PoloDriver

2021 was a busy year for the Volkswagen Polo. Celebrating the model’s 46th anniversary, the refreshed sixth-generation car was unveiled and arrived in the UK towards the end of the year. The second-generation Polo commemorated the 40th year since its debut in the autumn of 1981.

The Polo Harlekin (Harlequin) marked its 25th birthday in 2021, and more teams took the Polo GTI R5 rally car on global stages. New models were launched in Germany, India and the UK, and the Polo’s popularity remained strong, its sales in selected markets remaining high.

Below, we round up the Polo’s biggest achievements in 2021. (Bold entries are illustrated by the picture above that particular month’s list of events.)

January

• Niclas Grönholm and Polo GTI R5 finish sixth at the 2021 Arctic Lapland Rally
• Polo Vivo crowned 2020’s most popular car in South Africa, selling 19,750 units from Volkswagen’s total sales of 53,319 units, giving the company an all-time local market share of 21.6 per cent
• Volkswagen Netherlands creates a new version of the Polo Harlequin to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the original model
• Nikolay Gryzin takes his Polo GTI R5 to fifth place in the RC2 class at the 2021 Rallye Monte-Carlo
• Polo GTI R5 of Nasser Al-Attiyah and Mathieu Baumel wins 2021 Qatar International Rally, their 15th victory at the event
• Polo Active special edition launches in Germany.

February

• Victory for the Larsen Motorsport Polo GTI R5 of Frank Tore Larsen and Morten Abrahamsen at the 2021 Lygnasprinten (image: Larsen Motorsport)
• The Polo GTI R5 of Egon Kaur and Silver Simm takes first place in the Rally2 class at the 2021 Otepää Rally. Georg Linnamäe and Volodymyr Korsia’s Polo GTI R5 finish second.

March

• 108bhp Polo Matt Edition 1.0 TSI launches in India: special features include matt grey paint, gloss black door mirror caps and rear spoiler, cruise control, multifunction steering wheel and a colour touchscreen infotainment system
• Polo GTI R5s take first and second places at the East Safari Rally with 10 out of 10 stage wins. Reigning champions Simos Galatariotis and Antonis loannou finish first ahead of Alexandros Tsouloftas and Stelios Elia
• Luca Pedersoli and Anna Tomas win Rally del Bardolino in their Polo GTI R5 – their maiden outing in the car
• First victory for Marco Signor and Francesco Pezzoli in their Polo GTI R5 at the Rally Ronde del Canavese
• Another debut win, this time for the Polo GTI R5 of Francisco Dorado and Roi Torrente at the 2021 Rallysprint de Valdelaguna
• Nikolay Gryazin and Konstantin Aleksandrov are victorious with their Polo GTI R5 at Valasská Rally ValMez
• Jurie Swart wins both races at the opening round of the 2021 Volkswagen Polo Cup in Cape Town, South Africa – the 2021 season celebrates the 25th anniversary of the one-make series. In the first round of the 2021 GTC SupaCup series, Volkswagen Motorsport South Africa Polo SupaCup driver Jonathan Mogotsi finishes second.

April

• Polo Active joins UK model range
• Refreshed MY22 Polo revealed in digital online premiere featuring more digital technology and updated looks
• Sixth-generation Polo evaluated for possible Indian launch on MQB A0 IN platform
• Carl Flash Tundo and Tim Jessop win the FIA African Rally Championship Equator Rally Kenya in their Polo GTI R5
• Kristian Poulsen and Ole R Fredriksen win Rally Himmerland, round one of the Danish Rally Championship – the second victory for Polo GTI R5 chassis #44 in Denmark
• First place for Nasser Al-Attiyah and Mathieu Baumel’s Polo GTI R5 at Rallye Tierras Altas de Lorca
• Tomasz Kasperczyk and Damian Syty win the 2021 Tech-Mol Rally in their Polo GTI R5. Zbigniew Gabrys and Krzysztof Janik’s Polo GTI R5 also finishes on the podium at the first rally of the year in Poland.

May

• MY22 Polo GTI revealed in official Volkswagen design sketch
• Nasser Al-Attiyah and Mathieu Baumel win the Jordan Rally in a Polo GTI R5 – their ninth overall victory in the Volkswagen rally car
• 1-2 for the Polo GTI R5 at the Larnaca Rally – Alexandros Tsouloftas and Stelios Elia win the event, followed by Simos Galatariotis and Antonis loannou
• Jurie Stewart and Arnold Neveling victorious in the Volkswagen Polo Cup races held at Aldo Scribante, near Gqeberha. Jonathan Mogotsi drives his Polo SupaCup to a maiden win during the GTC SupaCup race
• Volkswagen Polo named the third most popular car in the UK during May 2021.

June

• The Polo GTI R5s of Osian Pryce and Noel O’Sullivan and reigning champions Matt Edwards and Darren Garrod debut at first round of the 2021 British Rally Championship at Oulton Park
• 1-2 for the Polo GTI R5 at the Super Prime Alpasa rally in Paraguay. Miguel Zaldivar Jr and Victor Aguilera finish first, followed by Diego Dominguez Sr and Edgardo Galindo
• 2022 Volkswagen Polo order books open in Germany
• Refreshed MY22 Polo GTI revealed with updated looks, DSG and 204bhp
• Frank Tore Larsen and Morten Abrahamsen steer their Polo GTI R5 to victory at the 2021 Aurskog-Holand Rally
• Volkswagen Polo named the sixth most popular car in the UK during June 2021
• With 11,560 cars finding homes in the first six months of the year, the Polo Vivo remains the most popular new car in South Africa. In second place, the sixth-generation Polo sells 9,045 examples.

July

• RacingLine releases Polo GTI ‘AW’ sport springs and turbo muffler delete products
• Volkswagen Polo crowned the UK’s most popular car, based on official registration figures, finishing ahead of the Toyota Yaris and Kia Sportage.

August

• The second-generation Polo celebrates four decades since it was launched to the press in Sardinia
• Jurie Stewart, Arnold Neveling, and Leyton Fourie win one Volkswagen Polo Cup race each at the East London Grand Prix circuit.

September

• The new MY22 Polo goes on sale in the UK, priced from £17,885 to £23,355
• Polo Trendline MPI, Comfortline TSI, Highline Plus TSI manual, and Highline Plus TSI and GT TSI automatic models demand a five-month waiting list in India, along with the Polo saloon-based Vento Highline TSI manual
• Sixteen-year-old Leyton Fourie claims both South African Volkswagen Polo Cup wins at the Red Star Raceway.

October

• Jurie Stewart wins Volkswagen Polo Cup South Africa races at Zwartops Raceway.

November

• MY22 Polo GTI joins the UK model range with a starting price of £26,430
• Polo Vivo Black Style launches in South Africa. Special equipment includes black 16-inch ‘Portago’ alloy wheels, gloss black mirror caps, roof and B and C pillar covers, black sill covers, a body-coloured boot spoiler, privacy glass, a chrome exhaust tip as well as anthracite headlining and sun visors
• Autocar publishes its first UK drive of the new MY22 Polo.

December

• What Car? long lists Polo as a Car of the Year Awards 2022 small car entrant
• Auto Express, Carbuyer and What Car? publish the first UK drives of the new MY22 Polo
• MY22 Polo announced for sale in South Africa from January 2022
• 2022 Volkswagen Polo Cup unveils CompCare Medical Scheme as sponsor; Jurie Stewart wins Killarney races at final round of 2021 series, but Leyton Fourie crowned 2021 Volkswagen Polo Cup champion
• South African Volkswagen Polo GTC SupaCup tested during Killarney 9-Hour race ready for 2022 season
• A panel of broadcasters, car designers, engineers, motorsport legends and auto industry journalists and media professionals announces MY22 Polo as one of the Best Cars of the Year 2021/2022 award winners in tenth place.

As another year passes, we would like to thank our readers and followers old and new, and we’ve got lots more stories and features coming to the website in 2022.

[Click on the ‘Polo 2017-’, ‘Polo Vivo’, ‘Polo GTI R5’ and ‘Motorsport’ tags in the category drop-down list in the right-hand sidebar to see all entries relating to the sixth-generation Polo, Polo GTI R5, and Polo motorsport activity respectively. Choose other category or month sections for relevant entries.]

Hot in the tyre tracks of Niclas Grönholm and Antto Linnaketo’s sixth place at the 2021 Arctic Lapland Rally, Nikolay Gryazin and his co-driver Konstantin Aleksandrov took their Polo GTI R5 to fifth place in the RC2 class at the 2021 Rallye Monte-Carlo. The Russian duo’s strikingly liveried Movisport SRL Polo also clocked up the quickest RC2 time on the Power Stage at the 21-24 January event.

By the close of day one, the pair were third in RC2, but dropped a couple of places after day two’s 12 stages. In the overall results, Gryazin and Aleksandrov’s Polo was the highest-placed GTI R5, in 12th place. Three other versions of the 272bhp four-wheel drive rallying Polo were also to be found on the ‘Monte’ stages. Ex-Škoda and Volkswagen driver Kevin Abbring and co-driver Pieter Tsjoen’s number 26 car finished 12th in RC2 and 20th overall.

At the 89th ‘Monte’, the #52 machine of Olivier Burri and Anderson Levratti scored 10th in RC2 and 18th overall, and the number 60 GTI R5 of Philippe and Christophe Roux crossed the RC2 line 26th. The Swiss pair finished 46th in the overall rankings.

[Image: Volkswagen Motorsport]

Volkswagen Motorsport may have closed its doors, but the rally monster that is the Polo GTI R5 can still be seen out on the stages. At least 15 of the 272bhp four-wheel drive rally machines were made before the end of 2018, its debut year, and the rally GTI has tasted victory in the hands of famous names, including Oliver Solberg, son of world champion Petter Solberg.

Another celebrated rallying name is now associated with the GTI R5. Niclas Grönholm, son of two-time WRC title holder and former Volkswagen test driver Marcus Grönholm took the wheel of a MRF-tyred Polo for the 2021 Arctic Lapland Rally. The Finnish event ran from 15-16 January and Grönholm’s ALM Motorsport-prepared car came home in tenth place overall at the end of the seven-stage event. The result puts the young Finnish rallycross driver and his co-pilot Antti Linnaketo sixth in the 2021 Finnish Rally Championship.

‘Very challenging’
‘It was great to have two cars wearing MRF Tyres inside the top 10. The stages were in good condition, but there was a lot of loose snow, and it was very challenging,’ reported Grönholm.

Other Arctic Lapland Rally Polo GTI R5 runners included the pairings of Egon Kaur and Silver Simm for Kaur Motorsport; Georg Linnamäe and Tanel Kasesalu in another ALM Motorsport car; and Jussi Keskiniva and Mikko Kaikkonen in a Printsport-liveried Polo. Keskiniva finished 18th overall, with Linnamäe 21st and Kaur 30th. The 2021 event isn’t the first at which Polo GTI R5s have been seen in action: in 2019, Emil Lindholm and Mikael Korhonen helmed their small VW to victory.

There is more Polo GTI R5 action next weekend, as four cars are scheduled to take part in the 2021 running of the legendary Rallye Monte-Carlo.

[Images: MRF Tyres / Volkswagen Motorsport]

Volkswagen Motorsport GmbH, the Hanover-based outfit behind the four World Rally Championship title-winning Polo R WRC, and the current Polo GTI R5, is being integrated into Volkswagen AG. The 169-strong workforce will be offered employment at Volkswagen AG, as the company ceases all motorsport activities and realigns itself with the age of electromobility.

Successful run
Production of the sixth-generation Polo-based GTI R5 will finish at the end of 2020, though spare parts will be ‘ensured in the long term’ to service teams who run the 270bhp four-wheel drive machines in national and international championships. An end to the Polo’s successful run which began in 2013, it sadly spells the final curtain on the Polo’s officially backed role in motorsport.

In addition to the quartet of World Rally Championship titles Volkswagen Motorsport scored with the Polo R WRC from 2013-2016, the Polo RX won a trio of rallycross world championship titles in 2017, 2018 and 2020, most notably through a pairing with Petter Solberg. Up-and-coming driver Johan Kristoffersson also formed an unbeatable and winning bond with the rallycross Polo.

VW states it is “pooling its strengths for the transformation into the mobile electric age” as part of its wide-ranging refocus. ‘The Volkswagen brand is on the way to becoming the leading provider of sustainable electromobility,’ stated Dr Frank Welsch, Volkswagen brand Board Member for Development.

‘We are pooling our strengths and have decided to discontinue our own motorsport activities for the Volkswagen brand. The workforce will subsequently be integrated into Volkswagen AG.’ Welsch also explained that the ‘in-depth technical expertise’ of the Volkswagen Motorsport employees and the knowledge gained from the ID R electric racing car project will feed into the development of the incoming ID range of cars.

‘Significant sporting successes’
‘The Volkswagen Motorsport GmbH team has had significant sporting successes for the brand over the decades. My sincere thanks go to all employees for the many victories, titles and records around the world and their personal commitment,’ said Wilfried von Rath, Volkswagen brand Member of the Board of Management, adding that the Hanover workforce will be offered employment at Volkswagen AG in Wolfsburg, and will be integrated into the company over the coming months.

As well as the components for the Polo GTI R5, spares for the Golf GTI TCR will also be safe in the long term. The 335bhp track machine secured a pair of TCR International titles in 2016 and 2017. Both machines are customer sports propositions, Volkswagen Motorsport not running any ‘factory-backed’ teams itself.

Five-decade history
Volkswagen Motorsport’s history goes back five decades, starting with Formula Vee in the 1960s and 1970s. Subsequent participation in Formula 3, national and World Rally Championships (with both second and third-generation Golf GTIs, as well as the Polo R WRC), circuit racing series and three Dakar Rally events show it was a company to be reckoned with in the world of motorsport.

More recently, the electric ID R single-seater successfully showcased Volkswagen Motorsport’s technical skill. The EV racer holds five international records, including the overall fastest hill climb times at Pikes Peak and the Goodwood Festival of Speed, as well as the quickest electric car lap on the Nürburgring-Nordschleife.

Oliver Solberg celebrated his FIA European Rally Championship (ERC) return at the 2020 Rally di Roma Capitale (24-26 July) by driving his PA Racing-backed Volkswagen Polo GTI R5 to third place. The 18-year-old’s full asphalt debut saw him run in third from the fifth stage until the end of the 123-mile event.

‘For me, this is a little bit like winning,’ said the son of triple World Rally Champion (WRC) Petter Solberg. ‘Before the start, I didn’t know anything about where my speed would be. I drove Rallye Monte-Carlo which is a little bit of a tarmac rally, but the set-up for the car is quite different.

‘Competition is tough’
‘People were asking me before I started where I could finish, and I hoped to be in the top 10. The competition here is tough, there are a lot of drivers who have been driving on asphalt for all of their careers. When I posted a second fastest time on SS5, it was fantastic,’ the young driver continued. Oliver is no stranger to strong performances on the European Rally Championship – he became the youngest-ever winner of an ERC round after victory at the 2019 Rally Liepāja, aged 17.

‘The first day was a really tough one: the roads were so twisty, so technical and complicated – but it was actually Sunday where I was thinking it would be more difficult. On Sunday the roads were faster and wider, which meant there were different lines to take into the corners.’ Solberg Junior also lost his glasses and hit a rock on SS2, which cost him some time. But he made up for it during SS10, where he was fastest through before the rally leaders cars’ arrived.  

‘So much fun’
Oliver praised the work of his father in helping him fine-tune his pacenotes. ‘Dad was helping Aaron (Johnston, co-driver) and me with the notes while we were watching the onboards. That gave me good confidence, and when we started on Sunday I was really enjoying it. I drove the same tyres for two loops to give me more experience of how it feels to have the car moving around beneath me when the tyres are wearing more; honestly, I really, really enjoyed it. It was so much fun,’ Oliver enthused.

‘I know I have a lot more to learn, but I can really say now that I love driving on asphalt. I understand some of how the car and tyre combination works – it’s so different to gravel, but it’s very cool. I have to say a big thanks to the whole team at PA Racing and, of course, to Pirelli – having Terenzio (Testoni, head of rally and off-road competitions) helping me this weekend has been fantastic.’

Away from Solberg’s performance, a total of eight other Polo GTI R5s contested the Rome event, which re-started the international rallying calendar following the COVID-19 pandemic. The Polo of Giandomenico Basso and Lorenzo Granai kicked off the rally with the fastest time on the qualifying stage, the 2019 event winners completing the 2.6-mile Fumone stage in 2m11.350s. The Italian pair went on to finish second, ahead of Solberg, just behind the Russian duo of Alexey Lukyanuk and Dmitry Eremeev in their Citroën C3 R5.

Other Polo GTI R5 finishers included the ninth-placed Volkswagen of Rudy Michelini and Michele Perna, the VW of Marco Signor and Francesco Pezzoli that crossed the line in 14th position, and the Fabio Angelucci and Massimo Cambria car which came home 24th. The BRR-prepared Polo of Norbert Herczig and Ramon Ferencz finished 53rd, while both the rallying VWs of Fabian Kreim/Frank Christian and Enrico Brazzoli/Maurizio Barone retired. 

[Images: Oliver Solberg, ERC, and Josef Petru (Herczig)]