PoloDriver

Following in the tyre tracks of the Polo GT Sedan announced by Volkswagen Russia this week, Volkswagen India has unveiled new special editions of its Polo hatchback and Vento saloon models. The Polo Select and Vento Celeste special editions offer an enhanced appearance and upgraded equipment count when compared to the Highline models on which they are based.

Extra kit
Similar to last year’s Polo Exquisite and Vento Highline Plus limited edition cars, the Polo Select and Vento Celeste can be specified with a distinctive black roof wrap, black side mouldings, and fake carbonfibre mirror caps. The Polo Select also offers a roof spoiler and sill plates for all four of its doors, while the Vento Celeste can count a rear boot spoiler and a Blaupunkt audio/navigation system among its extra kit.

Inside, both cars receive a carbonfibre-look centre console, branded seat covers, detachable sun blinds, as well as floor mats. The latest Indian special editions are fitted with the same engine and transmission choices as the regular Polo and Vento. The Polo Select comes with 74bhp 1.2-litre petrol or an 89bhp 1.5-litre TDI engines, while the Vento Celeste is only fitted with the 1.5-litre TDI mated to a seven-speed DSG gearbox.

[Source: Indian Autos Blog]

They may not have been on the podium, but Volkswagen RX Sweden drivers Johan Kristoffersson and Anton Marklund scored yet more valuable points for their Drivers’ Championship hopes at round four of the FIA World Rallycross Championship, the World RX of Great Britain. The 27-29 May event at the iconic Lydden Hill – the ‘home of rallycross’ – saw a total of 24 Supercars entered for the showdown at the 1.17km-long circuit.

Technical issue
After day one, Kristoffersson was in seventh place, with Marklund one place behind. ‘Celebrity’ driver and Top Gear US star Tanner Foust ran another Volkswagen RX Sweden-prepared 600bhp Polo RX and was in 15th place as the curtains came down on the first day’s action. Usually the pilot of a Global Rallycross Championship Volkswagen Beetle, the US driver was to later retire due to a technical issue with his car.

Although both of Volkswagen RX Sweden’s regular drivers qualified for the semi-finals after solid performances in the qualifying rounds, both Kristoffersson and Marklund finished sixth in their respective races. Kristoffersson tweeted: “After a mishap in the semis it was game over too early. Holding P3 in the @FIAWorldRX Drivers Championship! #worldrx”. In the final reckoning, Kristoffersson finished eighth, while Marklund was eleventh overall.

2016 Volkswagen Polo RX, World RX of Great Britain: Foust

2016 Volkswagen Polo RX, World RX of Great Britain

2016 Volkswagen Polo RX, World RX of Great Britain: Marklund

2016 Volkswagen Polo RX, World RX of Great Britain: Marklund

2016 Volkswagen Polo RX, World RX of Great Britain: Foust

Third in team table
The young Swede collected seven points in the Drivers’ Championship, which leaves him outside the top 10. Kristoffersson gained 12 points from the weekend in Great Britain and is now third in the overall drivers’ points standings, 35 points shy of championship leader and World RX of Great Britain winner Mattias Ekström. Volkswagen RX Sweden is now third in the team world championship table with 102 points.

The fifth round of the 2016 FIA World Rallycross Championship – the World RX of Norway – takes place at Hell in Norway from 10-12 June.

2016 FIA WORLD RALLYCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP,
DRIVERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS
1 Mattias Ekström, Audi S1: 105
2 Petter Solberg, Citroën DS3: 100
3 Johan Kristoffersson, Volkswagen Polo: 70
4 Sébastien Loeb, Peugeot 208: 63
5 Toomas Heikkinen, Audi S1: 60

2016 FIA WORLD RALLYCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP,
TEAMS’ CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS
1 EKS: 165
2 Team Peugeot Hansen: 109
3 Volkswagen RX Sweden: 102
4 Hoonigan Racing Division: 67
5 World RX Team Austria: 62

[Images: FIAWorldRallycross.com / Volkswagen RX Sweden]

Volkswagen Russia has introduced a sports-orientated variant of its Polo Sedan. Based on the face-lifted model introduced in 2015, the Polo GT Sedan takes styling cues from both the current Polo GTI as well as the UK-market Scirocco GTS. The striking four-door is powered by a 123bhp version of Volkswagen’s 1.4-litre TSI petrol engine, mated to either a six-speed manual or seven-speed DSG transmission.

Polo GTI styling cues
Externally, the Polo GT Sedan borrows the Polo GTI’s front bumper, fog lights, and honeycomb grille, as well as the UK Polo SE Design’s 16-inch alloy wheels. Other exterior differences over the standard car include a gloss black-painted roof and mirrors, a rear boot spoiler, and a pair of chrome-tipped exhaust pipes. The black and red stripes seen in the released press images are limited to the first 300 cars which are finished in white or silver.

2016 Volkswagen Polo GT Sedan (Russia)

2016 Volkswagen Polo GT Sedan (Russia)

2016 Volkswagen Polo GT Sedan (Russia)

2016 Volkswagen Polo GT Sedan (Russia)

2016 Volkswagen Polo GT Sedan (Russia)

Inside, more sporty touches lift the standard Polo Sedan’s interior. ‘GT’ badges feature on the sill strips, a three-spoke leather steering wheel also wears logo denoting the car’s stature in the Polo Sedan range, while tartan seat upholstery and aluminium sports pedals also bring correlation to the Polo GTI hatchback. Climate control, electric windows all round, and headed front seats are all standard equipment.

Russian-market model
The Polo GT Sedan appear to be a Russian-market only model, and, as far as we understand, there are no plans to introduce similarly-badged models in South Africa or India, where the car wears the Vento name. The GT adds to the already five-strong Polo Sedan range in Russia, which includes Allstar, Conceptline, Trendline, Comfortline, and Highline versions. At the time of writiing, there’s no word on pricing and availability.

[Source: Indian Autos Blog]

Four winners in five rounds of the 2016 FIA World Rally Championship – that was the result of the 2016 Rally Portugal, at which Citroën’s Kris Meeke reigned supreme. That of course means one thing: victory escaped Volkswagen Motorsport’s three-time world champion Sébastien Ogier.

But, it wasn’t all bad news: although Ogier finished uncharacteristically on the last step of the podium, his finish and Andreas Mikkelsen’s second place shored up the Volkswagen Motorsport points tally in the overall championship standings.

Mikkelsen and co-driver Anders Jæger’s finish benefitted them in particular, with the Norwegian pair leapfrogging two places up the Drivers’ Championship table, now just 47 points behind their leading French team-mates. Whatever the outcome, the podium places in Portugal were the 318bhp Polo R WRC’s 75th and 76th top three results in the car’s 44th competitive event. What of Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila? The Finnish duo came home sixth.

‘Cautious approach’
Ogier claimed he was close to both his and the car’s limits in Portugal: ‘That was certainly one of the toughest and most physically demanding rallies I have ever driven at in Portugal. Julien and I were once again right on the limit this weekend. As such, I am very happy with my performance. I would obviously have liked to have stayed ahead of Andreas. However, after the slow puncture on Sunday’s first stage, we had to take a slightly more cautious approach.

‘Without another spare tyre it would have been too risky otherwise with these route conditions. I would like to say an extra big ‘Obrigado’ to the many Portuguese fans. The crowds here are simply fantastic. It is great to see that the entire country is supporting rallying – whether the police, fans or the president himself, who popped in to see us in the service park.’

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

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

2016 Volkswagen Polo R WRC, Rally Portugal: Ogier

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

2016 Rally Portugal podium winners

> Read More

In a similar performance to that at the second round of the 2016 FIA World Rallycross Championship, both Volkswagen RX Sweden Polo RXs were among the front-runners at the third round of the series, the World RX of Belgium at Mettet. Both the 600bhp rallycross Polo Supercars of Johan Kristoffersson and Anton Marklund made it to the Supercar final at the 1.1km Circuit Jules Tacheny.

Fastest time
Kristoffersson once again – as at Hockenheim – set the winning pace in the Free Practice sessions on day one, and claimed the fastest time. The Swedish driver started form third on the grid in the Supercar final on day two, but a technical issue with his Polo meant he failed to capitalise on his prominent grid position.

Marklund meanwhile stormed into the lead and the first corner from the third row of the grid in the same race, and was awarded the Monster Energy Supercharge award. With both Volkswagen RX Sweden cars in the Supercar final, the team has closed the gap in the overall teams’ standings with 83 points. Kristoffersson’s sixth overall performance in Mettet leaves him third in the drivers’ championship points table, while Marklund’s fourth puts him 11th in the individual standings.

2016 Volkswagen Polo RX, World RX of Belgium: Kristoffersson

2016 Volkswagen Polo RX, World RX of Belgium: Kristoffersson

2016 Volkswagen Polo RX, World RX of Belgium

‘Good confidence’
Kristoffersson was pleased with his Polo RX’s speed: ‘I had a pretty good feeling through the whole weekend. I like the track in Belgium and I know the car suits it well. I came here with good confidence, we had the speed to win both of the first two events and I knew we would have the pace here.

‘Me and Anton finished side-by-side in Q1 but after that in every race I started in a worse position. The start at Mettet is so crucial: it’s just so competitive now. I was driving within myself and we used new tyres for the semi-final and things were looking pretty good. It feels like we still have a big headwind but the team is really great and we know we have the speed, so that is very positive.’

2016 Volkswagen Polo RX, World RX of Belgium: Marklund

2016 Volkswagen Polo RX, World RX of Belgium: Marklund

2016 Volkswagen Polo RX, World RX of Belgium: Marklund

Marklund was pleased with his best result of the season: ‘The pace has been really good all weekend. The guys worked so hard on the car between the races and our engine guys have done some really good work this weekend. We made a brilliant start from the last row, but after a small mistake at the chicane on the back straight we slipped down the placings. That’s where I lost a podium finish. Fourth is really good but the pace was there for the podium.’

EKS’ Mattias Ekstrom lead the 49-car Supercar field to victory at the World RX of Belgium. The fourth round of the 2016 FIA World Rallycross Championship, the World RX of Great Britain, takes place at Lydden Hill in Kent from 27-29 May.

2016 FIA WORLD RALLYCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP,
DRIVERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS
1 Mattias Ekström, Audi S1: 78
2 Petter Solberg, Citroën DS3: 73
3 Johan Kristoffersson, Volkswagen Polo: 58
4 Toomas Heikkinen, Audi S1: 46
5 Robin Larsson, Audi A1: 38

2016 FIA WORLD RALLYCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP,
TEAMS’ CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS
1 EKS: 124
2 Volkswagen RX Sweden: 83
3 Team Peugeot Hansen: 77
4 Hoonigan Racing Division: 43
5 World RX Team Austria: 39

[Images: FIAWorldRallycross.com]