PoloDriver

In a final push in its Polo R WRC development programme, Volkswagen Motorsport has been authorised to run a ‘proper’, full-fat version of its 2013 World Rally Championship (WRC) challenger in the penultimate round of the 2011 championship, the Rally d’Italia, which takes place in Sardinia on 18-21 October. While its stage times won’t be recorded, the Polo R WRC’s run will be a full-scale test, a dress rehearsal for 2013, when it will take on challengers Citroën and Ford. In a twist of coincidence, Sardinia was the location chosen for the Polo R WRC’s unveiling in May 2011. Autosport reports that the Sardinia car will be driven by the Volkswagen Motorsport number one pairing of Sébastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia, but as the car has yet to be homologated, it will not be a ‘zero’ car, and its running position is yet to be decided.

Meanwhile, the next round of the 2012 WRC championship will see Ogier compete in Finland on 2-5 August. In related Polo R WRC news, Volkswagen Motorsport is rumoured to be fielding up to three cars next year. Ogier will pilot the lead car, while Jari-Matti Latvala from Finland (and current Ford driver) is in the frame to be his number two. More videos of the Polo R WRC testing in both Alicante and Finland have also surfaced online. Sounding even more like an angry swarm of bees than before, the Polo R WRC already looks fairly well developed to us. We need to see it competing – the 2013 WRC championship can’t come soon enough.

Volkswagen Motorsport pairing Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia finished seventh in the Acropolis Rally, the sixth round of the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC). Claiming six championship points and a sixth consecutive S2000 class victory, the 22 stages offered every type of surface to test man and machine: gravel-like sub-soil, as well as fast and dusty sections. Changeable weather conditions only added to the challenge. Ogier set the pace in the S2000 class, but didn’t survive the 410-kilometre rally unscathed. Changing a bent track rod, and repairing a leak in the steering system on his Škoda Fabia S2000, Ogier was pleased with his final finishing position.

‘We can be really satisfied with the result,’ says the 28-year old Frenchman who won the same rally last year in a Citroën WRC car. ‘The Acropolis is one of the most famous rallies and was hard work this year due to the changing weather. We achieved the maximum with our Fabia S2000. The rally with its long days was also a real challenge for our team and I can only thank and congratulate the crew for its performance.’

‘The Acropolis Rally is one of the real classics in the WRC and also represents the toughest test in this year’s calendar: the perfect venue to prepare for 2013 with Polo R WRC,’ explained Volkswagen Motorsport Director Jost Capito. ‘Our team performed exceptionally well. The rally made huge demands of both man and machine: the drivers had to find a balance between speed and safety; at the same time a great deal of work awaited the crew during the short service breaks. We take a lot of valuable experience home which will go into the ongoing preparations for our 2013 entry.’

The Acropolis Rally wasn’t quite such a good event for fellow Fabia drivers Andreas Mikkelsen and Ola Fløene. The Norwegian duo had to retire due to damaged suspension after the 18th stage while running in tenth place. ‘On the one hand I’m very satisfied, and on the other somewhat disappointed,’ summarised the 22-year old Mikkelsen. ‘We were able to collect experience on the stages which were completely new to us and also see that we could essentially maintain the pace of our team mates. On the other hand, there is our late retirement: I misunderstood a statement for Ola and went into a corner too quickly. When I noticed I braked, but sideswiped a rock and damaged the left rear suspension,’ said the Intercontinental Rally champion.

Now that the waters of the lake on which the 31st Wörthersee GTI Treffen sits have settled, the dry ice has cleared, and the Polo R WRC and Polo WRC Street stars of the Volkswagen stand have been packed into their trailers, here are three official VW-sanctioned videos of the three-day Austrian event, which manages to attract enthusiasts, tuners and the might of the mammoth Volkswagen Group itself. What surprises does 2013 hold?

Finally it’s official! Although consistently denied, there is a Polo which will be hotter than the current 178bhp GTI, and here’s the proof: the Polo WRC Street concept, unveiled today at the 31st GTI Festival in Wörthersee, Austria. Powered by a 2.0-litre engine developing 217bhp (220PS/162kW), the limited-edition Polo ‘WRC Street’ will go on sale in late 2013, after the rally-prepped Polo R WRC hits the asphalt, gravel and snow tracks, to capitalise on the motorsport model’s halo effect. Additional features of the Polo WRC Street includes a black rear spoiler and diffuser, sports suspension, multi-spoke alloy wheels, black wheel arch trims and ‘R-WRC’ graphics and badging. It certainly looks the part, and initial web reports suggest that an even hotter Polo R road-going model is also in the pipeline.

Another star of the Volkswagen stand in Reifnitz, is the Polo R WRC itself. Contesting the FIA World Rally Championship in 2013, the 1.6-litre turbocharged motorsport model is currently in development, being tested by Volkswagen’s lead driver, Sébastien Ogier. Seen in Austria as a running car, the four-wheel drive Polo R WRC develops 296bhp (300PS/220kW), and gets to 62mph from rest in 4.1 seconds. Other cars on the Volkswagen stand at the Wörthersee 2012 event which runs from 16-19 May is the production version of the Golf GTI Cabriolet, a black and red-themed Golf GTI ‘Black Dynamic’ which was built by nine Volkswagen apprentices, and the Golf GTI ‘White Concept’ with Oryx White matt paintwork.

The Volkswagen Polo R WRC rally car will appear at the 31st GTI Festival in Reifnitz, Wörthersee, Austria, this coming weekend, 16-19 May. Continuing the tradition set by the Scirocco GT24 and the Golf24 endurance racers which were also presented at Wörthersee, the Polo R WRC will be admired by more than 100,000 visitors to the three-day event. After the Polo R WRC’s appearance in Austria, the Volkswagen Motorsport team will head to Greece for the Greek round of the 2012 World Rally Championship on 25-27 May. Once again, two Škoda Fabia S2000s will be fielded, this time driven by the pairings of Sébastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia and Andreas Mikkelsen/Ola Fløene.