New Polo cars live up to expectations

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The motorsport fraternity had a lot of expectations on the third edition of the Volkswagen Polo R Cup series, especially after it went through a major revamp.

In the first two editions, the series generated quite a buzz with a unique street race at its Indian headquarters in Pune, night race in Colombo and sending its champions to Germany for international exposure.

The single-make saloon car series did continue its exciting run in the new season. In the first two race weekends at the Kari Motor Speedway, the Polo races produced a lot of action and the bumper-to-bumper racing can be attributed to the arrival of talented Mexican Deigo Duez, introduction of Master Class that facilitated the entry of seasoned Ameya Walavalkar and more importantly the brand new petrol engines.

The new petrol car powered by 1.4litre direct injection and four cylinder engine produces 180 hp at 6200 rpm making the machines much powerful than the last two editions.

The vehicles are also upgraded with a direct shift gearbox, thus providing the Indian youngsters a chance to experience the state-of-the-art tin-top machines.

Prithviraj Siddappa, head of Volkswagen Motorsport, says four different winners in four races is testimony to the unpredictability the new car has generated. “It was great to see the crowd enjoying the wheel-to-wheel racing when five cars were fighting it out for the second spot during last weekend.

That’s what people expect at a race track and we are glad. We have a round scheduled at Buddh International Circuit and it’s crucial for the development of the series,” Siddappa added.

Apart from providing domestic platforms, VW organises exchange programmes for talented youngsters.

Every year, the best driver from the Polo R Cup travels to other countries to further his career. Chennai’s Aditya Patel and Vizag’s Sailesh Bolisetti went on to compete in Germany’s Scirocco Cup series, while Vishnu Prasad was rewarded with a trip to China midway through the 2011 season.

“These trips gave them opportunity to prove their skills in a highly-competitive environment,” Siddappa said.

Chennai boy Sandeep Kumar, who performed admirably in JK Tyre National karting and Formula Swift, has been making waves in the ongoing Polo Cup. Sandeep has notched up three podium finishes in four races.

Guided by former F3 racer Akbar Ebrahim, Sandeep is showing a lot of promise and the spotlight will be on the youngster when the series resumes at Chennai’s Irungattukottai track later this month.