VOLKSWAGEN WINS 2010 DAKAR
Saturday, January 16th, 2010 by Rolf
VW TOUAREGS TAKE THE DAKAR AGAIN
Carlos Sainz & Lucas Cruz, Volkswagen Race Touareg 2
Photo: courtesy audi-motorsport.info
Wolfsburg (16 January 2010). Triumphant title defence in South America: Volkswagen has won the legendary Dakar Rally for the second time in succession and including 1980 for a third time.
After a ’showdown in blue’ the Volkswagen duos and their TDI powered Race Touareg prototypes celebrated a one two three podium lockout at the finish of the toughest challenge worldwide in motorsport. In the process, Carlos Sainz/Lucas Cruz (E/E) triumphed by only 2 minutes 12 seconds ahead of his team mates Nasser Al-Attiyah/Timo Gottschalk (Q/D) in a thrilling finale on the closing 202 kilometre sprint on the 14th and final rally day. Mark Miller/Ralph Pitchford (USA/ZA) claimed third position. Last year’s winners Giniel de Villiers/Dirk von Zitzewitz (ZA/D) finished seventh.
“I’m incredibly proud of our team. It’s stunning what the drivers, co-drivers and the entire team have achieved on every single day of the Dakar Rally. With this one two three triumph Volkswagen Motorsport even surpassed its own lofty goals,” says Dr. rer. pol. h. c. Francisco Javier Garcia Sanz, Member of the Board of Management at VOLKSWAGEN AG for procurement, at the finish of the final stage. Volkswagen Motorsport Director Kris Nissen explains: “Three weeks ago a highly motivated Volkswagen team came with the goal of successfully defending the ‘Dakar’ title won last year. Volkswagen has achieved something historical with this one-two-three. We are not only unbeaten in South America, we are also the only manufacturer to have won the world’s hardest rally up to now with diesel technology. The Volkswagen drivers fought amongst themselves for victory all the way to the chequered flag - sometimes by hard but fair means. This is exactly how we imagine motorsport to be. My congratulations therefore go to every Volkswagen duo who would all have been worthy winners.”
>>>>>Read all the latest and final results of the DAKAR in our RolfsRacing.com 2010 DAKAR Page.
With some controlled driving, the Spanish-French duo was able to increase the lead it established yesterday in its Race Touareg by more than a minute to 3.40 minutes on the 694-kilometre leg westwards from Puerto Madryn to Jacobacci in Argentina. The second fastest time behind the day’s winners Nasser Al-Attiyah/Tina Thörner (Q/S) in a BMW X-raid was enough for Sainz to maintain his lead. The third leg presented the participants with speedy stretches and with winding - and therefore also demanding - sections. With some rocky ground to cover, they had to reduce the risk of tyre blowouts in order not to forfeit valuable time.