PoloDriver

The 2010 Sasol South African Rally Championship resumed after a six-week break in the same thrilling fashion experienced at the end of May. Staged in Port Elizabeth on 23-24 July, the Volkswagen Rally 2010 is the fifth round of the eight event championship, and saw Castrol Team Toyota’s Johnny Gemmell take the fight to VW on their home turf to win the event by just 1.5 seconds from Enzo Kuun. The second BP VW Racing Polo S2000 driven by Jan Habig finished behind Kuun in third.

Gemmell and navigator Drew Sturrock took just three special stages on day one of the event to assert their authority on the rally. The first stage was won by Conrad Rautenbach by a 12-second margin over Gemmell with the second quickest time. A win for Gemmell on the second stage saw the gap close to just 1.2 seconds with that deficit converted to a lead of 13 seconds over Habig by the end of the third stage. By the end of the first day Kuun had taken over from Habig as Gemmell’s main challenger, but was 5.3 seconds off the lead.

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With so much going on the Polo world these days, we thought we’d start to take a monthly look at what have been the most popular posts on PoloDriver. In July 2010, two new models proved popular among visitors to the site; the South African entry-level Volkswagen, the Polo Vivo, as well as the new performance-orientated flagship Polo, the 178bhp GTI.

Polo Vivo: The new ‘budget’ South African Polo Vivo is selling well in its home country and we’re finding it’s generating interest for us, too. The announcement of the car tops our list, with an entry showing more details and wallpaper in fifth place.

CrossPolo and Polo GTI: Another two new models generating a lot of interest from prospective buyers. The post in second place shows Auto Motor und Sport renderings, rather than the real cars, while coverage of the new Polo GTI brochure is in sixth position in July’s top 10, followed by first drive verdict links from Autocar and Auto Express.

Series 2 Polo, 1981-1994: The model history of the second-generation Polo is proving one of the most popular sections on the site, as the oldest cars approach their 29th birthdays. The plentiful list of special editions is what caught most visitors’ eyes this month.

Series 3 Polo, 1994-2001: Likewise, the Series 3 Polo special edition list proved just as popular, one place below the Series 2’s in fourth.

Details of Rieger Tuning’s parts for the current fifth-generation Polo (6R) and a GTI International 2010 event report round out the top 10. Missed a story? The full list of PoloDriver’s most popular posts for July 2010 – with links – is below.

1 Vivo la Vivo! Volkswagen South Africa launches affordable ‘budget’ Polo
2 Auto Motor und Sport offers appetisers of 2010 CrossPolo and Polo GTI flavours
3 Series 2 Polo: 1981-1990 – the specials
4 Series 3 Polo: 1994-2001 – the specials
5 Polo Vivo information, gallery and wallpapers added to vw.co.za
6 2010 Polo GTI brochure
7 2010 Polo GTI: the UK’s Autocar and Auto Express deliver their first verdicts
8 Series 2 Polo: 1981-1994
9 Rieger Tuning 6R Polo
10 GTI International 2010

Dutch car magazine website AutoWereld.com has recently tested the 1.4-litre 84bhp version of the new CrossPolo. The testers seem impressed, too, although as with previous incarnations of the faux-by-four front-wheel drive, higher-riding Polo, they also criticise the more expensive price. Around €2000 more expensive than the continental Polo Highline at €18.690, the CrossPolo is a firm favourite with us at PoloDriver. Distinguishing it from lesser Polos are gunmetal-coloured 17-inch ‘Budapest’ alloys, anodised silver roof rails and door mirrors, grey plastic body cladding with unique front and rear bumpers, a 15mm higher ride height and unique interior trim. The Auto Wereld test (translated English version here) features a Flash Red car with a Hot Orange interior, a colour combination we’ve not yet seen.

[Image: AutoWereld.com]

First it was on, now it’s off. On off, on off, on off. Reports of the Polo heading Stateside in more traditional saloon form have circulated ever since the fifth-generation model’s debut in March 2009, and now that the notchback version is being sold in India (as the Vento) and Russia, it would appear that the three-box car won’t be heading to the US as originally thought. Slightly at odds with the US arm of VW stating it wants a back-to-basics approach to models in its range, Euro Car Blog reports that as Volkswagen has just launched a new interpretation of the ever-popular Jetta across the pond, a smaller Polo notchback won’t be in such high demand after all.

Do you think that by not selling the Polo Sedan in the US, Volkswagen has missed an opportunity? Leave a comment below and tell us what you think.

Following the historical inaugural round of the Volkswagen Polo Cup India 2010 on 29–30 May on a street circuit in Pune, Vishnu Prasad and Karthik Shankar were the most successful drivers at the second race weekend of the new championship at the Kari Motor Speedway in Coimbatore on 17–18 July. In the first race, 17 year-old Prasad clinched a commanding start-finish victory after starting from pole position. Sahil Shelar took second place in the 20-lap race in front of Shankar.

Great start
Vishnu had a great start and led comfortably with Sahil Shelar and Karthik Shankar close behind him. Sailesh Bolisetti made a brilliant overtaking move to pass Mohammed Fahad Kutty for 4th position on lap 11. The safety car came out on lap 12 after Suraj Bhagat stopped on track at the second corner due to a collision. It was back to racing when the safety car veered back into the pits with five laps to go. Vishnu had no trouble picking up from where he left off and crossed the chequered flag to win his first race in the Volkswagen Polo Cup India 2010.

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