PoloDriver

We first heard about AutoTweetUp in September. Founded by editor of Racing and Waiting magazine, Tim Hutton, the #AutoTweetUp series of events aims to bring together influential tweeters in and around the automotive industry for manufacturer tours, networking, social events and anything else that gets like-minded car people together. Tim’s first event was at the 7 Hotel Diner in Kent back in September, and it was there we returned to yesterday, for the December 2011 AutoTweetUp, just in time for Christmas. As well as motoring journalists, car bloggers like us were in attendance, too, and as before, a diverse range of cars attended. Below are a few of our favourites from the afternoon (if there’s a caption missing then email rich@polodriver.com for one to be added). If you’d like to get involved with the AutoTweetUp scene, check out the AutoTweetUp website, or follow @autotweetup on Twitter.

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We like this. It would appear that Volkswagen Motorsport’s Polo R WRC isn’t the only rally-prepared monster Polo. Surfacing on the internet earlier today, Paul Dytko’s 400bhp/298kW (that’s 100bhp more than VW’s factory effort, remember) four-wheel drive Polo 6R has been built to contest the 2012 FIA European Hillclimb Championship, which has rounds in both mainland Europe and Paul’s home country of Poland. Capable of 0-62mph in 4.0 seconds, the Dytko Sport car appears to be clothed in similar clothes to Volkswagen’s official Polo R WRC, its cut-back extended wheel arches signalling its storming intent. Paul is looking for sponsorship for further development of the car, and has plans for a full lightweight tube-frame structure. Once we find out more, we’ll bring you more details of this exciting project.

[Source: German Car Scene]

Fresh from their end-of-season championship battle, 11 Volkswagen Polo R Cup India racing cars will be taking part in a night race in Colombo, Sri Lanka on 17 December. Supporting the debut of the Colombo Night Races, seven of the Polo R Cup India drivers will be piloting their 129bhp TDI racing cars. Four guest Sri Lankan drivers will make up the rest of the grid. The Colombo Night Race marks the Polo R Cup India’s international debut; the race will be run on a 2km street circuit in the heart of Colombo.

Prithviraj Siddappa, Head of Volkswagen Motorsport India, said: ‘We are thrilled to have this opportunity to race on the streets of Colombo in our first ever night race. This will be very encouraging and a learning experience for our young drivers as this is not a conventional race circuit. They will have to adapt quickly and tweak their racing styles. This exhibition race also means a lot for Volkswagen Motorsport as this proves the popularity of Polo R Cup in India and beyond. Races like these will definitely help us attract more young talent for participation in the upcoming 2012 season of the Polo R Cup.’

Once again the Volkswagen Polo Vivo was the top-selling passenger car in South Africa last month, according to figures released by the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (NAAMSA). In three and five-door hatchback and four-door sedan (saloon) configurations, the Vivo claimed the sales top spot with a total of 2270 sales. November 2011 also saw the the fifth-generation Polo record impressive figures, too, once again in second place, with 1855 units. The Polo 6R was also the biggest export model for Volkswagen South Africa. The sole producer of right-hand drive current generation cars, its state-of-the-art Uitenhage factory exported 4421 units overseas last month from a total Volkswagen group-wide export figure of 4422 (a single solitary Mk 6 Golf made up the tally).

The Polo Vivo was launched in March 2010 as an entry-level model for the South African market, replacing the Series 1 Golf-based CitiGolf, and is available as a three or five-door hatchback and four-door booted saloon with 74bhp/84bhp 1.4-litre and 103bhp 1.6-litre petrol engines. Costing from R104,065 for the base-model 1.4 hatchback to R156,220 for the top 1.6 Trendline Sedan, the 2011 Polo Vivo is based on the revised version of the Series 4 Polo (9N3), built from 2005 to 2009. The new fifth-generation Polo (6R) is also available as both a three and five-door hatchback in addition to the traditional four-door Polo Sedan.

Vishnu Prasad is the 2011 champion of the Volkswagen Polo R Cup India. Thanks to clinching fourth place at the final race at the Irungattukottai Race Track in Chennai, Prasad secured the title in front of his fiercest rival, Oshan Kothadiya, who finished fifth. In adverse weather conditions, the spectators witnessed an entertaining race at which the Danish guest entrant, Maiken Rasmussen, caused a surprise. The female racer from the Volkswagen Scirocco R-Cup stormed up the grid to second place, behind race winner Sunny Sidhu, after having started from position 18 on the grid. Mihir Dharkar completed the podium. The series is run by Volkswagen India Motorsport in conjunction with JK Tyres. The field of 20 young racers drive identical and centrally-prepared 129bhp TDI Polo R Cup cars.

CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
1 Vishnu Prasad: 388 points
2 Oshan Kothadiya: 376 points
3 Avdumber Hede: 359 points