Volkswagen is already in position for 2017

Volkswagen is quietly heading towards a new triumph in WRC this season, but the German team is already looking to the future. The men of François-Xavier Demaison, head of the WRC technical project, recently drove in Finland a laboratory version of the Polo R equipped with modifications meeting the next 2017 WRC regulations.

“It is not strictly speaking a 2017 WRC, specifies François-Xavier Demaison. But a prototype, a laboratory car. The proof is that it was not built from a 2015 Polo R WRC, but from a 2014 version. The intake flange was increased to the maximum diameter which will be authorized from 2017.

The fender flares were enlarged and the suspension brackets received modifications to match the increase in track. » The double world rally champion of 2000 and 2002 was requisitioned for the occasion Marcus Gronholm who was able to evolve under the watchful eye of Jari-Matti Latvala, VW driver and recent winner of the Rally from Finland.

Find our complete focus on Volkswagen tests with a view to 2017, in issue 2027 of AUTOhebdo, already available in digital version, and on newsstands.