PoloDriver

In what must be the closest event yet this season, the seventh round of the 2016 FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) saw victory go to Volkswagen Motorsport’s Andreas Mikkelsen – but it was down to the wire. Up until the penultimate stage, Estonian DMACK Fiesta crew Ott Tänak and Raigo Mõlder had set a blistering pace on Rally Poland and looked untouchable.

Mikkelsen and co-driver Anders Jæger had driven on the edge of their limits all weekend, and had chased Tanak hard. They were consigning themselves to the second step of the Polish podium, when the Estonian duo suffered an unfortunately-timed puncture on the penultimate stage. An emergency tyre change saw the pair relegated to second place, and the disappointment was palpable.

Sweep supremely fast
A dry event right up until the final day had seen Mikkelsen’s 318bhp Polo R WRC sweep supremely fast through the majority of the event’s 306.1km, and when the rain arrived, it altered grip levels instantly, Tanak one of the casualties who lost time due to tyre choice. And while the runner-up position is still held in high regard, it didn’t soften the blow dealt by the Norwegian Volkswagen driver’s second WRC win.

New-for-2016 pairing Mikkelsen and Jæger proved their mettle in Poland and were the third duo onto the route for the first two days of the rally, which saw them sweep the road clear of loosed gravel for the following drivers. And as first-runner Ogier knows, that’s a distinct disadvantage which slows the car down. However, the young guns from Norway still finished in the top three on 15 of the 21 special stages, and made sure the battle with Tänak and Mõlder lasted for the whole event.

2016 Volkswagen Polo R WRC, Rally Poland: Mikkelsen/Jæger

2016 Volkswagen Polo R WRC, Rally Poland: Mikkelsen/Jæger

2016 Volkswagen Polo R WRC, Rally Poland: Mikkelsen/Jæger

2016 Volkswagen Polo R WRC, Rally Poland: Mikkelsen/Jæger

Andreas Mikkelsen

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Have a 217bhp limited edition 2013 Polo R WRC and think it needs more power? That’s handy, because Wimmer Rennsporttechnik Solingen GmbH has the answer, with a rally car-beating power boost. A 10,200 euro kit sees the German tuner lift power of the ultra rare Polo R WRC ‘Street’ boosted to 417bhp, that’s around 200bhp more than the original car.

417bhp, 480Nm, 174mph
The 2.0-litre engine of the Wimmer Rennsporttechnik Polo R WRC has boosted torque of 480Nm/354lb ft (up from 350Nm/258lb ft), a 3.15kg/bhp power to weight ratio as well as a ‘hellish’ maximum speed of 174mph. In a – two-wheel, front-wheel drive – Polo! We’re not even sure we’d want to try that one. This road-going Polo has around 100bhp more than its current motorsport cousin.

2016 Wimmer Rennsporttechnik Volkswagen Polo R WRC

2016 Wimmer Rennsporttechnik Volkswagen Polo R WRC

2016 Wimmer Rennsporttechnik Volkswagen Polo R WRC

An upgraded turbocharger, an adjusted air intake and six-bar fuel pump are what has made the power rise, along with a ‘Y-pipe’ with sports catalyst and stainless steel sports exhaust system (with valve control), a modified intercooler, as well as optimisations to the car’s software itself. All components have been carefully selected to ensure high functional reliability and longevity.

High performance air filter
The stylishly graphic-laden Wimmer demo car also gains from a high-performance K&N air filter (94 euro), 8 x 17” Oz rims and 215/40-17 rubber (1990 euro) and a KW coilover suspension system (1699 euro). Think you’ve got what it takes to handle one of the most powerful road-going Polos we’ve ever seen? (Along with 13,983 euro and the rare ‘donor’ car in the first place.) Then visit wimmer-rst.de and tick some fast kit Polo boxes.

2016 Wimmer Rennsporttechnik Volkswagen Polo R WRC

2016 Wimmer Rennsporttechnik Volkswagen Polo R WRC

2016 Wimmer Rennsporttechnik Volkswagen Polo R WRC

It was another challenging weekend for the Volkswagen RX Sweden team at the World RX of Norway, the fifth round of the 2016 FIA World Rallycross Championship. The 1.02km-long circuit at Hell played host to 44 600bhp World RX Supercars, with home Ford Focus RS pilot Andreas Bakkerud becoming the first driver ever in FIA World Rallycross Championship history to win all four qualifying sessions plus the semi-final and final.

2016 Volkswagen Polo RX, World RX of Norway: Kristoffersson

2016 Volkswagen Polo RX, World RX of Norway: Kristoffersson

2016 Volkswagen Polo RX, World RX of Norway: Kristoffersson

The 10-12 June were a difficult two days for the Volkswagen Polo RXs of Johan Kristoffersson and Anton Marklund. Kristoffersson finished seventh (fourth in the first semi-final), while Maryland was a further eight places down the field (seventh in the fourth qualifying heat).

With Kristoffersson currently fourth in the overall drivers’ standings and Volkswagen RX Sweden third in the teams’ points, the Swedish-based rallycross outfit is looking forward to the sixth round of the series and its ‘home’ event, the World RX of Sweden, which takes place from 1-3 July at Höljes Motorstadion.

2016 FIA WORLD RALLYCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP,

DRIVERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS
1 Mattias Ekström, Audi S1: 125
2 Petter Solberg, Citroën DS3: 120
3 Sébastien Loeb, Peugeot 208: 83
4 Johan Kristoffersson, Volkswagen Polo: 83
5 Andreas Bakkerud, Ford Focus RS: 81

2016 FIA WORLD RALLYCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP,

TEAMS’ CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS
1 EKS: 195
2 Team Peugeot Hansen: 151
3 Volkswagen RX Sweden: 117
4 Hoonigan Racing Division: 100
5 World RX Team Austria: 94

[Images: FIAWorldRallycross.com / Volkswagen RX Sweden]

Following Rally Portugal, the sixth round of the 2016 FIA World Rally Championship was won by the fifth different driver this season. Belgian Thierry Neuville and his co-driver Nicolas Gilsoul lifted the trophy in Sardinia at the 2016 Rally Italy, with Volkswagen crews Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila second and Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia third.

Just as with last month’s WRC outing in Portugal, while Volkswagen Motorsport failed to win the Italian round of the championship, the podium places helped push its lead still further. The Hanover-based team is now 70 points of nearest rival Hyundai Motorsport, while current three-time world champion Ogier is 64 points clear of second-placed Dani Sordo in the driver standings.

High temperatures and dust
The high 30-degree temperatures and vast quantities of dust proved challenging for the 2016 event drivers. Ogier and Ingrassia once again ‘swept’ the stages open, thanks to their first place in the championship table. While the running order may change for 2017, 2016’s regulations yielded few chances for the French pair to challenge for the lead, the duo swapping over 87 per cent of the roads for other competitors.

2016 Volkswagen Polo R WRC, Rally Italy: Ogier/Ingrassia

2016 Volkswagen Polo R WRC, Rally Italy: Ogier/Ingrassia

2016 Volkswagen Polo R WRC, Rally Italy: Ogier/Ingrassia

2016 Volkswagen Polo R WRC, Rally Italy: Ogier/Ingrassia

2016 Volkswagen Polo R WRC, Rally Italy: Ogier

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Once again, the Volkswagen Polo has made the top 10 best-selling cars in the UK sales chart. According to the latest figures released by the Society of Motor Manufactures and Traders (SMMT) for May 2016, the Polo was the seventh most popular car in the UK, with 3845 cars registered. With 23,070 examples registered, the Polo is the sixth best-selling car for the year-to-date.

Rise in popularity
In a repeat of April, the Golf took the second place spot behind the Ford Fiesta, which has seen registrations top a staggering 52,476 units for the year-to-date. Interestingly, despite all the negative publicity, diesel cars saw a five per cent rise in popularity during May 2016, while petrol-engined cars saw a 0.6 per cent decline.

The UK new car market as a whole saw a 2.5 per cent increase in May, with 203,585 vehicles registered, the highest May total since 2002. In total, 1,164,870 cars have so far been registered in 2016. The UK’s top 10 best-selling passenger cars during May 2016 and the year so far (sales figure and position in brackets) are as follows:

1 Ford Fiesta: 8236 (52,476, 1st)
2 Volkswagen Golf: 5729 (30,802, 4th)
3 Ford Focus: 5664 (31,882, 3rd)
4 Vauxhall Corsa: 4880 (33,519, 2nd)
5 Nissan Qashqai: 4684 (27,824, 5th)
6 Vauxhall Astra: 3882 (22,778, 7th)
7 Volkswagen Polo: 3845 (23,070, 6th)
8 Mini: 3780 (18,009, 10th)
9 Mercedes-Benz C Class: 3566
10 BMW 3 Series: 3454

(The 2016 top 10 best-selling cars absent from last month’s sales figures are the eighth-placed Audi A3 and the ninth-placed Vauxhall Mokka with 19,147 and 18,106 cars registered respectively.)