PoloDriver

Co-driver of the Manitou Group SA rally team Polo S1600, Henry Kohne, recounts how the team finished second in the S1600 class at the 2015 Imperial Toyota Tshwane Motor Rally, the sixth round of the 2015 South African National Rally Championship

The 2015 Imperial Toyota Tshwane Motor Rally took place on the weekend of 14-15 August 2015. The event kicked off at Fort Klapperkop in Tshwane on Friday and stretched out to the Cullinan area for a total of 10 gravel stages on Friday and Saturday.

Character-building weekend
It was a character-building weekend for the team. A puncture on day one and an electrical issue causing a misfire on day two meant the team struggled to keep up with the pace over the course of the weekend.

The competition was fierce with only seconds separating the stage times of the top five. The Manitou Group SA rally team was in fifth position at the end of day one but managed to fight its way back to second position in class S1600 at the end of day two.

‘Home event’
‘We are fortunate with our result, it was a frustrating weekend at times but when all went well we posted good stage times. We are now looking forward to the last two events of the series. Cape Town is my home event, but we have a lot of hard work to put in if we want to take the fight for the championship,’ said Polo S1600 driver Paulus Franken.

Paulus Franken and Henry Kohne in the Manitou Group supported Volkswagen Polo R2 are now 2.5 points behind Championship leader, Guy Botteril in the S1600 class with two rounds remaining in the 2015 South African National Rally Championship.

The next event is round seven, the Toyota Cape Dealer Rally, which takes place from 18-19 September. The Manitou Group SA rally team is supported by Manitou Group, Supa Quick Birchleigh, Volkswagen Motorsport and SASOL Racing.

[Image: Dave Ledbitter/rallyworld.net]

After a disappointing 2015 World Rally Championship season so far, Volkswagen Motorsport’s Finnish drivers Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila took the win at their home event, Rally Finland, which was staged from 30 July to 2 August.

In front of thousands of jubilant spectators, the pair finished the event at an average speed of 125.44km/h and claimed best times on half of the 20 Special Stages. Their overall lead over second-placed team-mates Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia was 13.7 seconds.

‘Kings of Speed’
Latvala and Anttila’s victory in the canopy-lined forests of Finland makes it their third. The new-found ‘Kings of Speed’, the pair have now scored fastest times on both gravel and tarmac events. The Finns moved into the lead at Rally Finland during the legendary ‘Ouninpohja’ stage and clocked Latvala’s 400th stage win of his career, as well as the fastest speed of 132.18 km/h.

Taking second place in the final ‘Myhinpää’ power stage, Latvala and Anttila scored another two points towards their Drivers’ Championship standings. Ogier and Ingrassia were victorious, however, and took the full three points. It was the French duo’s 23rd power stage success and the 26th for Volkswagen Motorsport.

Celebratory mood
‘I can’t even begin to tell you how happy I am,’ said a Latvala, in celebratory mood. ‘This win means all the more to me after all the ups and downs this season. My motivation coming into this rally and my desire to win were immense.

‘After all the ups and downs I’ve been through this season, this victory means a huge amount. I would like to thank the entire team for its great work. They have always believed in me, even in times when things have not run so smoothly,’ he continued.

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The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) has released its monthly UK sales figures and once again the Volkswagen Polo sits in the top 10 best-selling car chart. One place higher than in June at number seven, Volkswagen UK sold 3620 Polos in July. The Ford Fiesta was the most popular new model once again, with a total of 8504 examples finding homes.

A total of 178,420 cars were registered in July, a rise of 3.2 per cent on the same month in 2014. Year-to-date sales in 2015 are up 6.5 per cent to 1,555,309 units: July 2015 was the 41st consecutive month of growth with the biggest volume rises seen in the supermini an SUV markets. The UK’s top 10 best-selling passenger cars during July 2015 and the year so far (sales figure and position in brackets) are as follows:

1 Ford Fiesta: 8504 (80,494, 1st)
2 Ford Focus: 7044 (52,122, 3rd)
3 Vauxhall Corsa: 4886 (55,011, 2nd)

4 Volkswagen Golf: 4880 (43,141, 4th)
5 Nissan Qashqai: 3789 (38,290, 5th)
6 Audi A3: 3731 (29,496, 8th)
7 Volkswagen Polo: 3620 (32,600, 7th)
8 Fiat 500: 3191 (25,815, 10th)
9 Vauxhall Astra: 3187 (33,153, 6th)
10 Mercedes-Benz C Class: 2868 (27,544, 9th)

The fifth round of the 2015 Engen Volkswagen Cup in South Africa was dominated by Sheldon van der Linde, as the 16 year-old took a brace of wins at the Zwartkops Raceway on 8 August. The championship leader won the first race ahead of Tasmin Pepper and was in front of Mathew Hodges when the second drew to a close.

3.329-second advantage
Van der Linde had a 3.329-second advantage over Pepper by the end of the first race’s eight laps. Daniel Rowe rounded out the podium, 4.549 seconds behind Van der Linde. Pepper started on pole, but Van der Linde didn’t hang around and soon went into the lead. Pepper hung on, though, as was rewarded with second place.

In race two, Hodges was 7.955 seconds behind the race leader having started in pole position, with Rowe taking the third step on the winners’ rostrum yet again, 9,460 seconds adrift of the uncatchable Van der Linde. Pepper finished second to last when she failed to finish due to a gearbox problem.

Van der Linde was also fastest in qualifying with Christopher Shorter and Trevor Bland rounding out the top three. Amazingly, the fastest 12 competitors crossed the start/finish line in their Polo Vivo GTs with just a second separating them.

Avoiding action
Shaun La Reservée meanwhile started both races, but was unable to complete a single lap in either. Pushed off in the first corner of the first lap in race one and then eliminated from race two in the second-last corner while taking avoiding action in an incident involving other competitors, it just wasn’t La Reserveé ’s day.

The incident in the first race saw it red-flagged after lap one and then restarted, while in the second race the competitors ran under the Safety Car while the track was cleared of debris. Newcomer Justin Oates was awarded the ‘Driver of the Day’ award and finished 16th and 12th to claim 12th overall for the day in his Engen Volkswagen Cup debut.

The sixth round of the 2015 Engen Volkswagen Cup will be hosted at Dezzi’s Raceway in Port Shepstone on Saturday, 29 August – and the field will tackle a race track that has never seen Engen Volkswagen Cup competition before.

RACE RESULTS

Race 1

1 Sheldon van der Linde (1: Champion)
2 Tasmin Pepper (31: PG Glass / Plastomark)
3 Daniel Rowe (2: Ferodo)

Race 2
1 Sheldon van der Linde (1: Champion)
2 Mathew Hodges (M1: Makopano / Phoenix Signs / 959 Panelbeaters)
3 Daniel Rowe (2: Ferodo)

OVERALL
1 Sheldon van der Linde (1: Champion)
2 Daniel Rowe (2: Ferodo)
3 Mathew Hodges (M1: Makopano / Phoenix Signs / 959 Panelbeaters)

MASTERS

Overall

1 Mathew Hodges (M1: Makopano / Phoenix Signs / 959 Panelbeaters
2 Juan Gerber (M8: Haupt Racing)
3 Trevor Bland (M2: PG Glass / Alpine Motors)

CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS
1 Sheldon van der Linde: 252
2 Mathew Hodges: 235
3 Daniel Rowe: 212
4 Trevor Bland: 197
5 Matt Shorter: 184

2015 marks 40 years of the Volkswagen Polo and the German company is celebrating with the launch of a new special limited edition. The Polo ‘Original’ costs from €19,950 and comes in six engine/gearbox variations and features a host of extra kit. Only 1,000 Polo Originals will be built.

Five-door body style
Only available with a five-door body style, the Polo Original features ‘Original’ badging on the front wings and door sill trims, 16-inch ‘Portago’ alloy wheels, a gloss black front grille and LED headlights. Other exterior highlights include body-coloured mirror caps and darkened tail lamps.

Six colours are available: Pure White, Titanium Beige Metallic, Reflex Silver Metallic, Deep Black Pearl Effect, Oryx White Pearl Effect, and the one we’d go for, the fantastic Honey Orange Metallic seen on recent CrossPolos.

One of our favourite features is the houdstooth check seat covering, which our 1978 Polo N shared. In the Polo Original, a ‘truffle’/black combination called ‘Splender’ with ‘truffle’ stitching covers the sports seats with faux-leather side bolsters. Aluminium pedals and a leather-trimmed multifunction steering wheel, handbrake grip and gear lever complete the interior upgrades.

On-board technology includes ‘Climatronic’ air-conditioning, Volkswagen’s ‘Front Assist’ anti-collision system with ‘City Emergency Braking’, a rear-view camera and ‘Colour Composition’ infotainment system with six speakers, USB and media-in inputs, as well as mobile telephone connectivity.

TSI and TDI engines
Engines range from the 1.2-litre TSI petrol in 88 and 103bhp guises, as well as TDI units with the same outputs. All feature BlueMotion Technology. The entry-level Polo Original 88bhp TSI costs €19,950, while the range-topping TDI is €22,500. Volkswagen states that buyers save €1,119 over similarly-equipped cars when all the standard kit is taken into account.

To promote the Polo Original, Volkswagen has released a cheeky film (above) featuring the original Polo, the Mk 1 from 1975. We’ve been lucky to drive the featured car (which is owned by Volkswagen Classic), but not quite like that!

The limited edition Polo Original is available to order now in Germany. For more details, visit the special website, and download the brochure here.