Volkswagen Polo GTI R5 to make its rally debut soon

Volkswagen will make its first competitive outing with the Polo GTI R5 at the Rally Spain which will be held between October 25 and 28. 

The 272bhp rally car for customers competing in rallies around the world such as those in the WRC 2 category, the European Rally Championship and national championships will be given a baptism of fire at the most diverse rally in the FIA World Rally Championship. The event in Catalonia is held on both asphalt and gravel, with the teams given just 75 minutes to completely convert the chassis and many other components from asphalt settings to gravel settings.

Originally planned for late summer, the homologation of the Polo GTI R5 has now been put back by a few weeks to October 1. Gerard Jan de Jongh, Technical Project Lead Polo GTI R5 and world champion Sébastien Ogier’s former race engineer, says: “A customer car must almost be developed even more thoroughly than a World Rally Car for a works team. Once the car has been successfully homologated, a customer often does not have the opportunity to make any changes or test the car thoroughly. For this reason, we are taking the time to ensure that we supply our customers with a fully-developed and fast Polo GTI R5 in October.”