Volkswagen Polo and Polo R2 excel at FMSCI INRC 2018

- Vicky Chandhok, Akbar Ibrahim and Sirish Chandran bag a podium each driving the factory-prepped Volkswagen Polo R2

- 37 Podium finishes for Volkswagen Polo and Polo R2 across categories

Volkswagen Motorsport India has ended the 2018 season of the FMSCI Indian National Rally Championship on a positive note with the Volkswagen Polo and Polo R2, which secured 37 podium positions and 10 victories altogether in overall, INRC 1, INRC 2 and INRC 3 categories. 

Teams Arka Motorsports, Snap Racing and Team Champions gave each other a tough competition with the Volkswagen Polo in INRC 2. Piloting the Volkswagen Polo, Karna Kadur from Arka Motorsports kept the overall championship gripping till the last round as he competed for the top honours. By the end of the season, Karna secured three wins and five podiums in the INRC 2 category for his team, thus taking the INRC 2 title as well. INRC 3 witnessed Volkswagen Polo taking 14 out of 15 possible podium finishes through the year, marking one of the most successful outing for a car in a season.

Volkswagen Motorsport India participated with a factory-prepped Polo R2 at three of the five rounds during the season. Vicky Chandhok and co-driver Chandramouli entered the Chennai round, Akbar Ebrahim and co-driver Kumar Ramaswamy drove at the Coimbatore round while Sirish Chandran along with co-driver Aniruddha Rangnekar piloted the Polo R2 at the Kochi round. While Vicky Chandhok and Akbar Ebrahim fetched the Polo R2 third place in their respective entries, Sirish Chandran claimed the second spot in the INRC 1 category in Kochi. The results have been impressive considering the fact that all the three drivers have participated after taking a long break from competitive racing. 

Speaking on the occasion, Sirish Vissa, Head of Volkswagen Motorsport India said, “2018 has been a brilliant year for us. I am extremely happy to see the Polo being successful across categories, especially bagging the INRC 2 and INRC 3 titles. There was a lot of learning for the teams and the drivers through the year, including for us at the factory. Our Polo R2 ran superbly and grabbed podium in each of its entry and that speaks volumes of its potential.” He further added, “We are now all set to build rally cars for our customers across INRC 1, INRC 2 and INRC 3 category and deliver them before the start of the season.”

In addition to racing, the Volkswagen Motorsport India team extended technical assistance and parts support to all the participating Volkswagen cars during the rounds of INRC. Volkswagen Motorsport India is the only factory team that is supporting privateers with their technical expertise and spares by being present at various rounds of the championship with its rally engineers and technicians. With this programme, Volkswagen Motorsport India is ensuring that smaller teams have access to the technical know-how of the factory team.