PoloDriver

It turns out that Volkswagen UK have brought over three left-hand drive Polo GTIs hot from the car’s launch in Germany to this green and pleasant land. UK performance car website PistonHeads.com has tested a white example in the roads above Crickhowell in South Wales, seemingly the same playground as where Autocar conducted the first UK drive of the new car a couple of weeks ago with a red model. But, encouragingly, the latest incarnation of the hot shot Polo was more to PistonHeads’ liking: ‘The Polo GTI kind of resurrects the chuckable-but-solid spirit of the old Mk2 Golf GTI. And that makes it rather endearing.’ Head over to the PistonHeads website to read their first impressions of the 2010 Polo GTI.

[Image: PistonHeads]

This weekend (29-30 May) sees the inaugural rounds of the new Volkswagen Polo Cup India 2010. Twenty drivers have been selected from over 1,100 applicants in a two-month selection process at Kolhapur and Coimbatore, and they will drive their focused Polo racers around the Balewadi Stadium circuit in Pune, not far from where the road car version is assembled. The two-round selection process started in late April and tested potential racers, driving two and four-stroke carts as well as the Polo Cup car itself.

Forty-five candidates went through from the first stage at Kolhapur to the second evaluation days at Coimbatore, where 20 were picked (plus 5 back-up drivers) to take to the track in the latest evolution of the Polo’s motorsport career. At Coimbatore, the drivers also undertook advanced driver training, ready for the six-round series. Twenty identical Polo racers with 129bhp 1.6-litre TDI engines will contest the championship, and after the opener at Pune, races will follow at the Kari Motor Speedway in Coimbatore and the Irungattukottal Race Track in Chennai.

Rounds three and four of UK circuit series the Volkswagen Racing Cup were played out at Zandvoort over the weekend of 22 and 23 May. The championship’s first-ever overseas rounds, 23 racing Volkswagens of all shapes and sizes took to the Dutch seaside circuit, with two Polos mixing things up. Zoë Wenham, the Volkswagen Racing Cup’s youngest ever competitor at just 16, delivered a good account of herself on her championship debut. But, a highly unfortunate driveshaft failure – which was later followed by a problem with the turbo on her Polo GTI – meant a retirement from race one and subsequently prevented her from taking to the grid for race two.

The pair of Polos started at the back of the grid for both races, Wenham posting a 2:10.216-minute lap time equalling a 20th place on the grid, while Reigate’s Darren Blumson in the Adrenaline Motorsport Polo GTI recorded a 2:13.872, positioning him two cars further back. Zoë’s driveshaft failure meant she retired after 8 laps, while problems with Blumson’s car led him to finish only 6 laps out of the total 13. The silver Adrenaline Motorsport car started from 20th place on row 10 in race 2, but retired again, this time after 8 laps.

Similar to Blumson’s car, Wenham’s white 1.8-litre Polo GTI is also turbocharged, but prepared by KPM Racing, the team headed by ex-Honda F1 technician Kevin Poole. Speaking before Saturday’s race, Wenham said: ‘I’ve given the Polo a shakedown at Silverstone and I have a day planned at Rockingham, but other than that I have no experience of the car. It’s going to be a big step up for me.’ With extensive karting experience, Wenham has raced for two years in the junior SaxMax series, finishing the championship ninth overall in 2009. She hopes to her experience in the Volkswagen Racing Cup will enable her to graduate to touring cars.

The Volkswagen Racing Cup 2010 with Fuchs Lubricants is additionally supported by Augustus Martin, Ceva Logistics, ECM Vehicle Delivery, Hankook, Milltek Sport, KW Automotive, Superchips and Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles.

[Images: Chris Schotanus/www.imagevaults.co.uk]

The current issue of monthly independent VW title Volkswagen Driver features three pages on Rachel Inglis’s 1981 Derby GLS. We saw the car at the recent Stanford Hall event (coincidentally where the photos for the magazine feature were taken) and it really is a stunner. With only 21,000 miles on the clock since new, its paintwork gleams and the interior looks like brand new. Find out more in the June 2010 issue of Volkswagen Driver magazine on sale now.

A more comprehensive version of this brochure has appeared on Volkswagen regional websites in Europe for quite some time now, but at last the UK gets its own specific official Volkswagen Genuine accessories catalogue. With sections on Sport & Styling (body kits, spoilers and sill trims), Alloys, Technology (mobile phone kits, sat-navs and upgraded radio units), Touring (roof bars and boxes), Child Seats, Convenience & Protection (mudflaps, boot liners and floor mats), Car Care and Volkswagen Collection, there should be something for everyone. Download your copy from the Volkswagen website.