PoloDriver

Fresh from their end-of-season championship battle, 11 Volkswagen Polo R Cup India racing cars will be taking part in a night race in Colombo, Sri Lanka on 17 December. Supporting the debut of the Colombo Night Races, seven of the Polo R Cup India drivers will be piloting their 129bhp TDI racing cars. Four guest Sri Lankan drivers will make up the rest of the grid. The Colombo Night Race marks the Polo R Cup India’s international debut; the race will be run on a 2km street circuit in the heart of Colombo.

Prithviraj Siddappa, Head of Volkswagen Motorsport India, said: ‘We are thrilled to have this opportunity to race on the streets of Colombo in our first ever night race. This will be very encouraging and a learning experience for our young drivers as this is not a conventional race circuit. They will have to adapt quickly and tweak their racing styles. This exhibition race also means a lot for Volkswagen Motorsport as this proves the popularity of Polo R Cup in India and beyond. Races like these will definitely help us attract more young talent for participation in the upcoming 2012 season of the Polo R Cup.’

Once again the Volkswagen Polo Vivo was the top-selling passenger car in South Africa last month, according to figures released by the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (NAAMSA). In three and five-door hatchback and four-door sedan (saloon) configurations, the Vivo claimed the sales top spot with a total of 2270 sales. November 2011 also saw the the fifth-generation Polo record impressive figures, too, once again in second place, with 1855 units. The Polo 6R was also the biggest export model for Volkswagen South Africa. The sole producer of right-hand drive current generation cars, its state-of-the-art Uitenhage factory exported 4421 units overseas last month from a total Volkswagen group-wide export figure of 4422 (a single solitary Mk 6 Golf made up the tally).

The Polo Vivo was launched in March 2010 as an entry-level model for the South African market, replacing the Series 1 Golf-based CitiGolf, and is available as a three or five-door hatchback and four-door booted saloon with 74bhp/84bhp 1.4-litre and 104bhp 1.6-litre petrol engines. Costing from R104,065 for the base-model 1.4 hatchback to R156,220 for the top 1.6 Trendline Sedan, the 2011 Polo Vivo is based on the revised version of the Series 4 Polo (9N3), built from 2005 to 2009. The new fifth-generation Polo (6R) is also available as both a three and five-door hatchback in addition to the traditional four-door Polo Sedan.

Vishnu Prasad is the 2011 champion of the Volkswagen Polo R Cup India. Thanks to clinching fourth place at the final race at the Irungattukottai Race Track in Chennai, Prasad secured the title in front of his fiercest rival, Oshan Kothadiya, who finished fifth. In adverse weather conditions, the spectators witnessed an entertaining race at which the Danish guest entrant, Maiken Rasmussen, caused a surprise. The female racer from the Volkswagen Scirocco R-Cup stormed up the grid to second place, behind race winner Sunny Sidhu, after having started from position 18 on the grid. Mihir Dharkar completed the podium. The series is run by Volkswagen India Motorsport in conjunction with JK Tyres. The field of 20 young racers drive identical and centrally-prepared 129bhp TDI Polo R Cup cars.

CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
1 Vishnu Prasad: 388 points
2 Oshan Kothadiya: 376 points
3 Avdumber Hede: 359 points

Three months ago, Rich Gooding bought a 10 year-old Polo GTI, a (some would say much-needed) more modern foil to his 1994 Polo GT coupé. Is the new relationship in still in its first flush, or is the honeymoon period well and truly over?

I still can’t quite believe that I’m driving something so much newer than the small 18 year-old hatchback (despite what VW say, the Mk 2 Polo coupé is a decidely usual hatchback shape) that has been part of my life for the last 12 years. The first three months with Y464 GHJ have largely been spent getting to know the car, and, as a freelance graphic designer, have been spent on the UK’s A-road and motorway network. Buying the car must have been an omen; little did I know at the time of purchase that I’d be regularly spending time driving to jobs. Something which in the elderly coupé, while enjoyable, would have been much less relaxing.

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The season finale of the 2011 Engen Volkswagen Cup saw plenty of action at the South African Zwartkops circuit on 26-27 November, with Devin Robertson claiming the driver’s championship crown. Kosie Weyers took second place in the overall points table, while Kelvin van der Linde clinched third. Robertson has been a strong contender for season honours all year, and actually claimed the title two rounds ago. Even though his car lost fourth gear in race one, he managed to limp home and after running repairs were carried out to the Volkswagen Polo Vivo race car, Roberston made a strong comeback, taking third place in race two.

The 2011 Engen Volkswagen Cup series is similar to the other racing VW Polo Cup single-series championships run in both Europe and India. Just as in those series, the South African one-make format highlights new young driving talent. In the Engen championship, as many as thirty drivers regularly take to the track in technically-identical, 2.0-litre, 234bhp 2011 Volkswagen Polo Vivo racing cars. The Volkswagen Racing press release follows.

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