Rahil Noorani, driver from Mumbai, clinched the 2013 Volkswagen Polo R Cup title aftera podium finish in Race 3. Pune driver Gaurav Mehta won an action filled Race 2of the Volkswagen Polo R Cup to win his first ever race in a competitiveseries. South African driver Jeffrey Kruger returned to the top step of thepodium at the Buddh International Circuit in Race 3 to end the season on ahigh. Race 2 was red-flagged after young driver Samarth Jaiswal crashed withthe car rolling multiple times. Jaiswal walked away unhurt.
Rahil Noorani commented, “Today happens to be my birthday and thisis the best gift I could have given to myself. It was a very emotional momentfor me. This is my third attempt and previous two times I missed out by coupleof points so this is very special and I can say I am third time lucky. Theengineers, mechanics and entire Volkswagen team are responsible for this so abig ‘thank you’ to all of them.”
Yatin Magucommented on his Junior title win, “I am extremely glad to win this title. Iwas leading before this round and despite no podiums I have been able to finishall the 3 race of this weekend at decent places. This season has been very successfulfor me and I look forward to more racing in the future.”
Champion of 2013season, Rahil Noorani has been offered a seat for the whole season of JK TyreFB 02 2014 and a guest drive at Volkswagen Scirocco R-Cup 2014. Jeffrey Krugerwas announced the Star of Volkswagen Polo R Cup 2013 and has been offered aGuest drive at the Volkswagen Golf R Cup 2014 in Europe. Yatin Magu has beenoffered a fully sponsored seat for the next season of Volkswagen Polo R Cup.
Race 2 of thisround started with Angad Singh Matharoo on pole alongside New Delhi youngsterLee Keshav Gupta. Both front row drivers got overtaken at the start, allowingthird placed driver Gaurav Mehta to jump into the lead as they headed into thefirst corner. Lee slotted into second place with fast starting Jeffrey Krugerup to second place at the end of lap 1. Jeffrey made his move on Lee on lap 2and moved in to second place and looking to challenge Gaurav. However the lapwas red-flagged on lap 4 when Samarth Jaiswal’s Race Polo made contact on therear left and flipped multiple times at the penultimate corner. Fortunately the driverwalked away unhurt. The race could not restart and Gaurav was adjudged thewinner. Jeffrey finished in second place ahead of an impressive Lee who tookhis second podium of the season.
Race 2 winner Gaurav Mehta commented, “This is probably one of thebiggest days of my life. It felt amazing to stand on the top step of thepodium. I felt really proud when I heard the Indian national anthem playing forme. I wanted to prove a point after last round’s incident and I am glad I couldshow people that I have what it takes to win.”
Race 3 sawJeffrey Kruger on pole position with Karthik Tharani Singh in second place. Jeffreycontinued his string of great starts to keep the lead after turn 1 followed byRobyn Kruger and Rahil Noorani. Rahil got a great run on Robyn and managed topass her on lap 3. Slow starting Karthik Tharani Singh who had slipped down tofourth place also started to put pressure on Robyn. The next lap he also made amove and made it stick as he moved into third position. Meanwhile behind themPrashanth Tharani Singh and Angad Singh Matharoo collided forcing Prashanth togo off and lose positions. Jeffrey crossed the finish line with anotherbrilliant performance with Rahil and Karthkl taking the other two steps on thepodium.
“It was another great day of racing for me. The car has beenperfect all weekend so I would like to thank the entire Volkswagen team forgiving me this opportunity. As I said earlier I love driving on this track andtoday the crowd played a big role as there were so many people cheering us on.I have had a very good experience driving in India and will take back onlypositives from here.” said Jeffrey Kruger
PrithvirajSiddappa, Head of Motorsports, said, “We had a brilliant ending to the 2013Volkswagen Polo R Cup. Congratulations to Rahil Noorani for winning the titleas he has been the most consistent driver throughout the season. It is great tosee youngsters like Gaurav winning and Lee on the podium. Our objective hasalways been to develop young drivers and the entire team can be extremely proudof the job that they have done. Everyone has worked really hard this year andthe results show for itself.
