Regular VW Polo Cup front runner Jeffrey Kruger is also contesting the 2013 Polo R-Cup championship in India. The Johannesburg youngster made a great start to his international title aspirations by claiming a second place in the opening round of the series, held at Kari Motor Speedway in Coimbatore. Kruger then followed that with a victory in race two.
In the opening race the guest driver could not find a way past Indian pole-sitter Rahil Noorani and had to settle for second place. In race two Kruger charged to victory from seventh on the grid, finishing ahead of the impressive rookie Karthik Tharani and Noorani. With four of the five race weekends still to come, Kruger has moved to the top of the overall standings.
Kruger chatted to CAR exclusively from India earlier today: “It was a dream come true to win internationally and fly the SA flag high during the podium ceremony. I shall treasure that moment for a very long time. I am currently leading the championship but it’s still early days and I am really looking forward to the rest of the season in India but will still keep my focus on the local series.”
Similar to the South African version the Indian variety is also a monotype formula that utilises Volkswagen Polos. Unlike SA however those competitors have the benefit of the newer Polos shape (as opposed to the Vivo used locally), which feature force-fed engines and ABS brakes.
Now into its fourth season, the Polo R-Cup has fourteen new racers on board along with the seven drivers from the previous campaign. Last year’s winner Sandeep Kumar is currently competing in this season’s Volkswagen Scirocco R-Cup in Germany with young drivers from across the globe including SA’s own Kelvin van der Linde who is currently class of the field.
