Volkswagen Planning WRC Entry With Polo

[AutoGuide.com]

One obvious sign of economies returning to full steam is increased involvement by automakers in the incredibly expensive field of motorsports. A valuable R&D experience regardless of the outcome, the marketing aspect depends solely on if you win.

With a Charlie Sheen obsession for "winning", Volkswagen aims to get involved directly with the prestigious World Rally Championship, pursuing dominance in motorsports as well as in the global sales race. An announcement is expected by the end of the month, with a special event to celebrate VW's three consecutive wins at the Dakar rally taking place on March 22nd.

The vehicle that will form the basis of the VW WRC entry was originally thought to be the Scirocco coupe, but now it appears as though Volkswagen will campaign race-prepped versions of its Polo sub-compact.

VW is working with Darak driver and WRC veteran Carlos Sainz and is tipped to sign Petter Solberg as a driver after talks to hire Sebastien Loeb away from Citroen failed.

More: Volkswagen Planning WRC Entry With Polo on AutoGuide.com

[Kuplamies]

WRC Polo sounds good to me We need more official teams to the World Championship rallying.

VW has won many events in the past. For example, VW cars won the East African Safari Rally four times with Beetles (1953,1954, 1957 and 1962) That used to be very tough event every year.

There´s a cool link dealing with Old Beetle rallying:
Rally Bugs - The history of air-cooled VWs in rallies

Of course VW has won events also with more more modern cars, like Golf and Polo. If VW will enter, I believe they will be competitive