After the successful start in glamorous Monte-Carlo the Volkswagen Motorsport squad is now setting its sights on the second round of the season from February 9th to 12th. This time the FIA World Rally Championship stops in the winter woods of Sweden. At the only snow rally on the calendar Sébastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia (F/F) will be joined by Andreas Mikkelsen/Ola Fløene (N/N) who will be competing for the Volkswagen factory team for the first time this season.

“At the season opener in Monte Carlo both drivers, Sébastien Ogier and our junior driver Kevin Abbring, showed strong performances. In Sweden Andreas Mikkelsen will take the wheel of the Junior car as planned,” says Volkswagen Motorsport Director Kris Nissen. “Sweden is a special rally: It’s the only WRC event on ice and snow and provides the best opportunity to gather valuable experiences in crisp cold. It’s an important run for us in preparation for our WRC entry with the Polo R WRC.”

Snow instead of gravel: drivers are looking forward to the winter spectacle

24 special stages across about 349 timed kilometres – and unusual challenges – are awaiting the drivers. Whereas the other events on the WRC calendar are held on tarmac or gravel the Rally Sweden due to the winter conditions and the use of studded tyres is a special event. “I really like the Rally Sweden. Because of its unique character it’s important to finish in order to give the team the opportunity to thoroughly get to know this rally,” says Sébastien Ogier (28). “In Sweden the Nordic drivers are always particularly strong because they have more experience with the conditions that exist there. But we’re well prepared.” The accident that meant an early end of the “Monte” has long been chalked up to experience. “Julien and I both are totally fit,” says the Frenchman. In 2011 Ogier/Ingrassia finished the Rally Sweden in fourth place – behind three Scandinavian teams.

The Norwegian Andreas Mikkelsen will be the second driver running alongside Ogier. For the 22-year-old and his seasoned co-driver Ola Fløene (42) this will be the second commitment for Volkswagen following the Finland Rally last year. “The Sweden Rally is almost a home round for me as part of the route leads through Norway. I’m hoping that many fans will support me. Thanks to my victory in the snow at the season opener of the Norwegian Championship I’m perfectly prepared. Running in the same team with ‘Seb’ is a special treat for me: He’s currently one of the quickest, if not to say the quickest rally driver of all. I’m looking forward to it and am hoping to be able to learn from him.”

Mikkelsen is the current IRC (Intercontinental Rally Challenge) champion. As a member of the Junior programme, the Škoda UK racer is sharing the second rally car fielded by Volkswagen Motorsport in the World Rally Championship with the Dutchman Kevin Abbring.

Volkswagen is running at WRC rounds this season with two Fabia S2000 cars of the Group’s Škoda brand in the smaller SWRC class. The commitments serve as preparation for the 2013 season in which Volkswagen will compete in the top group of rally racing with the Polo R WRC. Basically speaking, Sweden is not new territory in Volkswagen’s long motorsport tradition. In the nineteen-eighties Kalle Grundel and Kenneth Eriksson in the Golf clinched several top-ten results at this rally.

Volkswagen Junior Kevin Abbring (23) and his co-driver Lara Vanneste (21) produced a fantastic performance on their way to taking victory in the S2000 class for Volkswagen in the 80th Rally Monte Carlo. The rally classic in the principality on the Cote d’Azur is part of the FIA World Championship for the first time since 2008. 

Kevin Abbring and Lara Vanneste were awarded the winner’s trophy in the square overshadowed by the Royal Palace in Monaco after a total of 1772 kilometres and 18 demanding special stages, which included the infamous run to Col de Turini. For the young Dutchman and his Belgian co-driver it is the second S2000 class victory after taking the spoils at the Rally Great Britain in November 2011. At the same time Abbring, who celebrated his 23rd birthday in the cockpit on Friday, gave himself his favourite present. “I’m delighted. To win the ‘Monte’ is simply an indescribable feeling. Lara and I are very proud,” beamed Abbring during the victory ceremony at the Royal Palace. “We improved from stage to stage and implemented the team’s instructions. My heartfelt thanks to the entire Volkswagen team for the support, we worked perfectly together.”

“A big complement to our driver teams and the entire team because in rallying a win is always a win for the complete team,” emphasised a satisfied Volkswagen Motorsport Director Kris Nissen (51). “Kevin put in a fantastic performance, we are proud of him and his co-driver Lara. He impressively demonstrated what a huge talent he is and why we support him as Volkswagen Junior.”

New Volkswagen factory driver Sébastien Ogier (28) and co-driver Julien Ingrassia (32) had already attracted a great deal of attention beforehand. The two Frenchmen held fourth place overall on occasion in the less powerful S2000 car – before an accident meant an early end for the two. Nissen: “Sébastiens Speed was incredible on the opening stages. This proves that we have signed a driver with great potential. I’m convinced that he’ll be good for one or the other big surprise during the World Championship rallies this year.”

The Frenchman also looks forward optimistically to his next outing during the Rally Sweden (9 to 12 February). “I feel very comfortable on the car and team. We were extremely competitive before the accident,” said Ogier, who was third in the WRC in 2011. “The difficult conditions at the start of the rally were an advantage for us because the difference in power between the Fabia S2000 and the WRC class didn’t have such a big effect. We aim to maintain our pace in Sweden and I’m confident that we will also be fast there.”

In 2012 Volkswagen contests rounds of the World Rally Championship with two Fabia S2000 cars from the group brand Škoda. The rallies act as preparation for the 2013 season in which Volkswagen will compete with the Polo R WRC in rallying’s top-flight.

Volkswagen continued the preparation for its entry in the World Rally Championship in 2013 with the Polo R WRC: At the Spain Rally, the twelfth and penultimate round of the World Rally Championship (WRC), the factory team again fielded two Fabia S2000 cars of the Group’s Škoda brand in order to gather valuable experience in the top category of rally racing. 

With Christian Riedemann/Michael Wenzel (both from Germany) and Yeray Lemes/Rogelio Peñate (both from Spain) in the cockpits, two young driver pairings again had the chance to prove their skills in a professional environment on an international stage. And they successfully did so: Lemes/Peñate took fourth place in their class and 14th overall while Riedemann/Wenzel crossed the finish ramp in Salou on position eight in class and 20 in the overall classification.

“We’ve got more than twelve months to go before our entry into the World Rally Championship. We’re using this time efficiently by participating in WRC rounds with vehicles of the Volkswagen Group’s Škoda brand and familiarising ourselves with the WRC in competitive conditions in parallel to the development of the Polo R WRC,” says Volkswagen Motorsport Director Kris Nissen. “Every rally has its own character. The special aspect of the Spanish rally is that the vehicles first run on gravel and then on tarmac, plus it has incredibly enthusiastic fans. Our two young pairings did well in the competition. Yeray Lemes in particular showed that he can keep the pace of the quickest cars in different terrain whereas Christian Riedemann was running well especially on tarmac. For the whole Volkswagen team the participation in the rally has been a valuable experience and now we’re preparing for our next run in Wales.”

The 47th Spain Rally featured a varied profile over a 406.52-kilometre distance of special stages. On Friday the gravel sections were on the agenda. They culminated in a spectacular leg in the dark of the night. On Saturday and Sunday the terrain changed to quick, winding tarmac roads. Yeray Lemes and his co-driver Rogelio Peñate marked three fastest stage times at their home round but due to a puncture lost the chances of clinching an even better result. “We’re more than pleased. We quickly got used to the car on gravel and were able to seriously attack on tarmac. The result makes us very happy, particularly in front of so many fans from my home region, the Canary Islands. I want to thank Volkswagen, we’d like to repeat this at another venue,” said the 24-year-old Lemes. After competing in the ADAC Rallye Deutschland this was Riedemann and Wenzel’s second run for Volkswagen. “In the beginning we didn’t do the best job of handling the gravel, but we learned from this. On tarmac we clearly managed to improve and were even able to keep the pace of the more experienced drivers some of the time,” says the 24-year-old as he summed up the event. From 10 – 13 November, Volkswagen will continue the preparation of the team: Sepp Wiegand with “Dakar” winner Timo Gottschalk as his co-driver and the Dutchman Kevin Abbring with co-driver Lara Vanneste will compete at the Rally Great Britain.

The Rally Legend San Marino, a historical rally spectacular with former World Champions like Marcus Grönholm, Timo Salonen and Juha Kankkunen, attracts more than 50,000 fans to San Marino every year. Volkswagen competed with two cars in the legend classification at the ninth running of the event: triple German Rally Champion Dieter Depping and former co-driver World Champion Peter Diekmann drove a Golf GTI II Group A of the type with which Volkswagen was World Champion in 1986. Former European Rallycross Champion Per Eklund drove a replica Golf GTI 1, with which Volkswagen contested the 1980 Rally Monte Carlo, together with Hans Sylvan.

Volkswagen driver Enzo Kuun kept his chances of winning the South African Rally Championship alive with second place in the Western Cape Rally. The defending champion is second nine points behind the championship leader before the finale at the end of October. 25 championship points are still to be awarded at the Polokwane Rally. The 2009 Dakar Rally winner Giniel de Villiers retired after an accident from the seventh of eight season rallies.

The third test run for Volkswagen in the WRC: At the Rally of Spain, the penultimate round of the FIA World Rally Championship (20-23 October 2011), the factory team will again field two Škoda Fabia S2000 cars. At the wheel: the German duo Christian Riedemann/Michael Wenzel (Sulingen/Kaiserslautern) and the Spanish pairing Yeray Lemes/Rogelio Peñate. The team headed by Volkswagen Motorsport Director Kris Nissen is pursuing two aims at this run: firstly the careful preparation for the entry of the Polo R WRC from 2013 on, and secondly the evaluation of young drivers who would like to recommend themselves for the climb up into the top class of rally racing.

“Our trial runs in Finland and the German Rally have already provided us with important findings with respect to the fielding of the vehicles, the organisation of the teams and the related logistics. Every WRC round has its own characteristics though – this makes it particularly important to gather specific experiences,” says Volkswagen Motorsport Director Kris Nissen. “In Spain we will again be running with two young driver pairings: Christian Riedemann and Michael Wenzel did a good job at their home round and now have the chance to show their potential on gravel. Yeray Lemes and his co-driver Rogelio Peñate on the other hand are hopefuls and highly motivated to compete in front of a home audience. For our team the main focus is not so much on the sporting result but on finishing the entire rally in order to gather as much experience as possible.”

For the 23-year-old Christian Riedemann this will be the second run in the Volkswagen factory team. Together with his co-driver Michael Wenzel he took third place at the German Rally in the Super 2000 category and was also the best German in the large field. The duo has to “switch gears” for its run in Spain. Whereas the German rally around Trier was held mostly on tarmac the Catalonian WRC event around the small coastal town Salou additionally features several gravel tracks. This is the type of terrain on which Riedemann’s team colleague Yeray Lemes feels particularly comfortable. The 24-year-old from Lanzarote won the 2009 Spanish Rally Championship on gravel and in addition the JWRC junior class at last year’s WRC round. Lemes, whose enthusiasm for the sport was inspired by Carlos Sainz’ WRC exploits, is currently competing in the so called WRC Academy with his co-driver Rogelio Peñate and is ranking in fourth place overall.

Wolfsburg (13 September 2011). World premiere at the Frankfurt International Motor Show (IAA): Volkswagen is presenting the first drivable prototype of the Polo R WRC that will be used to launch the testing programme this year in preparation for the FIA World Rally Championship. In 2013 Volkswagen will start to contest the top rally racing category, thus setting new aims for the brand after three consecutive victories at the Dakar Rally. The new Polo was unveiled in Frankfurt on Monday evening to an audience of about 2,000 international media representatives and will be showcased on the Volkswagen stand for the duration of the motor show. 

“In February we started designing the vehicle concept for the Polo R WRC. Now we’re already in a position to present the first ready-to-run vehicle that will subsequently be used in extensive tests – an important step in our preparations for the WRC entry in 2013,” says Volkswagen Motorsport Director Kris Nissen. “I’m pleased about our team having managed to get this car off the ground in such a short time. And I’m very proud about the opportunity to present it to the public on the occasion of the IAA in Frankfurt.”

The Polo R WRC is based on the Volkswagen Polo that is successfully sold around the world. Its centrepiece is a 1.6-litre TSI engine that uses direct injection and turbocharging and delivers a power output of about 300 HP and maximum torque of about 350 Newton metres. The new engine regulations that came into effect in 2011 thus perfectly fit the Volkswagen philosophy of clever downsizing for high efficiency with sporty performance. Power is transmitted to the wheels by a sequential gearbox and four-wheel drive system. In addition, the weight-optimised Polo R WRC features a complex safety cage and, last but not least, an aerodynamically optimised outer shell.

The FIA World Rally Championship is the most diverse technological challenge in worldwide car racing. The concept design of a WRC vehicle has to consider various types of ground: gravel, scree, tarmac, ice, snow and mud of any description. In this season, for example, 13 World Rally Championship rounds on four different continents are on the calendar. Consequently, a World Rally Car has to function in extremely different climatic conditions – from the blazing heat of South America to the icy ride in Scandinavia. Volkswagen is carefully preparing for the new sporting challenge with an extensive testing programme that includes WRC commitments with vehicles of the Group’s Škoda brand and the evaluation of young talents, among other things.

The South African pair Enzo Kuun and Guy Hodgson finished the Osram Rally in fourth place in their Volkswagen Polo S2000 and therefore missed out on a place in the top three in the sixth of the season’s eight races, which was marked by very changeable weather conditions. The 2009 Dakar Rally winner Giniel de Villiers and his co-driver Ralph Pitchford came in behind them, in fifth place. The rally was new to everyone who entered, as this was the first time in 17 years that the South African Rally Championship was held on the country’s picturesque Garden Route between George and Knysna.

Successful home round for Volkswagen: The Volkswagen factory team finished the test run at the ADAC Rallye Deutschland, the ninth round of the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC), by taking two podium places. The junior duo of Hans Weijs Jr./Bjoern Degandt (NL/B) showed a widely noted performance and occupied second place in the Super 2000 group. Their team-mates Christian Riedemann/Michael Wenzel (D/D) came third and, by finishing in 15th place overall, were the best German team in the whole field. 

From 2013 on, Volkswagen will contest the WRC with the newly developed Polo R WRC. In preparation for the new commitment the team headed by Motorsport Director Kris Nissen is fielding two Fabia S2000 of the Volkswagen Group’s Skoda brand at selected events. At these runs various young drivers are given the opportunity to prove their skills in the cockpit of the near-270-hp four-wheel-drive vehicles and to get a first-hand impression of how the factory teams operate.

“Our test run at the ADAC Rallye Deutschland went without the slightest problems and again provided us with many new findings. After three victories at the Dakar Rally we’ve got to re-organise ourselves in some areas and gather as much experience as possible. Our team had done a good job of preparing itself and accomplished the mission without making any mistakes,” said Volkswagen Motorsport Director Kris Nissen. “Well done also to our young drivers and their co-drivers who perfectly gelled with the team and did an outstanding job of achieving our aim of finishing the event with both cars. In addition, driving in front of a home audience has been a positive experience for our team. Volkswagen is delighted about the many rally fans and we’ve gained the impression here that this also the case the other way around.”

Hans Weijs Jr. contested the three-day Germany Rally for the fourth time but for the first in a real factory team. “This is a very special experience as a lot of the work is taken care of by the team and you can fully concentrate on driving. We found the right pace early on and then aimed to safely reach the finish. That in the end we finished as the runners-up in the Super 2000 group is a nice reward,” said the 24-year-old Dutchman who together with his Belgian co-driver Bjoern Degandt was among the front runners of his vehicle class on many of the special stages and took 13th place overall.

For Riedemann and Wenzel the change required for the Volkswagen assessment run was particularly great as the two are normally competing in the WRC Academy, the WRC’s junior class, in a 150-hp vehicle with front-wheel drive. “We first had to adjust to the much faster and more powerful car, but then we found a good rhythm and were able to improve,” commented the 23-year-old who drove the tarmac rally around Trier for the second time. “We felt very comfortable in the team and the commitment was very valuable for us – from the tests and optimal preparation of the car through to the perfect service during the rally,” said Riedemann.

2013 WRC countdown begins: Volkswagen Motorsport completes first rally event in Finland The countdown starts – Volkswagen contests the FIA World Rally Championship with the Polo R WRC from 2013. In the Neste Oil Rally Finland, the eighth of 13 World Championship rounds this year, the Volkswagen Motorsport team completed its first test rally with cars from the group brand Škoda this weekend. A pair of 270 hp Škoda Fabia S2000 from the SWRC were used and driven by the Norwegian driver pair Andreas Mikkelsen/Ola Floene and the Finnish duo Joonas Lindroos/Pasi Kilpeläinen. Unfortunately both Škodas failed to make the finish on their rally debut for Volkswagen Motorsport. Lindroos/Kilpeläinen retired after rolling on the eighth special stage, radiator damage caused by a stone on the 17th stage meant the end for Mikkelsen/ Floene.

“Despite the two retirements the rally was a successful start for the entire team,” says Volkswagen Motorsport Director Kris Nissen. “The service crews did an excellent job during their first event. The procedures functioned very well, my thanks to the whole team. The driver pairings also did a great job. Andreas Mikkelsen and his co-driver Ola Floene were particularly impressive and showed flashes of brilliance. In general, we collected valuable experience during this first rally weekend and learnt a great deal. We now look forward to competing in the ADAC Rally Germany in the middle of August.”

Norwegian duo Mikkelsen/Floene put in a faultless and consistent performance throughout the entire weekend. The car with start number 54 ran strongly in third position before a stone robbed all hopes of a podium on stage 17. Unfortunately, at kilometre 12.7 a stone hit and penetrated the radiator on the Škoda S2000. Mikkelsen actually finished the stage with the second fastest time in the SWRC category ahead of leader Juho Hänninen. However, it was not possible to continue driving. Mikkelsen held 15th position in the overall standings at that time. “I tried to fulfil the team goals: to get to the finish quickly but without accidents,” says the 22-year old. “On the whole I really enjoyed the weekend with Volkswagen Motorsport. The atmosphere in the team is fantastic and I hope that it wasn’t my last rally for them.”

The Finnish weekend ran less smoothly for Lindroos/Kilpeläinen: two accidents on the sixth and eighth stages ended any hope of running among the leaders in front of the home crowd.

The Volkswagen Motorsport team will compete in other selected rallies in 2011 with cars from the Volkswagen group brand Škoda. Top talents will be given the opportunity to qualify for a 2013 WRC cockpit in the Polo R WRC during these competitive rallies. The German Christian Riedemann and Heins Weijs from the Netherlands aim to showcase their abilities at the next World Championship round the ADAC German Rally (18-21 August) in Trier.

The countdown is underway – in 2013 Volkswagen will start to contest the FIA World Rally Championship with the Polo R WRC. Until then a rally car with about 300 hp based on the Polo is being developed. To gather initial experience in the World Rally Championship, the team will be contesting selected rallies in 2011 with vehicles from the Volkswagen Group’s Škoda brand. At these rounds top talents are to be given the chance to qualify for a cockpit in the Polo R WRC in a new talent assessment programme under competitive conditions.

“In addition to a few top-calibre rally racers we want to present top talents in our 2013 driver line-up,” says Volkswagen Motorsport Director Kris Nissen. “Therefore, we will be giving young racers in particular an opportunity to show their skills at our runs in competitive conditions. This is the best way to see who is doing a good job of driving and would fit into the Volkswagen rally team. It would be great if we could find a new Walter Röhrl or Michèle Mouton using this approach.”

The first run will be at the Finland Rally from 28 to 31 July for which Volkswagen Motorsport has submitted entries for two Scandinavian driver pairings. The rally car will be the 270-hp Škoda Fabia S2000 from the SWRC, a subcategory of the World Rally Championship for vehicles with normally aspirated 2.0-litre engines.

The first car will be driven by the pairing Andreas Mikkelsen/Ola Fløene (driver/co-driver). Mikkelsen, aged 22, in his early youth was active in alpine skiing and motocross events and a member of the Norwegian national youth team in both sports. In 2006 he made his debut in rally racing at the WRC round in Great Britain. In the 2011 season the Norwegian who lives in Oslo is driving for Škoda England in the IRC (Intercontinental Rally Challenge).

The second cockpit crew carries the Finnish national flag. Joonas Lindroos/Pasi Kilpeläinen will drive down the starting ramp in their native country. Like Mikkelsen Lindroos ranks among the top young drivers in rally sport. The 26-year-old from the small town of Jämsä has been successfully driving in the national championship in the team of the four-time world champion Tommi Mäkinen since 2010.

Title defender Enzo Kuun and his co-driver Guy Hodgson clinched third place in their Volkswagen Polo S20000 at the PMC Rally, the fourth round of the South African Rally Championship. At the finish, after 14 special stages, they were lacking merely one and a half minutes to the winners Mark Cronje/Robin Houghton. Three other Volkswagen duos, Hergen Fekken/Pierre Arries, Nicholas Ryan/Armand du Toit and Japie van Niekerk/Simon Vacy-Lyle on positions four, seven and nine managed the leap into the top ten as well.

“We have invited you to join us here in Olbia to announce Volkswagen’s entry in the World Rally Championship starting in 2013.” – These were the words used by Volkswagen Management Board Member Dr. Ulrich Hackenberg as he declared Volkswagen’s entry into the most versatile of the four automobile world championships (World Rally Championship, WRC).

In front of 200 journalists he unveiled the concept of the Polo R WRC, the car with which Volkswagen will compete from 2013 onwards, together with Luca de Meo, Head of Marketing of Volkswagen AG, and Volkswagen Motorsport Director Kris Nissen. Luca de Meo: “Almost exactly two years ago, in May 2009, the most recent model of the Polo was presented here in Sardinia. Today we are proud to show you the hottest Polo of all time – the Polo R WRC.” For Kris Nissen and his team the World Rally Championship entry marks a new commitment. “We look forward to this new challenge and are working on this project with the same passion with which we won the Dakar Rally in the past three years,” said Kris Nissen.

After three consecutive victories at the Dakar Rally, Volkswagen has set itself new aims in top-calibre sport. With three car corporations currently involved in the championship and global media coverage, the WRC offers an attractive, highly competitive environment for Volkswagen. By 2013 the Wolfsburg-based brand will develop a near-300-hp rally vehicle with a 1.6-litre TSI engine and four-wheel drive based on the Polo.

Universal technological challenge, new rules

The World Rally Championship offers the most diverse technological challenge in worldwide car racing to the manufacturers involved. Various types of ground have to be considered during the concept design of a WRC vehicle such as all manner of gravel, scree, tarmac, ice, snow and mud. The calendar this season features 13 WRC rounds on four different continents. Hence a world rally car has to function in extremely different climatic conditions, from the blazing heat of South America to the icy ride in Scandinavia.

In addition, new technical rules have come into effect in the WRC this year. For the first time, engines with a maximum displacement of 1,600 cc, direct injection and turbochargers are prescribed.

“The new Technical Regulations of the World Rally Championship are an ideal fit for Volkswagen’s philosophy with respect to the development of production vehicles,” says Dr Ulrich Hackenberg, Member of the Management Board of the Volkswagen Brand, Development Division. “Downsizing, high efficiency and reliability are top priorities for our customers. The timing of the WRC debut is optimal for Volkswagen. The big task of engineering a vehicle that is competitive and capable of winning at a large number of challenges holds great appeal for us.”

Proven squad, new aims: Volkswagen Motorsport’s factory commitment

Volkswagen will prepare and enter the Polo R WRC as a factory commitment. In doing so, the Wolfsburg-based squad can build on structures which have been established over the past few years. The World Rally Championship is a new ambitious aim for the team that has won the “Dakar” in the past three years. “We can draw on an experienced and proven squad which has done an outstanding job in top-calibre sport in the past few years,” says Volkswagen Motorsport Director Kris Nissen. “Even though the WRC is new territory for us and involves learning in many areas the team already meets some important prerequisites now as it brings an unwavering professional attitude and resolve to deliver absolute perfection to this commitment.”

Volkswagen in the WRC: a success story

Volkswagen looks back on a small yet impressive rally tradition. Production-based vehicles from Wolfsburg celebrated rally racing successes in the middle end of the 1980s. The most important one: In 1986 the Swede Kenneth Eriksson and his German co-driver Peter Diekmann in the Volkswagen Golf GTI 16V claimed the world champion’s title in the newly incepted Group A. In addition, Volkswagen vigorously promoted young rally talent through the Golf Rally Cup. The fielding of the Volkswagen Polo R WRC from 2013 onwards closes the loop: Today’s WRC vehicles are still based on the philosophy of the Group A introduced back then, which enables rally sport to be conducted with vehicles based on production models.

The excellent performance of South African Jan Habig in the Volkswagen Polo S2000 during the Sasol Rally went unrewarded. In the second round of the South African Rally Championship Habig posted three fastest stage times with co-driver Robert Paisley, but retired from second position after an accident on the twelfth of 17 special stages. South African Hergen Fekken and co-driver Pierre Arries finished the Sasol Rally as best Volkswagen duo in seventh position. Giniel de Villiers, who won the 2009 Dakar Rally and finished second in 2011 in a Volkswagen Race Touareg, and co-driver Ralph Pitchford lost 14 minutes due to two tyre failures and had to settle for 16th place.

Volkswagen driver Jan Habig misses victory by 8.2 seconds

A thrilling season opener in the South African Rally Championship: At the Natal Rally near Durban Volkswagen driver Jan Habig together with his co-driver Robert Paisley was battling for victory up until the very end. After 14 special stages on gravel, covering a distance of 155 kilometres, the South African duo in the Volkswagen Polo S2000 had to admit defeat to Conrad Rautenbach/Nicolas Klinger in the Ford Fiesta with a gap of just 8.2 seconds. Other Volkswagen drivers, Enzo Kuun/Guy Hodgson, Hergen Fekken/Pierre Arries and Nicholas Ryan/Geoff Tyrer, finished the event in third, fourth and sixth place

Race-dezert.com coverage of the CODE class 11 challenge. CODE Off Road invited some of the best Trophy Truck drivers out for their class 11 challenge. Watch as they battle it out with other TT drivers and class 11 regulars.

Video of the 13th stage in the 2011 Dakar Rally.

Summary video of the 12th stage in the 2011 Dakar Rally.

The 2011 Dakar Rally summary video of Stage 11.

Al-Attiyah/Gottschalk increase gap to pursuers with stage victory

Dakar Rally 2011, 11th leg, 13 January 2011
Al-Attiyah/Gottschalk increase gap to pursuers with stage victory
Wolfsburg (13 January 2011). The Volkswagen factory drivers Nasser Al-Attiyah/Timo Gottschalk (Q/D) increased their lead at the top of the Dakar Rally standings on the eleventh stage. On the section from Chilecito to San Juan they recorded their fourth stage victory in the Race Touareg 3 and benefited at the same time from the bad luck of their team mates Carlos Sainz/Lucas Cruz (E/E). Last year’s winners from Spain dropped back due to damaged car, but still have the chance of a podium finish. New second placed duo is Giniel de Villiers/Dirk von Zitzewitz (ZA/D) in another Race Touareg.

Carlos Sainz, up to now second in the overall standings 12 minutes 37 seconds behind, led the cross country rally’s eleventh stage for almost 400 kilometres. Damage to the car then forced the Spaniard to make repairs, during which Sainz lost a lot of time. Mark Miller/Ralph Pitchford (USA/ZA) stopped in the stage to help their team mates. Both crews are still underway towards the finish of the day’s stage.

Frenchman Stéphane Peterhansel in the X-raid-BMW reached the stage finish second 1 minute 13 seconds behind Nasser Al-Attiyah. The third best time went to yesterday’s stage winner Giniel de Villiers. He now lies 51 minutes 49 seconds behind Al-Attiyah in the overall standings and 48 minutes 56 seconds ahead of Peterhansel.

Originally the eleventh stage at 622 kilometres would have been the longest of the entire rally. However, rain in the area around San Juan most recently caused deep erosion and new gorges. For safety reasons the organiser therefore cut 93 kilometres from the final section thereby reducing the distance to 530 kilometres. To begin the teams crossed canyon terrain at the foot of the Andes; afterwards they conquered a climb to over 3,200 metres before the stage ended at about 800 metres above sea level.

Kris Nissen (Volkswagen Motorsport Director)
“A proverb in motorsport is – ‘To finish first, first you have to finish’. Congratulations to Nasser Al-Attiyah and Timo Gottschalk for their performance today. It was a very exciting day for everyone. Carlos Sainz suffered from suspension damage. We still don’t know what happened. We have the information that Mark Miller stopped and together with Ralph Pitchford and Lucas Cruz helped to repair the damage. Both cars are running again. Today we say that the Dakar Rally remains merciless and is always good for a surprise.”

Volkswagen Motorsport public website: www.volkswagen-motorsport.com

2011 Dakar Rally info: www.dakar.com

Volkswagen “Dakar” iPhone app: www.volkswagen-motorsport.com/dakar_iPhone

2011 Dakar, Stage 10 summary video. Copiapo – Chilecito

The 2011 Dakar stage 9 summary video by the ASO. This stage was a loop from Copiapó – Copiapó in Chile.

The 2011 Dakar Stage 8 summary video, Antofagasta – Copiapo.

Our friends over at www.marathonrally.com shot these great photos from the dunes in Chile.

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Watch the summary of todays Stage 5 of the 2011 Dakar.  Stephane Peterhansel still holds the lead but only by a couple of minutes.

Stage 3 photos of the 2011 Dakar rally provided by www.marathonrally.com

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