-2020 update: Had to remove photos due to technical issue (site where I had uploaded them went down)- will try to restore -
Spent half of my precious Sunday travelling all the way to Sri Perambadur to watch Volkswagen Polocup. I hardly watch sports in stadium- Have been to cricket stadium only twice (first time experience here) and had never seen a car rally live. Prompted by several posts by Srinivasan Ethiraju about MRF rallies and other things, I decided to spend some time to visit the Volkswagen Polo Cup in Chennai.
Polocup is an experiential marketing for Volkswagen, for their popular hatchback, Polo. This year they’ve introduced it in India. VW handpicks a few good drivers at their young age, gives them a Polo car each,(takes care of other expenses like training, fitness etc) and conducts racing events. Polocup is the end result of this exercise.
When I went to MMSC grounds, an event called Formula LGB Swift was taking place. Vehicles of size little bigger than ones used in go carting were racing. These cars reportedly have 1.3L petrol engines from Maruti esteem…
Eventually the formula LGB Swift ended, Polos were assembled. These Polos are different from ones available in showrooms (1.6L engine instead of 1.2 and appropriate racing modifications). Each car had a corporate branding-Jet airways, Force-Man trucks, Bosch, TCI, Castrol and others.
Once cars assembled, media had its time photographing the cars and its drivers and VW officials who posed with the cars. Two ladies were hired just to display the signage
The race would have 12 laps. I was sitting in a spectator stand, which had very minimum view and access. Race started on time with some VW officials flagging off the event. Audience were audibly disappointed as they were expecting the two yellow ladies to wave off the flag. Lots of professional photographers were running around with their more than one DSLRs and tripods.
Once race started it was kind of boring. Our stand had very limited view, cars would zoom past us for a while and we’d to wait 3-4 minutes for them to complete a lap and appear again. Within 2 laps several cars received structural damages-broken bumpers in the front and rear. Since we didn’t have the view of full track and there were no commentary, not sure what exactly happened. Guess many of them hit each other in front and rear during turns.
Fortunately the accidents were limited to bumper to bumper hits and nothing fatal.
The black Polo with Jet Airways branding was last in the race and got extra support from the crowd. As the race ended and cars retired… (many of them would need a new bumper) the action shifted to the other side of the track… One white Toyota fortuner was stuck in mud and its owners were struggling to get it out. This warrants a separate post and can be read here. An activa rider who was riding on the track got lots of cheers from the audience.
There were few more races scheduled for the second half- including a sedan race (of Maruti Esteems) and another round of Polo Cup. But the crowd increased and I decided to make the move.
Similar: Ford Figo Discover Smart drive vs Nano Superdrive * Mitsubishi Great driving Challenge *
Polocup is an experiential marketing for Volkswagen, for their popular hatchback, Polo. This year they’ve introduced it in India. VW handpicks a few good drivers at their young age, gives them a Polo car each,(takes care of other expenses like training, fitness etc) and conducts racing events. Polocup is the end result of this exercise.
When I went to MMSC grounds, an event called Formula LGB Swift was taking place. Vehicles of size little bigger than ones used in go carting were racing. These cars reportedly have 1.3L petrol engines from Maruti esteem…
Eventually the formula LGB Swift ended, Polos were assembled. These Polos are different from ones available in showrooms (1.6L engine instead of 1.2 and appropriate racing modifications). Each car had a corporate branding-Jet airways, Force-Man trucks, Bosch, TCI, Castrol and others.
Once cars assembled, media had its time photographing the cars and its drivers and VW officials who posed with the cars. Two ladies were hired just to display the signage
The race would have 12 laps. I was sitting in a spectator stand, which had very minimum view and access. Race started on time with some VW officials flagging off the event. Audience were audibly disappointed as they were expecting the two yellow ladies to wave off the flag. Lots of professional photographers were running around with their more than one DSLRs and tripods.
Once race started it was kind of boring. Our stand had very limited view, cars would zoom past us for a while and we’d to wait 3-4 minutes for them to complete a lap and appear again. Within 2 laps several cars received structural damages-broken bumpers in the front and rear. Since we didn’t have the view of full track and there were no commentary, not sure what exactly happened. Guess many of them hit each other in front and rear during turns.
Fortunately the accidents were limited to bumper to bumper hits and nothing fatal.
The black Polo with Jet Airways branding was last in the race and got extra support from the crowd. As the race ended and cars retired… (many of them would need a new bumper) the action shifted to the other side of the track… One white Toyota fortuner was stuck in mud and its owners were struggling to get it out. This warrants a separate post and can be read here. An activa rider who was riding on the track got lots of cheers from the audience.
There were few more races scheduled for the second half- including a sedan race (of Maruti Esteems) and another round of Polo Cup. But the crowd increased and I decided to make the move.
Similar: Ford Figo Discover Smart drive vs Nano Superdrive * Mitsubishi Great driving Challenge *
Good to see the update from you Shree....
ReplyDeletegood pics despite restricted viewing from stand
ReplyDeleteThanks to good zoom in my camera...
ReplyDeleteLooks like a "not so interesting" day for you..
ReplyDeleteRam
just fine day... good for an experience
ReplyDelete