New Volkswagen 2012 Race Polo Launched

Volkswagen Motorsport launched their all new race Polo for the Polo R Cup 2012

After two successful seasons of the Polo R Cup in India, VW is all set to commence their third season of the one-make championship which is scheduled to be flagged off on July 7, 2012 at the Kari Motor Speedway track in Coimbatore.

The third season of the Polo R Cup will see a few changes; the most significant of those will be the use of the Turbocharged Stratified injection (TSI) petrol engines in the Polo race car. Powered by a 1.4-litre TSI engine, the petrol model produces 179PS @6200rpm and 250Nm of torque @ 2000-4500rpm. Although the torque on the new cup car will be the same as last year, power has been boosted up by 50PS and it will weigh almost 20kg lesser than its predecessor.

The new car has also been fitted with a DSG gearbox in place of the old manual transmission, which is a smart move from the German giant considering that most international level saloon car races also host paddle shifters.

VW has also announced a line-up of 20 young drivers that will compete in this year’s Polo R Cup, including 24 Hours of Mexico and 2011 Endurance Touring Car Mexican champion Diego Duez; and a few drivers from the past two seasons. To make the championship more challenging and to set a benchmark for every diver, this year VW has slotted the series under three categories – Junior, Pro and Master.

Drivers aged between 16-26 years, who have participated in eight races or less in the past five years will be part of the Junior category, while drivers of the same age having experience of more than eight races under their belt will be part of the Pro category.

Drivers above 26 years of age at the time of registration will be part of the Master category. Participants in the Junior and Pro category will be charged a fee of Rs 7 lakh while the participants in the Master category will have to pay a fee of Rs 14 lakh for the entire season. Prize money for the podium finishers will be Rs 50,000, Rs 40,000 and Rs 30,000 for first, second and third place respectively.

Apart from the first two rounds of the Polo R Cup 2012 in Coimbatore, drivers will also be competing for the title on the MMRT track in Chennai, and one round of the season will also be hosted at the venue of the Grand Prix of India, the Buddh International Circuit.

Calendar for JK Tyre Volkswagen Polo R Cup 2012:
Fitness Camp	June 04-05, 2012	Lonavala	Della Adventure
Round 1	July 06-08, 2012	Coimbatore	KMS
Round 2	July 27-29, 2012	Coimbatore	KMS
Round 3	Aug 24-26, 2012	Chennai	MMRT
Round 4	Sep 14-16, 2012	Chennai	MMRT
Round 5	Oct 12-14, 2012	Chennai	MMRT
Round 6	Nov 30-Dec 02	Noida	BIC