PoloDriver

It was widely expected in WRC circles, and this morning Volkswagen Motorsport confirmed the rumours by announcing the signing of Jari-Matti Latvala to its 2013 Polo R WRC campaign. The 27 year-old Finn comes complete with his co-driver Miika Anttila and both will be on the starting line on the Rallye Monte Carlo on 15-20 January 2013, along with Frenchmen Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia. The Finn goes to Volkswagen after five years at Ford (both it and Mini have withdrawn WRC works teams for 2013).

Latvala is both quick and experienced, according to Volkswagen Motorsport, and has seven WRC victories to his name. Finishing world champion runner-up in 2010, he was the youngest rally winner in WRC history, following his first success in two years before. ‘We’re proud and pleased to have gained Jari-Matti Latvala for our World Rally Championship project. He’s a true reinforcement for our team,’ said Volkswagen Motorsport Director Jost Capito. ‘In Sébastien Ogier and Jari-Matti Latvala we’ve got an excellent top-flight driver line-up for the debut of the Polo R WRC in the 2013 World Rally Championship.’

‘I’m very happy to be driving the Polo R WRC in the 2013 World Rally Championship. The determined approach of the Volkswagen team convinced me to accept this challenge,’ said Latvala. ‘My time at Ford was very valuable and I would like to thank everyone who supported me there in the past years – it wasn’t easy for me to say goodbye. At the same time, I see the change as a personal new beginning. I’ve taken this decision in order to make another step towards reaching my big aim: the world champion’s title with VW.’

Former Rally World Champion and Dakar winner Carlos Sainz thrilled a turnout of 60,000 spectators at the Rallylegend San Marino over the weekend. Reuniting with his co-driver Luis Moya, the pair piloted the Polo R WRC which served as the course car on the Republic of San Marino event. Spaniard Sainz performed spectacular jumps and wide drifts on the tarmac event, which featured over 200 participants over the 220km, multi-stage course. Other former World Rally Champions and legendary motorsport drivers taking part included Björn Waldegard, Juha Kankkunen, Harald Demuth, Per Eklund, Sandro Munari plus Volkswagen representative Jacky Ickx. Testing of the Polo R WRC ahead of its 2013 competitive debut continues with runs on the Panzerplatte in Germany near Baumholder.

Shanghai-Volkswagen has launched the Polo GTI onto the Chinese car market, but all is not what it seems. Externally identical as the European model which develops 178bhp/132kW, the Chinese version of the performance hatchback makes do with 131bhp/96kW. Still equipped with a seven-speed DSG gearbox, the pared-down Chinese car uses an older 1.4-litre turbocharged ‘TSI’ engine to propel it. Critics are vary of the expensive price, too: 158.900 Yuan, which equates to approximately US$25,000 or £15,500.

Debuting at the Chengdu Auto Show on 19 September, the Chinese-spec Polo GTI is manufactured by joint-venture company Shanghai-Volkswagen, and certain reports state that the European engine would have been too costly to import, as the car is made locally. It will only be available with five doors, and has a 0-62mph time of 9 seconds, as opposed to the European car’s 6.9 seconds. It also misses out equipment highlights such as 17-inch wheels (smaller 16-inch rims will be fitted), LED daytime running lights, xenon headlights and headlight washers, multifunction steering wheel as well as cruise control.

The BP Volkswagen rally team scored favourable results in the penultimate round of the 2012 South African National Rally Championship, the Polokwane Rally on 6-7 October. Although high temperatures and fast stages took their toll on many competitors, the Gugu Zulu and Carl Peskin claimed the S2000 Challenge title with their Polo Vivo S2000. Hergen Fekken and Pierre Arries finished second overall, the pairing’s best result of the season so far, and the BP Volkswagen team’s third podium place of the 2012 series.

The 2012 S2000 Challenge victory marks the fourth time that Zulu has won a national rally title, and one he and Peskin claimed with one round of the season still to go. ‘It is always a great feeling to win a rally title,’ says Zulu. ‘I think we’ve done well this season, achieving the inaugural S2000 Challenge victory was done with a lot of work from my team and with the help of my co-driver. The season did have its ups and downs, and on this rally we didn’t finish where we wanted to, but we did win the championship,’ he continued.

‘We had a very good event,’ said Fekken said of his and Arries’ second place finish. ‘We changed a gearbox on Friday but other than that it was a good, clean event with no surprises. Starting so low down the order on Saturday (ninth on the road on day one) wasn’t ideal, but it worked out for us and we did well because of it. On Sunday we aimed for second place on the event, and we achieved that. It is a good result for the team.’

Enzo Kuun and Guy Hodgson displayed the pace which has kept them at the sharp end of the field this year, with onsistently fast times among the top three places during the opening stages of the event. Unfortunately they were unable to complete the rally and have shifted their focus to the final round. Hans Weijs Jnr and Bjorn Degandt are doing the same, after fatally damaging their Polo S2000 with a hard landing following a jump.

The Polo S1600 entry of Megan Verlaque and Hilton Auffray looked strong out on the stages, and the duo showed commitment on the event but were plagued by punctures on the first day of the event. Overcoming these setbacks, they finished fifth in the S1600 class. Elsewhere, Japie van Niekerk and Gerhard Snyman finished fourth overall in their privateer New Africa Developments Polo S2000, after finishing day one in sixth place.

‘The new BP Volkswagen Polo S2000s are doing better with every event,’ said Mike Rowe, head of Volkswagen Motorsport. ‘The rewards for the effort expended have been slow in coming, but I think we’re over those hurdles now and am confident we’ll be up to our standards by the start of the 2013 season.’ The final round of the 2012 South African National Rally Championship will see the BP Volkswagen Polo rally team head to the Western Cape for the Garden Route Rally on Friday and Saturday, November 2 and 3.

In its latest issue out today, UK motoring magazine Autocar reports that a production version of the Polo R will be unveiled at the Geneva motor show in March 2013. Fitting in neatly with the full-blown 300bhp all-wheel-drive Polo R WRC taking to the world’s rally stages, the hot newcomer is said to have a tuned version of the outgoing Mk 6 Golf GTI 2.0-litre engine, developing 225bhp. A mechanical limited-slip differential is also set to feature, according to Autocar’s sources. A concept version of the Polo R – the Polo WRC Street – was shown at the 2012 Wörthersee GTI Festival back in May. Prices and exact details of the hottest-ever Polo have yet to be revealed.