Rally2 (ex-R5) News

[RallyFan13]

Volkswagen Polo GTI R5 car Chassis 58 of Nasser AlAttiyah destroyed by fire in Cyprus Rally
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[Jarek Z]

Volkswagen Polo GTI R5 car Chassis 58 of Nasser AlAttiyah destroyed by fire in Cyprus Rally
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https://youtu.be/7s-TeZPdx9Q

Yet another burnt Polo!

[Danny0405]

In theory (mine) Polo should be better for very fast gravel/snow while Fabia shall be better for rough, slow and twisty stuff.

But I guess that the main issue with Polo is the end of VW Motorsport development. Few people logically want to invest in a car with no future.

Personnally, I would say Fabia is a little more reliable and all-around but not a big gap and even now, I think it is quite equal (maybe reliability is still a little better for Skoda as I never heard main drivers complaining about it in Skoda whereas it is the most used car).

I think what really costs a lot to VW was the PR side: the VW was waited as a dominant car with Skoda experience + their WRC experience but it had some reliability issue at the beginning (logical seeing what happened to Hyundai and Citroen) and facing a car at the best of his development such as Skoda is not simple.
And the back-to-back fires for Camilli and a Portuguese driver (Meireles?) has costed a lot also I think because it didn’t given much confidence to the potential drivers.

[Sulland]

I am guessing the engineers for the new Fabia has taken the best from both, and will smash the opposition when it comes.

[RS]

I am guessing the engineers for the new Fabia has taken the best from both, and will smash the opposition when it comes.

I’m sure they will test thoroughly and when it debuts it will be ready, perhaps unlike some others.

Building a Rally2 car that is both fast and reliable seems to be very challenging.

[PLuto]

But I guess that the main issue with Polo is the end of VW Motorsport development. Few people logically want to invest in a car with no future.

Yes, this is big problem for Polo. There were much more drivers planning to use it this year, but with the end of VW Motorsport they changed for "cars with future". But still Polo is the best on tarmac and fast events.

[Jarek Z]

I think what really costs a lot to VW was the PR side: the VW was waited as a dominant car with Skoda experience + their WRC experience but it had some reliability issue at the beginning (logical seeing what happened to Hyundai and Citroen) and facing a car at the best of his development such as Skoda is not simple.
And the back-to-back fires for Camilli and a Portuguese driver (Meireles?) has costed a lot also I think because it didn’t given much confidence to the potential drivers.

As far as I remember there was a lot of problems with Polo R5 at the beginning:
- power steering issues
- suspension issues (rear axle falling apart)
- fires

Some sources:
https://www.motorsportforums.com/sho...)-News/page564
https://www.motorsportforums.com/sho...=1#post1214026

But now it seems one of the best cars in its class.

[Jarek Z]

And the back-to-back fires for Camilli and a Portuguese driver (Meireles?) has costed a lot

I remember D. Marban during Rally Islas Canarias:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRilpEsrcqM

[Tom K]

Also Veiby in Portugal

[AnttiL]

https://www.rallit.fi/teemu-suninen-...ten-ylitoihin/

Suninen's comments about the Hyundai: "The car understeers in the middle of the corner, especially in slow corners."