PoloDriver

In true racing Polo style, the latest round of the 2011 Engen Volkswagen Cup at the Zwartkops circuit in Pretoria saw lots of wheel-to-wheel action. The weekend of 5-6 November saw eager drivers piling altogether into the narrow circuit’s corners, sometimes trading paint, sometimes swapping more. Despite not starting on pole position for either race Kosie Weyers was one of the first drivers into the scrum in both races, and went for every gap to emerge victorious on race day, taking the chequered flag in both runnings, with Kelvin van der Linde crossing the line in second place twice.

Lee Thompson in one of the Ferodo Racing Polo Vivos filled the last place on the podium in race one, while Devin Robertson in the Sparco car was third-placed in the second. Robertson now leads the 2011 championship, followed by Graham Donker in second place, and Miguel Pasqualli in third. The final round of the championship is on 26-27 November, once again at Zwartkops. 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 one-make format highlights a wealth of 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.

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Leading performance exhaust supplier Jetex now offers a cat-back system for the latest 6R Polo GTI 1.4 TSI (2010 onwards). Costing £460 including VAT, the half-system is made from 2.5-inch (63mm) T304 stainless steel with twin 80mm round pipes, providing an enchanced, but not intrusive, exhaust note. The 6R GTI performance system also features reduced back pressure to complement the supercharged and turbocharged TSI engine’s performance. Interested? Contact Jetex on 01789 298989 (quoting part number 27-HADR) or visit the company’s website for more details and to find out about its products for older Polo models.

Although not officially points scoring, one of the Volkswagen Motorsport-prepared Škoda Fabias emerged victorious in the S2000 class on the Rally GB on 11-13 November, also netting a twelfth place overall. Dutchman Kevin Abbring and co-driver Lara Vanneste’s result was the season’s best for the Volkswagen Motorsport team, while German driver Sepp Wiegand faced retirement on round 13, when along with co-driver Timo Gottschalk, he had been running in third place in the S2000 class.

With 354km of special stages, Rally GB was Volkswagen Motorsport’s fourth running of the Škoda Fabia S2000 pairing, to primarily gain test data for the company’s Polo R WRC car which will take to the forests, ice tracks and tarmac in 2013. Also evaluating young driving talents, Volkswagen Motorsport Director Kris Nissen was pleased with the latest stage of the programme: ‘Rally GB represents one of the biggest challenges in the WRC. Kevin Abbring and Lara Vanneste showed a very strong driving performance.’

The next competitive run planned by the Volkswagen factory team will be the legendary Monte Carlo Rally which will run from 18-22 January 2012. Two officially-prepared 270bhp four-wheel drive Škoda Fabia S2000s will take part in the season opener, which returns to the WRC calendar for the first time since 2009. The official Volkswagen Motorsport press release and image gallery follows.

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Once again the Irungattukottai Race Track, Chennai hosted the last round of the Volkswagen Polo R Cup India 2011, as the drivers fought for honours over the weekend of 15-16 October. Round 5 saw 21 year-old Rahil Noorani from Mumbai finish first in race one, with Oshan Kothadiya coming in behind just 2.375 seconds after Noorani’s time of 20.46 minutes. Avdumber Hede rounded out the podium 2.477 seconds after Kothadiya. Gaurav Dalal took the chequered flag in the second race in 20.43 minutes, with Vishnu Prasad following 4.907 seconds later. Mihir Dharkar finished third. Vishnu Prasad leads the championship overall, as the series moves to its final round in Noida on 25-27 November, 5 points ahead of Noorani. 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.

Volkswagen South Africa has announced a sponsorship of two vehicles to the Dyer Island Conservation Trust (DICT). A Polo BlueMotion and Touareg BlueMotion Technology will assist DICT with beach rescues, transporting researchers and volunteers, as well as the general running of the organisation. Dyer Island is a 20-hectare nature reserve in Gansbaai and is managed by CapeNature. It is a rich breeding ground for birds, most significantly the endangered African penguin, and is classified an important bird area by Birdlife International. Dyer Island’s surrounding waters are home to African penguins, great white sharks, seals, dolphins and whales – otherwise known as the ‘Marine Big 5’.

The Dyer Island Conservation Trust plays a pivotal role in the research and conservation of the animals in the Gansbaai area and has partnered with leading universities, the Department of Environmental Affairs and other Non-Governmental Organisations. One of their main efforts is focused on supporting education to the community. ‘Volkswagen’s vision is to become a company with meaning and impact in terms of environmental consciousness, and an industry leader in environmental responsibility. We believe our partnership and support of the Dyer Island Conservation Trust will play a critical role in assisting them to conserve the rich marine life in the Gansbaai area. Our sponsorship forms part of our “Think Blue” initiative by which we try to implement small changes that will make big differences in the future,’ said Mike Glendinning, Director, Sales and Marketing at Volkswagen Group South Africa.

[Source: Volkswagen South Africa]