PoloDriver

Three months ago, Rich Gooding bought a 10 year-old Polo GTI, a (some would say much-needed) more modern foil to his 1994 Polo GT coupé. Is the new relationship in still in its first flush, or is the honeymoon period well and truly over?

I still can’t quite believe that I’m driving something so much newer than the small 18 year-old hatchback (despite what VW say, the Mk 2 Polo coupé is a decidely usual hatchback shape) that has been part of my life for the last 12 years. The first three months with Y464 GHJ have largely been spent getting to know the car, and, as a freelance graphic designer, have been spent on the UK’s A-road and motorway network. Buying the car must have been an omen; little did I know at the time of purchase that I’d be regularly spending time driving to jobs. Something which in the elderly coupé, while enjoyable, would have been much less relaxing.

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The season finale of the 2011 Engen Volkswagen Cup saw plenty of action at the South African Zwartkops circuit on 26-27 November, with Devin Robertson claiming the driver’s championship crown. Kosie Weyers took second place in the overall points table, while Kelvin van der Linde clinched third. Robertson has been a strong contender for season honours all year, and actually claimed the title two rounds ago. Even though his car lost fourth gear in race one, he managed to limp home and after running repairs were carried out to the Volkswagen Polo Vivo race car, Roberston made a strong comeback, taking third place in race two.

The 2011 Engen Volkswagen Cup series is similar to the other racing VW Polo Cup single-series championships run in both Europe and India. Just as in those series, the South African one-make format highlights new young driving talent. In the Engen championship, as many as thirty drivers regularly take to the track in technically-identical, 2.0-litre, 234bhp 2011 Volkswagen Polo Vivo racing cars. The Volkswagen Racing press release follows.

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The latest batch of sales figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), and it’s good news once again for the Volkswagen Polo. Climbing one place up the top 10 best-sellers chart, in November it was in sixth place, with a tally of 3306 units. It’s standing firm in the 2011 sales-to-date chart, in seventh place. While the supermini sector saw a modest fall in registrations recorded, the Ford Fiesta remains the UK’s best-selling car, with 6195 units finding homes last month. That’s a fair chunk of the supermini’s 34.6% of the new car market, up from 33.9% a year ago. The small Ford is also the best-selling car of the year so far (a title it has held for some time), shifting 90,701 units.

The latest set of figures released by the SMMT state that new car registrations are down just 0.9% in the last three months than at the same period last year, and that the closing figure for 2011 is expected to be 1.94 million units, exceeding expectations. Registrations in November at 134,027 units were down 4.2%. ‘While the November new car market saw a 4.2% dip, the fuel efficiency of new models broke all records with the average new car achieving 52.5mpg,’ said Paul Everitt, SMMT Chief Executive.

‘Despite the Chancellor delaying the 3p rise in fuel duty, our cost of fuel is still among the highest in Europe, so customers will welcome the 29.3% improvement in new car fuel efficiency over the last 10 years, a demonstration of industry’s commitment to delivering good value to motorists.’ The top 10 best-selling cars in the UK for November 2011 and the year-to-date (sales figure and position in brackets) are as follows:

1 Ford Fiesta: 6195 (90,701, 1st)
2 Vauxhall Corsa: 5324 (72,493, 3rd)
3 Volkswagen Golf: 4924 (59,337, 4th)
4 Ford Focus: 4910 (77,785, 2nd)
5 Vauxhall Astra: 4518 (57,719, 5th)
6 Volkswagen Polo: 3305 (43,250, 7th)
7 Nissan Qashqai: 3724 (36,826, 9th)
8 BMW 3 Series: 2898 (40,212, 8th)
9 Mini: 2834 (33,139, 10th)
10 Mercedes C-Class: 2540

(The 2011 year-to-date top 10 best-seller absent from November’s sales figures, is the Vauxhall Insignia selling 43,250 units in sixth place.)

Will the 41-second film clip above prove to be a bit of history in the making? The development of the Polo R WRC continues at as blistering a pace as the car (the amount of stories we’re filing about Volkswagen’s new World Rally Champsionship – WRC – contender is proof of that), and just as we’d posted yesterday’s story about new VW factory driver Sébastien Ogier’s Race of Champions 2011 victory did this video appear. Showing Ogier and co-driver and fellow Frenchman Julien Ingrassia tackling the gravel in their Polo R WRC. Raised up much higher than the factory-produced CrossPolo production model, and with a proper four-wheel drive system, Ogier and Volkswagen Motorsport have the 2013 WRC title on their sights. This video could be the first step in realising that ambition.

New Volkswagen World Rally Championship (WRC) signing Sébastien Ogier was victorious at the annual motorsport event, the Race of Champions. Staged in the ESPRIT Arena in Düsseldorf on 3-4 December, the 27 year-old Frenchman beat eight-time Le Mans winner Tom Kristensen who had beaten Michael Schumacher in the semi-final. Ogier signed for Volkswagen Motorsport on 23 November, also demonstrated his driving skills in the Polo R WRC, his first public outing with the 300bhp four-wheel drive rally car.

Ogier was fastest overall in a field which included Formula 1 World Champions Sebastian Vettel, Michael Schumacher and Jenson Button, as well as DTM Champions Martin Tomczyk, Timo Scheider and Mattias Ekström. Among the Volkswagen Group race cars used for the Race of Champions were the Volkswagen Scirocco R-Cup, Audi R8 LMS and the Škoda Fabia S2000. An Up VIP race was even staged to support the main event, and highlighted Volkswagen’s new compact car.

Commenting on his Race of Champions victory, Ogier said: ‘My first outing in Volkswagen overalls, this in Germany and victory in the Race of Champions – I’m absolutely delighted. They were exciting races against fantastic opponents. It’s not easy for a newcomer to master the different cars and track, but I had a good feeling from the word go. It was a great honour for me to be invited for the first time to participate in the Race of Champions. My thanks also go to the fans that made the atmosphere electric.’

Even Kristensen admitted afterwards: ‘Sébastien really impressed me and he certainly has a big future ahead of him in rallying with Volkswagen.’ Volkswagen Motorsport Director Kris Nissen said: ‘The entire Volkswagen Motorsport team is proud of our new Champion and is delighted with Sébastien for this magnificent win. It’s obviously fantastic that he has won the first prestigious title for Volkswagen only two weeks after his signing, and against a line-up of such high quality.’

Pictures also appeared at the weekend of the Polo R WRC in gravel specification, with its raised ride height, testing in France with Ogier and Juho Hänninen, Intercontinental Rally Challenge champion and 2011 Super 2000 World Rally Championship champion. Rumours are also abound once more that the Polo R WRC could spawn a road car, while Volkswagen have not responded to any stories.

[Images: Volkswagen Motorsport / Auto Bild]