Website dedicated to Polo Cup India 2010 launched / Volkswagen Group Chief Representative, Joerg Mueller: “Contribution to the Development of a unique Indian Motor Sport Culture” / Six Races between June and December 2010

Pune, January 21, 2010 – Volkswagen India has announced the commencement of Polo Cup India from 19th June 2010. This is the 1st season of the Polo Cup in India. Volkswagen India has also launched the official website dedicated to the Polo Cup India 2010 which is available at http://www.polocup.in

The Polo Cup India will celebrate its world debut in the 2010 JK National Championship and will have six races in total. Polo Cup India’s first race of the season on June 19th June 2010 will be followed by races each month until December. The prelude will probably be a race in Pune, the hometown of Volkswagen India. The other five races will happen on the race courses in Chennai and Coimbatore.

Mr. Joerg Mueller, Volkswagen Group Chief Representative India, said, ”This is a very significant move by Volkswagen in India. We are glad that we are contributing to the development of a unique Indian motor sports culture. Volkswagen’s motor sports activities are renowned globally and we look forward to bringing our knowledge and expertise in this direction to India.”

Volkswagen had announced their entry into Indian motor sports in October last year with the signing of the Letter of Intent with JK Tyre & Industries Limited to bring the globally acclaimed Volkswagen Polo Cup to India in year 2010. At its Indian debut the new Polo Cup India will present itself with a record field of contenders. 20 firmly registered young drivers aged 16 to 24 will meet on the track in cars with identical technology that are centrally tuned and maintained by highly skilled Volkswagen India Factory mechanics.

"The Race Polo meets high demands. It has to assure first-class safety standards, deliver dynamic handling properties and prove its robustness even in turbulent races,” emphasizes Volkswagen India Motorsport head, Prithviraj Siddappa. “For young talented Indians it is the first stepping stone into world of professional motor racing.”

The young talents contesting the popular Volkswagen one-make cup are perfectly prepared for moving up into higher motor sport categories. The Polo Cup car is the Volkswagen Polo with the 1.6 l Diesel engine and 130 hp. In the history of Indian motor sports this is the first time when a Diesel engine car is used as a racing car. Volkswagen Motorsport is the pioneer of Diesel engine race cars and is the first to introduce the same in India.

To ensure maximum equality of opportunity, the cars are centrally prepared in the Volkswagen Factory at Pune by highly trained race mechanics. Thanks to professional data logging and analysis the talented youngsters have the chance to check their own performances, compare them with those of other drivers, and to efficiently improve. In addition to technical training courses, the coaching programme, which includes an introduction into data analysis, classes on tyres focused on the JK tyres used in the cup as well as setup work, encompasses media training, a fitness camp and a pre-season basic training course at which the young racers work on fine-tuning their skills for the new season.

Motor sports enthusiasts interested in getting further information can log on to the new website, www.polocup.in This website will display information about the format of The Polo Cup India, race updates and driver profiles.