The car won 43 of the 53 rallies it entered and scored 37 additional podiums. Sébastien Ogier won 31 of those rallies and four consecutive FIA World Rally Championship Drivers' titles from 2013 to 2016. Volkswagen Motorsport secured the Manufacturers' championship in all four years. The Polo R WRC was retired at the end of 2016 when Volkswagen withdrew from the category.
The car was officially unveiled in May 2011 and spent eighteen months in testing. Carlos Sainz, Sébastien Ogier — recruited from the Citroën World Rally Team at the end of 2011 — and development driver Dieter Depping conducted testing in Norway, Finland, Germany, Spain, and Mexico. In October 2012, the team signed Jari-Matti Latvala, whose first test in Mexico was cut short when he collided with a passenger car on public roads between stages. Further testing in Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur prepared the car for the Monte Carlo Rally. Originally planned to debut at the 2012 Rally d'Italia Sardegna, the programme was delayed for continued development. The car was submitted for FIA homologation in November 2012 and formally launched in Monaco in December 2012.
Parallel to development, Volkswagen Motorsport entered two Škoda Fabias built to Super 2000 specifications in twelve rounds of the 2012 season to build team experience, without competing for championship points.
Sébastien Ogier and Jari-Matti Latvala contested the full season, with Andreas Mikkelsen competing part-time in a third car entered as "Volkswagen Motorsport II". The Polo R WRC scored six wins in its first eight rallies. Ogier won in Sweden, Mexico, and Portugal; Latvala scored his first win for Volkswagen in Greece. Ogier secured the 2013 Drivers' championship at Rally de France, where the opening stage served as the event's power stage. Latvala's second-place finish in Spain was sufficient to secure the Manufacturers' title. The car won ten of thirteen rallies in its debut year, ending Sébastien Loeb and Citroën's streak of nine consecutive Drivers' and Manufacturers' championship titles.
Following the car's dominant debut, and amid concerns that its performance might drive Ford and Citroën out of the category, Volkswagen successfully lobbied to keep the existing car specification for the 2014 season.
Development continued through the off-season with performance updates introduced ahead of the 2014 Monte Carlo Rally. Ogier, Latvala, and Mikkelsen — whose programme was expanded to all thirteen rounds — retained their seats. The car won the first six rallies of the season. Latvala's victory in Argentina was the ninth consecutive rally win for the Polo R WRC, breaking the previous record of eight set by the Citroën DS3 WRC in 2011. Ogier secured his second consecutive Drivers' title in Spain despite problems in France. Volkswagen secured the Manufacturers' title at Rally Australia, with Ogier winning ahead of Latvala.
The second-generation Polo R WRC entered development in early 2014 for a 2015 debut, with two-time World Drivers' Champion Marcus Grönholm joining the expanded testing programme. Updates included a new gearbox, revised hydraulic system, a larger rear wing, and significant weight reduction, with over 75 percent of the car redesigned. Ogier won in Monte Carlo — overcoming a guest appearance by nine-time champion Sébastien Loeb, who crashed out — and then in Sweden, Mexico, Portugal, Italy, Poland, and Australia, where he clinched his third consecutive title. Latvala won in Finland, setting a new record for the fastest rally in the sport's history at an average of 125.44 km/h, surpassing Loeb's 2012 record of 122.89 km/h. Andreas Mikkelsen took his maiden WRC victory in Spain after Ogier crashed on the final stage. Volkswagen won twelve of thirteen rallies in 2015.
Only minor changes were made to the car for the final season. Mikkelsen replaced co-driver Ola Fløene with Anders Jæger. Ogier won in Monte Carlo, Sweden, and Germany; Latvala won in Mexico; Mikkelsen won in Poland and Australia. In Catalunya, Ogier secured his fourth consecutive Drivers' title after championship rival Mikkelsen crashed, becoming only the fourth driver — after Juha Kankkunen, Tommi Mäkinen, and Sébastien Loeb — to win four championships. Volkswagen clinched the Manufacturers' title at Rally Great Britain, despite all three cars suffering driveshaft problems on the first day. Ogier held off Ott Tänak to win the event. Mikkelsen claimed the final round victory in Australia.
A 2017-specification car — officially designated the Volkswagen Polo GTI WRC — was developed throughout 2016, again with Grönholm leading the testing programme. It featured a larger turbo restrictor, increased front and rear bumper overhangs, larger door sills, a larger rear wing, increased overall width, a 25 kg reduction in body shell weight, and the first use of a centre differential. In November 2016, Volkswagen formally cancelled the programme and withdrew from the World Rally Championship as a result of the Volkswagen emissions scandal. The company subsequently announced plans to develop a Polo rally car built to Group R5 specifications for customer competition.
After retirement from the World Rally Championship, Volkswagen made the Polo R WRC available to privateer entries from 2017. Raimund Baumschlager became the first privateer to enter one, contesting rounds of the Austrian national championship. Some 2013 and 2014 chassis were rebuilt and used by the factory-supported PSRX Volkswagen Sweden team in the FIA World Rallycross Championship; Petter Solberg's 2018 car was first driven by Sébastien Ogier at the 2013 Rally Catalunya.
This article is based solely on the supplied corpus. No external sources were consulted; claims that could not be substantiated against the corpus were omitted under the drop-the-claim rule.
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