MOTORSPORT

Volkswagen Motorsport India enters the 11th year of its racing series with the the newly built Polo Cup car

TVS’ impressive show at Dakar 2020, everything about the new Volkswagen Race Polo, all the action from the MRF Race weekend and a whole lot more

VOLKSWAGEN MOTORSPORT India kicked off its journey in Indian Motorsport with the TDIpowered Polo Cup car way back in 2010. In the 10 years that followed, the team has managed to significantly improve their racecars, to make them more suited for Indian racetracks and the new wave of talent getting a taste of competitive racing with the company’s one make championships. The 1.6-litre TDI-powered Polo was upgraded to a 1.4-litre TSI-power (twin-charged) in 2012, creating the Polo R Cup. Both these Cup cars were built and developed by VW Motorsport engineers in Hanover, Germany, for India. 2015 marked a big step up for the team based in Pune as they got hands on with the race-spec Vento Cup car and built it themselves. The Ameo Cup car too was a step in the right direction, fully built in India and was powered by a 1.8-litre TSI. After a successful three years with the Ameo, Volkswagen Motorsport India has come full circle to the Polo chassis for the 11th edition of its race series.

Unveiled at the Auto Expo 2020 as the ‘Race Polo’, the Polo Cup car replaces the Ameo for the 2020 racing season. While few of the bits are carried over from the Ameo Cup car, the Race Polo gets a revised roll-cage, upgraded suspension and an overboost function. The engineers have retained the powerful 1.8-litre TSI EA888 motor from the Ameo and fiddled with it to extract 5bhp more. The motor plonked inside the Race Polo now makes 207bhp of power and 320Nm of torque. All the power is sent to the front wheels through a 6-speed sequential dog box and a limitedslip differential. It is also fitted with 17-inch forged rims on 200-section MRF slicks.

The most exciting update though is the Push-to-Pass button – an overboost function that gives a 20bhp boost, letting the motor put out 227bhp. The Pushto-Pass function can be used either for overtaking manoeuvres or to defend a position. It is only available for a limited time frame. The Race Polo also gets a redeveloped roll-cage making the chassis stiffer while the upgraded KW suspension takes the handling up another notch. After a two-day driver selection in January, 20 drivers were finalised for the grid. Like the ‘Ameo Class’, the 2020 Polo Cup series too will be recognised as a one make National Championship by the FMSCI. It is currently being tested at the Madras Motor Race Track by Volkswagen Motorsport India’s development driver, Karthik Tharani. ⌧