PoloDriver

The Rally of South Africa took its toll on the field of racers over the weekend of 29-30 May. Only 23 finishers crossed the line at Ermelo, with the BP Volkswagen Polo S2000 of Jan Habig and Ralph Pitchford in a hard fought second place, just 0.7 seconds behind the leaders Johnny Gemmell and Drew Sturrock and their Toyota Auris. A fantastic result considering that, at the end of the first day, the VW pair were over 1 minute and 48 seconds off the leaders and 79 seconds adrift of the eventual rally winners.

The second day proved more profitable, with the gap to the front of the pack narrowed to 46.8 seconds by the end of stage one. After six stages it was down to 38.0, and by stage eight had dropped further to 25 seconds. A further fall to 14.3 seconds had happened by the end of stage nine, while at the end of stage 10 it was up to 19.2 seconds, setting the scene for a nailbiting finish. No-one was quite sure who had actually claimed the rally victory until the cars pulled up at the podium. Analysing the list of fastest stage times, Habig and Pitchford claimed three stage wins.

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Volkswagen Polo Cup South Africa title defender Mathew Hodges was the big winner of the second race weekend of the 2010 championship. Hodges was victorious on the 4.246-kilometre circuit at Kyalami, near Johannesburg in both rounds. Devin Robertson crossed the finish line as the runner-up of the first round, while Miguel Pasqualli came in third. Pasqualli was also on the podium for the second round, coming in behind Hodges. Bryan Morgan made up the top three, finishing race two in third place. The 2010 Volkswagen Polo Cup South Africa series is similar to the other racing Polo championships run in Europe and India. Just as in those series, the one-make format highlights new young driving talent. As many as 30 drivers regularly take to the track in technically identical cars, full grids ensure close-fought races.

A 22-year-old engineering graduate from Visakhapatnam took the spoils this weekend at the inaugural rounds of the Volkswagen Polo Cup India 2010. Races one and two of the new championship were held at the Shri Shiv Chhatrapati sports complex near Pune, and saw Sailesh Bolisetti drive to victory in his 129bhp TDI Polo Cup racer, beating his 19 other compatriots. The Volkswagen India Motorsport and JK Tyres championship saw a massive crowd turnout, for what is arguably India’s most-awaited motorsport series of the year.

The street track at Pune was kind to Bolisetti and he led race one from the start, ahead of Saran Vikram. Third place was awarded to Mohammed Fahad Kutty, although his result wasn’t without controversy. Overtaking under a yellow flag gained Kutty a 15-second penalty and saw him lose his podium place, Kartik Shankar taking third spot after Kutty’s points and time were readjusted. The 15-lap race was entertaining too; a tyre wall scrape for Kutty and Alisha Abdullah’s first corner spin delighted the ecstatic crowd.

Race two was a rerun for Bolisetti. Leading from the off, he finished in front of second-placed Shankar, while Kutty drove a cleaner race to step on the podium, crossing the line in third place. The next round of the championship will be held at the Kari Motor Speedway, Coimbatore over the weekend of July 17 and 18. The Volkswagen Polo Cup India 2010 is run by Volkswagen India Motorsport in conjunction with JK Tyres. All 20 young competitors drive identical and centrally-prepared 129bhp TDI Polo Cup racing cars.

[Source: Overdrive]

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]