blade rubber wipers have no exposed metalwork, so that in theory, they should create a much quieter passage through the air. Fitting is easy: just insert the end of the wiper arm into the wiper and snap the cover shut. They’re cheap, too – for less than £5.00, I bought a set of two 19-inch items for the front, and one 12” blade for the rear. To be honest, with the repeated cold snaps, I’ve not noticed that much difference to the noise due to the blades being cold, but they look much neater.

Throughout the colder months, the car had been quite reluctant to start, too. It did start, but not without losing the temperature gauge and also the trip meter mileage display. It didn’t really matter how cold it was either, as there was no pattern as to when it would complain. Then, one morning in February, I was down at the local sorting office, when it absolutely point blank refused to start. A jump got me on my way, and I called in straight away to Sani’s Motors (01245 460040), who diagnosed a flat battery. By a stroke of luck, the ever-friendly chaps had a genuine one in stock, so managed to squeeze the GTI and I in there and then (I was on my way to work), and £69.60 later, we were on our way again. It hasn’t happened since.

Finally, just last week saw the car go back to Sani’s once more for its MoT. While it flew through with no immediate problems, there were a few advisories. Well, five to be precise. The handbrake only just met the required park brake efficiency, while all four discs and sets of pads will need replacing. They’re all worn and are close to the limit for efficiency, but as I’ve not replaced them in the whole time I’ve owned the car, it wasn’t a total surprise. The next service is impending, so I’ll get them sorted then.

Talking of flying, the Polo very nearly went for a hedge excursion the first week back to work after Christmas. Driving down the A113 which has a left-hand camber on a right-hand bend which then opens up to a left-hand corner, the car almost overshot the road, and trying to correct it, the back end stepped out. A final correction put the car back on an even course and in the right direction, but I will admit it scared me for the whole journey and I now take that corner much more carefully. I still don’t know whether it was the road surface or my entry speed, or a combination of both, but I suspect part of the problem that day was down to the sometimes overly-light power steering. The car feels like it’s on tip-toe sometimes, too, and it took me a while to start to trust it again.

A sign of things to come? Fresh from their victory at Rally Sweden in February, Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia took victory at the Rally Mexico yesterday, with a lead of three minutes and 28 seconds over Finnish pairing Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen. The Volkswagen Polo R WRC drivers scored a total of 16 stage wins to win the third round of the 2013 FIA World Rally Championship, with Ogier driving flat out to beat the chasing Citroën DS3 pairing. The Frenchman dominated the event from start to finish, and along with Ingrassia, won all but seven of the 23 special stages with his consistent speed.

Polo R WRC number 7 car driven by Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila didn’t fare so well, retiring from the event after hitting a rock just metres into the first special stage of day two. However, under Rally 2 regulations, the Finns were able to re-enter the event for Saturday and Sunday’s action. Finishing in the top three on six of the ten special stages, Latvala also managed to clock the third fastest time on the Power Stage, earning himself a bonus point towards the WRC rankings in the process.

It wasn’t always easy. With temperatures reaching around 30 degrees Celsius, the 395km Rally Mexico is littered with descents from altitudes as high as 2671 metres above sea level, challenging both the car and its driver. Brake fluid almost heated to boiling point, but the Polo R WRC put in a flawless performance, demonstrating its durability through the dust-lined and gravel-surfaced 23 stages. Volkswagen Motorsport states that Ogier and Ingrassia’s victory s also one for its engineers who prepared the cars especially and meticulously for the demanding event.

Surrounded in controversy, Ogier almost had an altercation too – a closed gate at the 32nd kilometre of the 18th stage, ‘Otates 2’, meant that he had to implement an emergency stop from full rally speed. Ingrassia then had to leap out of the car and open the gate before the two Frenchmen could continue on their way. Despite losing 37 seconds, Ogier’s time was still good enough to finish sixth fastest on the stage.

Ogier was euphoric with his win: ‘What a fantastic feeling. The Polo R WRC was perfect for every single minute of the Rally Mexico. I can only thank my team for that. This victory at our debut on gravel is very special and will always have a special place in my heart. We take every win as it comes. This morning I took an extremely cautious approach on the first special stage and steered around every stone. However, from midway through I put my foot down again. We obviously have a big lead now in the World Rally Championship, but there are still another ten rallies to come.’

Although his retirement prohibited him from coming in the top five, Latvala gained valuable Polo R WRC experience. ‘No sooner had the rally started than things took a turn for the worse for us. We had to give up after a matter of metres on Friday, due to suspension damage we received when we hit a stone. After that, we tried a few things with the car and I worked on my driving style. By the end of the rally, I felt more comfortable than ever in the Polo. I now have a better understanding of the handling characteristics. That gives me a lot of motivation ahead of Portugal. Winning a point on the Power Stage was a nice way to finish,‘ he said.

Jost Capito, Volkswagen Motorsport Director was pleased with the Polo R WRC’s gravel debut: ‘Never in our wildest dreams did we expect this kind of success at our very first gravel rally with the Polo R WRC. We prepared meticulously for the World Rally Championship, and left nothing to chance in the run up to the Rally Mexico. As such, the win in Mexico is a success for the entire team; mot only on-site, but also at home in Hannover and Wolfsburg. It is impossible to overrate Sébastien Ogier’s performance: the Ogier factor was what made the difference here. It allowed us to challenge for the win right from the word go. Jari-Matti Latvala’s performance was no less impressive. He was really unlucky right at the start of the rally, but fought back magnificently. The suspension damage he suffered has shown us that we can still improve the Polo R WRC.’

The fourth round of the 2013 FIA World Rally Championship will take place in Portugal from 11th to 14th April. Sébastien Ogier and Jari-Matti Latvala will be joined in the Volkswagen Motorsport team by Andreas Mikkelsen, who will also drive a Polo R WRC.



2013 FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP, RALLY MEXICO: FINAL RESULTS

1 Sébastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia (F/F), Volkswagen: 4h 30m 27s

2 Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen (FIN/FIN), Citroën + 3m 28.9s

3 Thierry Neuville/Nicolas Gilsoul (B/B), Ford + 4m 23.8s

4 Dani Sordo/Carlos del Barrio (E/E), Citroën + 6m 06.7s

5 Nasser Al-Attiyah/Giovanni Bernacchini (Q/I), Ford + 8m 34.6s

2013 FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP, DRIVERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS

1 Sébastien Ogier: 74

2 Sébastien Loeb: 43

3 Mikko Hirvonen: 30

4 Dani Sordo: 27

5 Mads Østberg: 26

It’s getting to be a regular occurrence – Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia lead the Rally Mexico after the first full day’s competition. Ogier claimed seven special stage wins and collected nine of a possible 11 top three results on a day which saw the WRC teams drive a total of 160km against the stopwatch. In what also seems to be a familiar story Finns Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila were hit by misfortune, or rather a large rock 300m into the start of day two, breaking one of their Polo R WRC’s wishbones and forcing them out of the day’s action. The pair will rejoin the event under Rally 2 regulations, but they will be awarded a 50-minute time penalty for the stages which they did not complete.

‘That was the shortest stage I have ever driven. The dust from the previous car was still in the air, so vision was not great. 300 metres after the start we were rounding a right-hander when we came across a stone the size of a melon right on the racing line. As it was not possible to avoid the stone at the speed we were travelling, I tried to position it centrally between the two front wheels and line it up as well as possible with the underside protection. The impact was not particularly strong, but the stone damaged the right wishbone. It was just unlucky. The rock had probably been pulled out onto the road by one of the cars in front of us. We will start again tomorrow and will view the rally as a test and an opportunity to gain more experience in the Polo R WRC,’ said a disappointed Latvala.

Ogier was understandably more upbeat: ‘I am obviously very happy with today’s result. The special stages were not easy, with a lot of stones, loose gravel and little grip. The 30km on ‘El Chocolate’, in particular, were extremely demanding. That made it all the more pleasing that we had built up a small cushion by then. Everyone in the team is delighted that the Polo R WRC appears also to be quick on gravel. However, we have to bear in mind that there is still a long way to go at this rally, and the toughest stages are still ahead.’