Volkswagen is a relative newcomer to the world of motorsports, at least when compared to a company like Mercedes-Benz with its storied history on race tracks. True there has been a VW Motorsport operation for over four decades with a small operation in an innocuous building on a side street in Hannover, not too far from VW’s headquarters in Wolfsburg.
Over the years VW Motorsport has been involved in many forms of auto racing, mainly with one-make racers and as an engine supplier starting with Formula Vee and more recently with Formula 3. It’s dabbled in rallying but never at the top level. In 2003 VW formed its own team to tackle Dakar Rally and it triumphed with the Race Touaregs winning the last three Dakars.
With that success under its belt, it was only natural for VW Motorsport to look for its next challenge. Would it be F1 or WRC? Earlier in the year the answer came when VW Motorsport Director Kris Nissen announced it would tackle the second most popular motorsport series in the world with a Polo R WRC.
Unlike Ford and Mini, which turned to outside teams, M-Sport and Prodrive respectively, VW decided it would, like Citroen, develop the WRC car in house.
Then VW turned a few heads last month when it announced who would be the main driver – Sébastien Ogier, the 27-year-old Frenchman who won five rounds in the 2011 WRC series, the same number as teammate Sébastien Loeb, who has been world champion eight years in a row.
When Ogier said he was leaving Citroen many thought he would join the Ford WRC team. But it was Volkswagen that had lured the up and coming driver away from Citroen. At the announcement, Nissen said “We are proud that such a successful and quick duo as Sébastien Ogier and his co-driver Julien Ingrassia have decided to join Volkswagen. The aim of putting a competitive Polo R WRC on the road for them as quickly as possible will additionally drive our team. We look forward to working with them and are hoping for many victories and titles in the future.”
Less than two weeks after the announcement Ogier won the Race of Champions — it could not have been a better start for his VW career. He also made some demonstration runs in an early Polo R WRC test car in front of the partisan German crowd.
The day after his victory I got to spend a brief time looking around the VW Motorsport’s team headquarters in Hannover. It’s grown in size considerably and is now in several, still unassuming, buildings totaling over 100,000 sq. ft, on the same street. Inside there are over 160 people designing, engineering and fabricating virtually every component literally from scratch. I saw sequential gearboxes being assembled, wiring modules being crafted and an early engine being dyno tested. The Polo R WRC show car was already back in the shop being disassembled while next to it the first actual WRC test car was taking shape. I was not allowed to photograph the bodyshell – no surprise!
Initially the team will construct three test cars that Ogier and other yet to be named drivers will test during 2012. Then 6 to 8 “production” rally cars will be made for the series campaign in 2013. The all-wheel-drive Polo R WRC will be powered by a 1.6-liter TSI engine, producing about 300 hp with a maximum torque of around 260 lb.-ft.
Nissen told me “a successful car company must use motorsport for its image”. It’s certainly great to see VW tackle well-established players, like Ford and Citroen, in the WRC. Along with Mini, the four teams should put on a good show for WRC fans in 2013 and beyond.
VW’s entry into the WRC reminds me of Audi’s sudden and unexpected arrival on the rally scene in 1980, when it shook up the then established teams. Could VW do the same thing three decades later?
Related posts:
- VW Announces Plans to Contest WRC
- Mini WRC Finishes on Podium in Germany
- Škoda Wins 2011 WRC S2000 Championship
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