WRC: Volkswagen Ready and Raring to go Ahead of the “Monte”

Volkswagen duos find their rhythm: Ogier second, Mikkelsen fifth, Latvala sixth
Making the first attempt count: route conditions deteriorate visibly
Stage set for the iconic Rally Monte Carlo on Thursday evening

Wolfsburg (20 January 2016). The systems fired up perfectly after the winter break: Volkswagen wasted little time finding its rhythm on the Shakedown at the Rally Monte Carlo. Three-time world champions Sébastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia (F/F) ended the free practice ahead of the opening round of the 2016 FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) in second place. Andreas Mikkelsen/Anders Jæger (N/N) and Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila (FIN/FIN) were fifth and sixth fastest. However, one should not read too much into this result: the first attempt of each of the top drivers proved to be the fastest, and the final positions were very dependent on the starting order, as the surface of the 3.35-kilometre stage to the west of the rally headquarters in Gap became visibly dirtier with every rally car that passed.

The new season officially gets underway on Thursday, when the competitors roll over the start ramp in Monaco before tackling two special stages and a total distance of 41.63 kilometres against the clock on their way back to Gap in the French Maritime Alps.

Quotes after the Shakedown at the Rally Monte Carlo

Sébastien Ogier, Volkswagen Polo R WRC #1
“It is fantastic to be back in the rally Polo. And it is obviously particularly nice for me to get the first kilometres of the new season under my belt in my home city of Gap. I would like to say a special thank you to the many fans here in the service park and on the Shakedown. On the whole, the Shakedown went very well for Julien and me. The Polo feels perfect, but it is obviously difficult to make any sort of prediction. Conditions out on the route varied too much for that. I am now really looking forward to the start in Monaco tomorrow. The opening stages will then show where we stand compared to the opposition.”

Jari-Matti Latvala, Volkswagen Polo R WRC #2
“The Shakedown went as expected. The many cars out on the route at the same time meant that conditions deteriorated quickly. The dirt on the stage meant the times were not very meaningful. I tried a few things with the set-up. That was my priority. All in all I am happy and glad that the season is about to get underway again.”

Andreas Mikkelsen, Volkswagen Polo R WRC #9
“It was difficult to try anything out on the Shakedown today. As well as the World Rally Cars, the R5s were also in action at the same time. Everyone cut the corners a little, and scattered dirt on the road in the process. As such, we struggled to set a great time from our position. Nevertheless: it was the first stage under competitive conditions with my new co-driver Anders Jæger – and everything ran smoothly between us. In this respect, we have already found our rhythm.”

Jost Capito, Volkswagen Motorsport Director
“Today’s Shakedown was not particularly significant from a sporting point of view. When it comes to getting a feel for the tricky conditions just before the start of the ‘Monte’, however, it was worth its weight in gold. We would obviously like to start the new rally year something as well as we did last season. However, our opposition is looking strong and the rally itself is a huge challenge.”

The post WRC: Volkswagen Ready and Raring to go Ahead of the “Monte” appeared first on VWVortex.

from VWVortex http://ift.tt/1OIvSQD
via IFTTT

Project SportWagen: Going Stage 2 with APR

When we last left you, the humble little SportWagen was fresh from the development process with our friends at AWE Tuning, sporting a new downpipe, exhaust and intake, allowing things to breathe a bit easier. The car sounded great, but there was no getting around the fact that our wagon was still quite, well, slow. While we realize that nothing we do to the Golf SportWagen at this point will make it a race car, we still felt compelled to do something . To put it bluntly, we had a fever, and the only cure was more power. Flash forward a few hours, and we found ourselves at Waterfest, staring down APR’s palatial spread and the numerous tuned vehicles surrounding it. Earlier in the year, APR had hinted to us that their 1.8 TSI files would be quite impressive, and based on what they were able to do with the 2.0 TSI found in the new GTI and our time in their Golf R, we knew it’d be worth the wait. So with this in mind, we lined our G...

Project Golf SportWagen- Intro

I’ve never really been one for SUVs and crossovers. The current offerings aren’t the body-on-frame, go-anywhere specialty tools I remember from my youth, and what they lack in capability, they also lack in on-road performance. The current crop isn’t terribly good at handling or being efficient, which in my opinion are major components of our ideal driving experience. So when it comes to space or utility, I usually look for something of the wagon variety- and it seems that I’m not alone. We hit quite a few shows around the east coast each summer, and we see modified Jetta SportWagens at nearly every event. Even amongst common consumers, these cars are highly sought-after. They don’t depreciate much, making even early Mk 5 2.5 versions expensive in comparison to other Jettas or Golfs of the same vintage. This year, Volkswagen launched their latest SportWagen, which is now billed as a Golf. In many ways, this latest SportWagen is the best yet and it has certai...

Volkswagen Group Records Best Ever First-Half-of-Year Sales

With 5.5 million vehicles in customer hands after the first six months of 2018, the Volkswagen Group is seeing the best performance of its history. Group deliveries increased significantly in all core regions,” said Fred Kappler, head of sales for the Group. “Our core brands recorded strong growth in the first half year.” For the year-to-date, all of Volkswagen’s brands had sales bumps. MAN, SEAT, and Skoda led the sales charge with performances 24%, 17% and 11% better than the previous year. The big sellers, too, had strong sales periods, with Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, Audi, and Volkswagen sales rising 3.5%, 4.5% and 6.3% respectively. That last figure is particularly good new for the board, since Volkswagen alone sold more than 3 million vehicles in the first half of 2018. As Kappler stated, the numbers are equally good when you break sales down by region. Brazil and Russia were the most improved markets (22% and 20%, respectively), while strong sales in Europe and China (u...

Vorderman Volkswagen

Search This Blog