Volkswagen driver Sainz extends lead at “Dakar”

Wolfsburg (07 January 2010). Volkswagen continues leading the 2010 Dakar Rally after the sixth of 14 stages with three Race Touareg cars. Carlos Sainz and Lucas Cruz (E/E), who had taken the lead the day before, extended their advantage in the Race Touareg from 4m 37s to 15m 24s. Their team-mates Nasser Al-Attiyah/Timo Gottschalk (Q/D) continue ranking as the overall runners-up ahead of Mark Miller/Ralph Pitchford (USA/ZA) in another Race Touareg.
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Volkswagen trio in front: Miller with stage win, Sainz takes lead

Wolfsburg (06 January 2010). Volkswagen took the lead on the so far longest and toughest special stage of the Dakar Rally: As many as three Race Touareg vehicles are setting the pace at the front of the field after five days, both in the stage and overall classifications. Carlos Sainz/Lucas Cruz (E/E) are leading the cross-country classic with an advantage of 4m 37s. Runners-up are their team-mates Nasser Al-Attiyah/Timo Gottschalk (Q/D), followed with a gap of 9m 39s by Mark Miller/Ralph Pitchford (USA/ZA) who celebrated their first ever stage win at the Dakar Rally. Consequently, the first five days of the closely fought rally through Argentina and Chile have seen five different winners.

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Three Volkswagen drivers in the top four places

Wolfsburg (04 January 2010). Volkswagen continues maintaining its hold in the group of the front runners on the third leg of the Dakar Rally: Carlos Sainz/Lucas Cruz (E/E), Nasser Al-Attiyah/Timo Gottschalk (Q/D) and Mark Miller/Ralph Pitchford (USA/ZA) with their three Race Touareg cars are ranking in positions two to four at the world’s toughest desert rally. The overall lead was taken by today’s stage winners Stéphane Peterhansel/Jean-Paul Cottret (F/F) from the X-raid-BMW-Team. Read more

Touareg, therapists, packet soup: The Dakar Rally in numbers

Wolfsburg (29 December 2009). At the turn of the New Year the Dakar Rally spellbinds millions of people around the planet. From 1 January 2010 when the Volkswagen factory drivers Carlos Sainz, Giniel de Villiers, Mark Miller, Nasser Al-Attiyah and Maurício Neves attempt to defend the first historical diesel victory from last year during the marathon event in Argentina and Chile they set off on a magnificent journey. Interesting figures about the “Dakar”.
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Operation title defence – Volkswagen targets “Dakar” victory

Wolfsburg (28 December 2009). The greatest adventure motorsport has to offer – the biggest challenge a manufacturer can confront: Volkswagen starts the 2010 Dakar Rally with the ambitious target of bringing the coveted winner’s trophy back to Wolfsburg for a second time. Following the historical victory in January 2009 with the Race Touareg 2, the first in the rally’s history for a diesel powered automobile, the German automobile manufacturer once again tackles the challenges posed by the toughest terrain, unrelenting climate and strong competition. Volkswagen fields five of the powerful 300 hp “Dakar” prototypes in the 32nd running of the desert classic and second through Argentina and Chile. When Carlos Sainz, Giniel de Villiers and co roll across the start ramp surrounded by hoards of fans on 1 January 2010 in Buenos Aires they will find themselves in a new role. Till the finish staged 15 days later at the same place they are the prey for the first time. Read more

Above the clouds: five Race Touaregs on the way to the “Dakar”

Wolfsburg (17 December 2009). Five Race Touaregs, one destination: Buenos Aires. Volkswagen has flown the rally cars for the Dakar Rally to South America. The five powerful 300 hp cross country rally prototypes for Giniel de Villiers/Dirk von Zitzewitz (ZA/D), Carlos Sainz/Lucas Cruz (E/E), Mark Miller/Ralph Pitchford (USA/ZA), Nasser Al-Attiyah/Timo Gottschalk (Q/D) and Maurício Neves/Clécio Maestrelli (BR/BR) are winging their way by airfreight to the Argentine capital and starting point of the “Dakar”. Between 2 and 16 January the Wolfsburg based automobile manufacturer confronts the toughest test which motorsport has to offer. From Buenos Aires the route of the famous “Dakar” desert rally runs twice over the Andes, through the legendary Pampa and across the unforgiving Atacama Desert. The remaining material – the service vehicles including tools, equipment and spare parts – had already started to the “Dakar” by sea freight on 1 December. Read more

Nasser Al-Attiyah: “Volkswagen’s ‘Dakar’ win is a great help”

Wolfsburg (12 December 2009). Volkswagen signed Nasser Al-Attiyah this year. The Arab from Qatar who won last year’s FIA Cross Country Rally World Cup contests the Dakar Rally for the first time with a factory team. The 38-year -th the Race Touareg. In parallel to this Nasser Al-Attiyah also completed a sprint rallying season and won the FIA Middle East Rally Championship for the sixth time only a few days ago. In this interview he expresses his views before the his first “Dakar” start for Volkswagen. Read more

Volkswagen’s pioneering achievement in the toughest rally

Wolfsburg (09 December 2009). Thirty-one years ago on 26 December 1978 the first ever Dakar Rally started from the Place du Trocadéro. At the same time Volkswagen was busy working on direct injection technology, which the brand offers under the name TDI since 1991. Nobody would probably have expected at that time that exactly 30 years after the inaugural event a diesel rally vehicle would triumph. However, it is exactly with this pioneering achievement that Volkswagen wrote history in January 2009 with the Race Touareg and Giniel de Villiers/Dirk von Zitzewitz.
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Amarok –The Volkswagen Among Pick-Ups Launches

Hannover, December 1, 2009 – With the Amarok, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles is now also entering the segment of mid-range pick-ups, representing an annual market volume of two million vehicles worldwide. The Amarok is not only the fourth model series of the Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles brand, it is also the first 1-tonne class pick-up to be developed in Germany. The new model unifies the robustness demanded of a pick-up with innovative technology, high safety standards and top values in fuel efficiency, comfort and ergonomics. Production is about ready to begin at our “Pacheco” plant in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Read more

Grande Brasile takes “Dakar” winner Volkswagen to South America

Wolfsburg (01 December 2009). 60 tons of material, 17 support vehicles – Volkswagen’s “Dakar” crew embarked on its voyage across the Atlantic ocean to South America. The winning team of the past Dakar Rally in Argentina and Chile will tackle the title defence project from 02 to 16 January 2010 by fielding five Volkswagen Race Touareg vehicles. To successfully master the challenge of the world’s toughest rally Carlos Sainz, Giniel de Villiers and company will be supported on location by a service crew consisting of some 80 members. In Le Havre, France, five service trucks, three equipment trucks and two race trucks of the Volkswagen factory team set out on the longest part of the journey, the roughly four-week passage to Buenos Aires in Argentina. The cargo ship Grande Brasile that takes the equipment to the starting location was loaded the day before. Read more

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