Normally, a small rally car is not an interesting subject to dwell on. But we wanted you to see this one, because it is the Volkswagen Polo R WRC; a car that pretty much came out of nowhere and won the championship last year. And all the evidence suggest that it is going to do it again this year. They also make a road-going version of this car.

The 2014 Polo R WRC is updated and honed according to the 2014 rules. That means tweaked aerodynamic design, revised powertrain, and chassis upgrade to improve the stability. The work mainly consisted of optimising chassis components and new set-up variants for the drive train. They also installed a new software version for the on-board electronics.

Based on WRC rules all cars must have a 1.6 liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine. The one in the 2014 Polo R WRC makes 315 horsepower, which combined with a sequential racing transmission and competition-spec four-wheel-drive, turn this little beast into a real pocket rocket. The car won ten of the 13 rallies last season, which is a remarkable achievement.

2014 Polo R WRC also gets a new livery design for the new season – starting with Rally Monte Carlo from 14th to 19th January – which features grey and blue stripes for a more dynamic appearance.

“If you don’t go forwards in motorsport, you go backwards,” said Motorsport Director Jost Capito. “When it comes to technical development, you simply cannot afford to let up for a single second. Although we won some laurels in 2013, we have certainly not rested on them. The manufacturers in the World Rally Championship agreed not to homologate any new World Rally Cars for the 2014 season. Despite this, we tried to take full advantage of the options still available to us. Many detailed aspects of the 2014 Polo R WRC have been further developed since we made our debut twelve months ago. Every single member of the team cannot wait to find out where we stand compared to the strong competition we will face from Citroën and Ford, as well as our new opposition at Hyundai.”