Volkswagen Motorsport Newsletter 03/2015FIA World Rallycross ChampionshipTwo Volkswagen teams ready to fight for the titleThe championship runners-up Marklund Motorsport and the newcomers Volkswagen Team Sweden are ready for the start of the FIA World Rallycross Championship season in Montalegre, Portugal, this coming weekend. The two privateer teams supported by Volkswagen Sweden intend to be in the thick of the battles for victory in the championship’s 13 events. The former junior rally world champion Per-Gunnar “P-G” Andersson (S) is a new recruit at Marklund Motorsport and joins the old hand and championship runner-up Toomas “Topi” Heikkinen (FIN), who will once again be behind the wheel of the Polo RX Supercar that boasts up to almost 600 hp. The Volkswagen line-up is completed by the two drivers in the new Volkswagen Team Sweden, Johan Kristofferson of Sweden and Tord Linnerud of Norway. “The FIA World Rallycross Championship is becoming more and more popular. Volkswagen is represented in it by two extremely professional privateer teams that develop and enter their Polo RX Supercars independently. We’re confident that the Volkswagen drivers will be in the running for race victories and titles,” says Jost Capito, Volkswagen Motorsport Director.Volkswagen Polo Cup RussiaArshansky wins season opener in MoscowThe new Volkswagen Polo Cup season in Russia got under way with a race win for Yuriy Arshansky (RUS) in Moscow. Together with his co-driver Mikhail Soskin (RUS), the entrant in the Russian and Baltic Rally Championships won the event after eight special stages over a distance of 65.9 kilometres. More than 15,000 fans made their way to the Olympics grounds in Moscow where the rowing and cycling heats were held in the summer of 1980 in order to watch the traditional Rally Masters Show. And they were offered top-notch entertainment: Arshansky, who hails from St Petersburg, took his Polo in first place ahead of Andrey Vavilin (RUS) and Dmitry Sokolov (RUS).South African Rally ChampionshipSecond podium finish for Volkswagen team: Zulu/Arries take third place in the fogVolkswagen Sasolracing clinched its second podium finish in the second event of the South African Rally Championship, in spite of the very difficult weather conditions. Gugulethu Zulu/Pierre Arries (ZA/ZA) were undeterred by the thick fog and rain at the Sasol Rally around Nelspruit and finished in third place in their Polo S 2000. This is the same position that was taken by Henk Lategan/Barry White (ZA/ZA) for Volkswagen at this year’s opening rally. These two were within striking distance of the lead at the Sasol Rally too, until an accident on the muddy tracks forced them to abandon all hope of a win on the second day. “We proved how fast the Polo is in these challenging conditions,” said Mike Rowe, head of Volkswagen Motorsport South Africa. “I’m very happy for Gugu and Pierre. They achieved a good result for Volkswagen Sasolracing.”Next up:22/04–26/04/2015FIA World Rally Championship, Argentina24/04–26/04/2015ADAC GT Masters, Oschersleben (D)24/04–26/04/2015Volkswagen Golf Cup Poland, Oschersleben (D)24/04–26/04/2015FIA World Rallycross Championship, Montalegre (P)