Engen Polo Cup racing car is the sixth-generation Polo GTI

The Engen Polo Cup Series is a one-make series where performance is kept equal to provide entertaining and close motor racing, teams are limited to chassis setup and tyre pressures and the engine power is also limited.

Competitors will be gunning for victory in eight rounds of the racing season and using a car based on the Polo GTI which will be launched in the second quarter of 2018. The car has 2.0L Turbo Charged engine delivering 150KW and 340Nm torque at one bar boost. Transmission is six-speed manual MQ350 using the same as that of the Golf 7 GTI.

A new feature of the racing cars is Push to Pass, which will give the drivers an extra 20KW for ten seconds. The shock absorbers are locally produced SAX units which are sealed and controlled, while coil springs are specified and controlled front and rear. The car is shod with Dunlop semi-slicks.

Says Mike Rowe, head of Volkswagen Motorsport: “The series, which has become known as the School of Champions, is a special one in South Africa and has crowned 16 different national champions. It also an immensely competitive one as only five people have managed to win it more than once.”

The official 2018 South African circuit racing season will kick off on 24 March 2018, when a full field of more than 24 Polo drivers line up for the start of the 2018 Engen Polo Cup at Johannesburg’s Kyalami Race Track.

“New to the lineup of Volkswagen drivers is Raais Asmal, the winner of the 2017 Driver Search competition who will be joining teammate Jonathan Mogotsi, winner of the Rookie of the Year Award last year, in only his first year of racing,” says Rowe.