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Millions lining the route, billions worldwide in front of television screens - the longest marathon that motorsport has on offer, mesmerizes everybody with its fascinating and dramatic pictures: The Dakar Rally.

In 2010 the mother of all desert rallies starts for the second time on the South American continent. Also competing: Five Race Touaregs with TDI diesel power prepared and fielded by the Volkswagen factory team. They face up to the challenge with the goal of defending the title, because whoever triumphs here is ‘talk of the town’.

“The media interest during the Dakar Rally is unique. The fascinating pictures are broadcast on television in approximately 190 countries,” says Volkswagen Motorsport Director Kris Nissen. “Compared with other leading motorsport categories the ‘Dakar’ provides an outstanding platform. This event is seen worldwide by billions of people. Whoever demonstrates technical expertise within this environment can be sure of huge publicity. This is also a reason for our involvement in the ‘Dakar’.” The Dakar Rally achieved a substantial range on its premiere in South America in 2009. The number of TV features amounted to 1,130 in the 189 countries where television reports about the desert classic were shown. On the South American continent alone, where only five countries were evaluated, there were almost 300 million viewers. However, in the other nations around the world - from China to Canada, from New Zealand to Russia, from South Africa to Denmark - the “Dakar” is a hip subject immediately after the New Year, and not only in the sports programmes. In 2009, 2.2 billion television viewers worldwide followed the television reports - tendency increasing.

>>>>>Read more on the Dakar in our RolfsRacing.com Dakar Page.

Dakar Rally, Leg 15, 18 January 2009

VW TOUAREGS TAKE THE DAKAR

The Volkswagen team that was victorious in the Dakar Rally was honoured in a manner befitting the occasion in Buenos Aires on Sunday. Giniel de Villiers and Dirk von Zitzewitz drove their Race Touareg, numbered 305, onto the finish ramp through a crowd that had lined up on both sides of the road. On the ramp, the South African-German duo was officially celebrated as the winners of the “Dakar” debut in Argentina and Chile. After 14 legs and a total of about 9,500 kilometres they finished with a lead of 8m59s ahead of their team-mates Mark Miller/Ralph Pitchford (USA/ZA), who thus gave Volkswagen a one-two victory. The automobile manufacturer from Wolfsburg made history, clinching the first diesel win in the car class in the world’s toughest rally that has been staged since 1979.

Sixth place in the field of 168 contenders who had started to the event in the car class was secured by the two Germans Dieter Depping/Timo Gottschalk in the third Race Touareg. Carlos Sainz/Michel Perin (E/F) had retired due to an accident while leading the twelfth stage. After 500,000 thrilled spectators had sent the participants off to the legendary desert classic in the heart of the Argentine capital on 2 January, another huge turnout at the finish now gave the victorious teams an enthusiastic welcome in the same way hundreds of thousands had been cheering the total of 530 participants during the rally day by day.

Robby Gordon finished in 3rd place with his #309 Monster Hummer.

READ MORE ON THE DAKAR IN ROLFSRACING.COM DAKAR PAGE.

Dakar Rally, Leg 9, 12 January 2009

Wolfsburg (12 January 2009). Volkswagen celebrated its seventh stage victory on the ninth leg of the 2009 Dakar Rally, maintaining its overall lead with stage winners Carlos Sainz/Michel Perin (E/F), ahead of two further Race Touareg vehicles. The 537-kilometre leg from La Serena to Copiapo in Chile demanded concentrated performance of the navigators, particularly during the starting phase, and put a severe physical strain on the crews due to long off-road stretches with hard impacts and stony sections. At first, Mark Miller/Ralph Pitchford (USA/ZA) looked like the stage winners for a long time. However, the American/South African duo lost about five minutes just before the finish because of a tyre change, but improved by one position in the overall classification. Miller/Pitchford took second place from their team colleagues Giniel de Villiers/Dirk von Zitzewitz (ZA/D), who lost 12.01 minutes on the ninth competition day due to a navigation error.

Carlos Sainz, who had been leading the cross-country classic for three days from the second leg onwards, then being replaced at the top for two days, has been running in front in the overall classification again since last Friday. After five stage victories, his lead over Miller now amounts to almost 20 minutes. De Villiers/von Zitzewitz follow with a three-minute gap in third place. Dieter Depping/Timo Gottschalk (D/D) in the fourth 280-hp Race Touareg lost 1:48 hours and dropped from eighth to tenth place overall.

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#301 - Carlos Sainz (E), 1st place leg / 1st place overall
“This was a very tough and demanding leg which, in the beginning, particularly tested the navigation skills of my co-driver Michel Perin - he really did a fantastic job. On the driving side, lots of off-road passages, hard shocks and stones galore made life difficult for us. But we handled these challenges well. The next few days will remain rough - that’s why our main goal is to get through without any problems. Then we’ll see what results this will produce.”

#308 - Mark Miller (USA), 2nd place leg / 2nd place overall
“Particularly the beginning of this extremely difficult leg went very well for my co-driver Ralph Pitchford and me. Ralph did a perfect job of navigating, so we caught up with my team-mate Carlos Sainz after only 60 kilometres. We stayed close to his dust and expected to be following him all the way to the finish. But Carlos and Michel made a small navigation mistake - so we passed them. Unfortunately, a slow puncture and the resulting tyre change later prevented my first stage victory at the ‘Dakar’. But that’s not so important. The main thing is that in the end a ‘blue vehicle’ will be the overall front runner.”

#305 - Giniel de Villiers (ZA), 5th place leg / 3rd place overall
“We neither had any punctures nor any other problems - as far as the technology goes, we got through perfectly. Unfortunately, though, we completely got lost on two occasions. The first time, the wrong route we’d taken even matched the roadbook descriptions quite well; that’s why we noticed that we were lost only after five kilometres. That definitely cost us 15 minutes. But there are still some tough days ahead on which a lot can happen.”

Read more in our RolfsRacing.com Dakar Page.

Day 5

A double success for Volkswagen: Giniel de Villiers/Dirk von Zitzewitz (ZA/D) won the fifth leg of the Dakar Rally from Nequen to San Rafael, ahead of their teammates Dieter Depping/Timo Gottschalk (D/D).

South African de Villiers has therefore improved his overall ranking in this legendary cross-country rally by one place and is now ranked second overall, 2.24 minutes behind the new rally leaders Nasser Al-Attiyah/Tina Thorner (Q/S). He is now also the new leading Volkswagen driver in the field. Dieter Depping/Timo Gottschalk (D/D) were at the front of the pack for several hundred kilometres of today’s leg. The route, which ranged in altitude from 400 metres to 2,300 metres above sea level, featured lots of alternating between clearly visible tracks and long sections of off-road driving, as well as an approximately 20-kilometre stretch of demanding dunes to be negotiated towards the end. The German pair eventually came second, securing their best result so far on this cross-country rallying classic.

Mark Miller/Ralph Pitchford (USA/ZA) also had reason to be pleased, coming in sixth on today’s turbulent 506-kilometre-long special stage and therefore supplanting Mitsubishi driver Joan “Nani” Roma (E) to take fourth place overall. Meanwhile, Carlos Sainz/Michel Perin (E/F) suffered a setback: after leading the rally for three days, they finished today’s leg in ninth place in spite of a rollover shortly before the finishing line, and were 15.42 minutes behind the day’s winners. The two-time rally world champion has therefore dropped to third place in the overall rankings and trails the front runners by 6.33 minutes.

#301 - Carlos Sainz (E), 9th place today’s leg / 3rd place overall
“The leg started well for us today. But unfortunately, we hit a rock badly around half way along the special stage, and that knocked our power steering out. We had to drive without it for 200 kilometres to the dune section of the leg. The lack of power steering meant we had to take a different line of approach - and that’s when we rolled. The mechanics unfortunately now have a lot of work to do. But we are only trailing by just over six minutes, and we know that anything can happen still.”

Nassar Al-Attiyah (QAT) and co driver Tina Thorner (SWE) moved to 1st over all in their new, X-Raid, highly modified, BMW X3 CC.

Robby Gordon (USA) and Andy Grinder finished 3rd today, moving their standing to 7th place.

Day 3

Wolfsburg (5 January 2009). Volkswagen continues to hold its ground after the third leg of the Dakar Rally, with Carlos Sainz/Michel Périn (E/F) remaining at the top of the leader board. 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.

The third best time of the leg was likewise secured by Volkswagen, with Dieter Depping/Timo Gottschalk (D/D) coming in 1.05 minutes behind their teammates. Giniel de Villiers/Dirk von Zitzewitz (ZA/D) achieved fourth position in another Race Touareg on the second longest special stage of the rally, measuring 551 kilometres. The pair fell one place in the overall rankings, to third place. Mark Miller/Ralph Pitchford (USA/ZA) were ranked sixth in leg 3, meaning that all four Race Touareg were in the top six. Overall, Miller/Pitchford have now moved up one position, to sixth place.

Read more in our RolfsRacing.com DAKAR Page.

“Our Hummer has never been so well prepared” says Robby. He adds “For different reasons. First, our Hummer has never been so well prepared. We did our last tests just a few days ago: the car is excellent and extremely resistant. We performed very well on the Central Europe Rally of the Dakar Series, except for a technical problem that has been solved now. And all the mechanics are really excellent. So we all share the same objective - to win - and we have put a lot of efforts into it. Nothing pays off like a good preparation to race the Dakar!”The “Monster” Hummer # 309 will be driven by Amerivans Robby Gordon and Andy Grider. The other Team USA entry, the “Vanguard” Hummer # 324 will be piloted by French Nationals Eric Vigouroux and Alex Winocq.This year’s DAKAR will be run in Argentina and Chile from January 3 to January 18, 2009.

Read more Read more on the Dakar and see Robby Gordon’s Video of the race prep on RolfsRacing.com Dakar Page.

Wolfsburg (22 December 2008). Team player, multitalented off-road driver and genuine racer: Mark Miller starts the forthcoming Dakar Rally as one of the Volkswagen factory driver.

Mark Miller, Carlos Sainz, VW Race Touaregs

When the US American tackles the desert classic on its premiere in Argentina and Chile with one of the four Race Touaregs on 03 January in Buenos Aires he trusts his distinct psychological strength. He approaches his job in off-road rallying in an extremely concentrated, fully committed and, at the same time, relaxed manner. The results of this professional attitude to date: fourth place for example in the 2007 Dakar Rally, which he finished as best placed Volkswagen driver or second place in the Rally dos Sertões in Brazil in June 2008 – including three stage victories in the Race Touareg. His outings in the legendary Baja 1000, which he contested for the first time in 2008 with a Volkswagen Baja Race Touareg TDI specifically developed to comply with the SCORE regulations, were also crowned with success: Two overall victories in 2003 and 2004 are credited to the professional born in Phoenix/Arizona. “It’s a real benefit to have him in our ‘Dakar’ squad,” says Volkswagen Motorsport Director Kris Nissen. “He lives and breathes this sport 100 per cent every day and is highly professional.”

Read more in our RolfsRacing.com DAKAR Page.

The Dakar will be held in South America from Jan. 3-18 About five hundred and thirty teams will take part in the rally, with 82 trucks, 188 cars, 30 4×4s and 230 motorcycles. They will race over 9,500 kilometres and cross over the Andes Mountain between Argentina and Chile. Included in that the drivers and machines will be tested by 5,650 miles of dunes, fresh sand, dirt roads, mud and dust, and mountain roads.

Volkswagen Race Touareg 2

The elite of worldwide rallying will meet to fight it out in these new territories. Mitsubishi’s title will be up for grabs against their major rivals at Volkswagen, BMW and Team Gordon. In T2, we will find Toyota and Nissan looking for a highly coveted victory. On the two-wheeler side, KTM will turn out in force to maintain its domination of the discipline. All the best truck teams will be there, including Kamaz, Tatra, Hino, Mercedes, Ginaf.

Read more in our RolfsRacing.com DAKAR Page.

More than 550 entry forms have been received six months ahead of the start, it’s already a success for the Dakar Argentina-Chile. Because it really is “the Dakar” that will be run in Argentina and Chile from January 3-18, 2009.

New regions worthy of the most difficult rally in the world will provide the competitors all they will require to push their limits. Those who like to surpass their capabilities have answered in mass for this all-new challenge.

From May 15 to June 15, the competitors who had been chosen for the 2008 Dakar were given a sign up « grace period » and they will make up 65% of the field of the next Dakar.

After the six weeks following the start of the inscription period, more than 500 teams had already been chosen, after a review of their entry form, to take part in the next edition of the rally. Among them, 16% are first time participants.

The field will be, as last year, world-class with the presences of factory teams and the top independent teams.

This summer, the reconnaissance runs will continue on as will all the preparations in order to ensure this new challenge is a success.

Unchanged, unequalled, inimitable, the Dakar remains the Dakar.

Press release from Dakar.com

Read more on our Dakar Page.