Volkswagen driver Giniel de Villiers expands lead in Morocco
Wolfsburg (01 June 2006) On the second day of the Morocco Rally Volkswagen expanded its lead over Mitsubishi to seven minutes. Factory drivers Giniel de Villiers/Dirk von Zitzewitz (RSA/D) celebrated their second stage victory on the 302-kilometre leg – the longest of the six-day cross-country rally in Eastern Morocco – after having decided the opening leg in their favour as well. For the Volkswagen Race Touareg 2 it was the twelfth stage victory in the 2006 season, and the 35th since 2004. Volkswagen factory driver Carlos Sainz (E) and his co-driver Michel Périn (F) finished the day in third place after a navigation error. Like many other teams, the Portuguese Carlos Sousa in the Race Touareg of Team Lagos, fielded by the Volkswagen semi-works team Phoenix Sport, lost crucial minutes by searching for the right track to continue in seventh place overall.
Kris Nissen (Volkswagen Motorsport Director)
"Congratulations to Giniel and Dirk – they mastered this difficult day superbly and won the special stage. We are pleased to see that all Race Touareg 2 cars were running perfectly. Yet we still have four long and tough days ahead of us. The rally harbours numerous treacherous aspects."
#201 – Giniel de Villiers (RSA), 1st place (leg) / 1st place overall
"We’re overjoyed about our second stage victory. Being the first car out made things really difficult. On the first special stage Carlos Sainz was a bit quicker, the second one was ours to grab. On the stretches that were washed out by flooding, navigation was very problematic. In a oued we missed a road where we had to turn off that was hardly discernible. But we noticed the mistake quickly – unlike many others."
#203 – Carlos Sainz (E), 3rd place (leg) / 3rd place overall
"I’m happy about clocking the fastest time on the first stage and all the more upset that we made a navigation error on the second, which caused us to lose a place in the overall classification. Other than that it was a good day, the Touareg was running like a charm."
Standings after leg 2, Erfoud (MA) – Ain Benimathar (MA); 302/475 km leg 2/overall
Pos., Team, Vehicle, SS 3 + SS 4, Total time
1. Giniel de Villiers/Dirk von Zitzewitz (RSA/D); Volkswagen Race Touareg 2; 2:33.58 hrs (1.) 4:46.39 hrs
2. Stéphane Peterhansel/Jean-P. Cottret (F/F); Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution; 2:36.42 hrs (2.) + 7.02 min
3. Carlos Sainz/Michel Périn (E/F); Volkswagen Race Touareg 2; 2:42.20 hrs (3.) + 8.54 min
4. Jean-L. Schlesser/François Borsotto (F/F); Schlesser-Buggy; 2:44.57 hrs (5.) + 12.49 min
5. Joan Roma/Henri Magne (E/F); Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution; 2:42.22 hrs (4.) + 15.16 min
6. Hiroshi Masuoka/Pascal Maimon (J/F); Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution; 2:46.30 hrs (6.) + 16.30 min
7. Carlos Sousa/Andreas Schulz (P/D); Volkswagen Race Touareg 2; 2:51.07 hrs (7.) + 24.58 min
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