Multi-faceted "Dakar" winner: Nasser Al-Attiyah/Timo Gottschalk

Zetavision Rally Dakar (Special Volkswagen Motorsport)

Wolfsburg (17 January 2011). On Sunday after 13 brutal "Dakar" stages for man and machine Nasser Al-Attiyah let himself be transported triumphantly across the ramp on the roof of the Volkswagen Race Touareg 3 by co-driver Timo Gottschalk and celebrated by thousands of enthusiastic fans in Buenos Aires as winner of the motorsport marathon.




This closing scene of the 2011 "Dakar", which went with emotional force around the world as powerful images, symbolises two totally different sportsmen, who achieved something exceptional: Their first Dakar Rally win.

Both were instrumental on the near 9,600 kilometre long acid test through Argentina and Chile – through the sweltering heat of the Sierras Pampeanas and Atacama Desert, among the peaks of the mighty Andes and from the Atlantic to the Pacific and back – in fulfilling their respective youthful dreams of winning the "Dakar”. At 15-years of age Nasser Al-Attiyah from Qatar promised his father he would win the legendary desert classic once. Now, after the long-awaited victory is reality, the 40-year old will be honoured as his nation’s top sportsman with a huge welcome celebration in XXL style.

"As I drove the first few metres with Nasser I thought he doesn’t know where the limit is and would permanently exceed it,” remembers navigator Timo Gottschalk of his first drive together in the Volkswagen Race Touareg during a test in Hungary at the beginning of June, 2009. "After a while I really noticed that he was well aware of how to assess the risks involved, that he has incredible car control and his driving style is not always maximum attack.” For Al-Attiyah, with whom the conscientious man from Neuruppin forms a duo since the Rallye dos Sertões in 2009, the exceptional quality of the partnership was obvious from the first minute. "From the very beginning with Timo it felt as if we had already driven together for years,” says the personable Arab. "Timo is like a brother for me. I can depend on him completely.” Who is the boss in the car? "Very obviously Nasser,” says Timo Gottschalk. "But I give the orders.”

Life style with 1,001 hp: Motorsport multi-talent Nasser Al-Attiyah

Winning the Dakar Rally means realising a long-cherished goal in life for Nasser Al-Attiyah. The Qatari had kept one of two central spaces free in his cabinet for the exceptionally large "Dakar” trophy. The Olympic gold medal for clay pigeon shooting should fill the other, for which Al-Attiyah trains every day for this non-motorsport activity – relaxation and preparation for the "Dakar” in one. However, the expert in conquering sand dunes at the wheel of an automobile does not have much time at home in the desert Emirate: Al-Attiyah is driven by speed and is travels permanently around the world at racing speed. In addition to his events for the Volkswagen factor team in the Dakar Rally and the preparation rallies the horse lover regularly contests rounds of the World Rally Championship and sprint rallies in the FIA Middle East Championship. With success: Al-Attiyah can claim a total of six titles to date in classic rally championships. In June 2010 at the 24-hour race around the Nürburgring-Nordschleife he celebrated class victory in the Volkswagen Scirocco GT24-CNG for cars with alternative drives. What makes the "Dakar” victory so special for Al-Attiyah? "The ‘Dakar’ is, after all, the ‘Dakar’. It is the toughest test in motorsport and my absolute favourite rally,” says Al-Attiyah. "There is no better arena than this one to prove what you are capable of.” During the 33rd running of the marathon this meant controlled attack at the right moment for Al-Attiyah. "This year Nasser drove cleverly and forward-thinking like never before,” praises co-driver Timo Gottschalk. "He even accepted losing time on stony sections so as not to risk damaging tyres. Instead he attacked where he felt very comfortable: In the dunes. This was one of the keys to victory.”

Meticulous worker with both feet on the ground: Timo Gottschalk

"Timo knows to calm me down in the cockpit when necessary. He is a calm and relaxed thoroughly honest guy,” according to Nasser Al-Attiyah, who already thinks about the future together. "Now we are ‘Dakar’ winners and everybody will want to beat us. So, you have to be even better prepared and even more professional. If this is still even possible to improve when compared to now, then Timo is the right man for the job.” Timo Gottschalk is in fact a meticulous operator for success. Like every co-driver in the Volkswagen "Dakar” team he navigates during the day at race pace. In the evening and occasionally into the early hours of the morning preparation of the road book for the following day is on the agenda. "An incredibly tiring job, during which you ask yourself at least once a day why you actually do it,” says the 36-year old. "But when you reach the big goal you know why you subject yourself to the whole thing. It’s an incredibly great feeling to be ‘Dakar’ winner.”

Timo Gottschalk, who, in addition to his job as Volkswagen co-driver, also works as vehicle technology engineer and runs a car and motorcycle workshop in his hometown of Rheinsberg, is not in danger of ‘taking off’ in view of the success. He has both feet securely anchored on the ground. The down-to-earth guy has found happiness with his girlfriend Ine. Gottschalk lives together with her and her children in their house in Rheinsberg. "I have found my perfect personal environment, which gives me a lot of energy and support and is the perfect contrast to the hectic motorsport business.”

Perfect harmony outside the cockpit, constructive inside: The closely-knit team Al-Attiyah/Gottschalk only clashed with one another on a couple of occasions during the 2011 Dakar Rally when quick decisions were required. "We do get loud sometimes if we have different opinions," says Al-Attiyah. "But only for a few seconds, since we convert this energy into sporting motivation. There are no serious quarrels between us.”

What was the Arab doing on the roof of the Race Touareg 3 at the finish line? "I would have loved to have flown up to heaven and then straight to Qatar where the people celebrate our victory in the streets. I would have loved to have been a part of it.” And if the physics could be overcome: Timo Gottschalk knows the way.

director@rallydakar.org
prensa@rallydakar.org

Desert kings crowned: Nasser Al-Attiyah/Timo Gottschalk win the 2011 Dakar Rally

Zetavision Rally Dakar (Special Volkswagen Motorsport)

Wolfsburg (16 January 2011). Enthusiastic reception in Buenos Aires: After 9,600 kilometres, 13 stages and extreme exertions the Volkswagen drivers Nasser Al-Attiyah and Timo Gottschalk were celebrated as winners of the 2011 Dakar on the podium in the Argentinean capital.

It is the first victory in the world’s toughest rally for the duo from Qatar and Neuruppin, Germany. The Volkswagen team celebrated its third consecutive victory since 2009 (Giniel de Villiers/Dirk von Zitzewitz) and 2010 (Carlos Sainz/Lucas Cruz).

director@rallydakar.org
prensa@rallydakar.org

Volkswagen triumphant, Al-Attiyah/Gottschalk win Dakar

Zetavision Rally Dakar (Special Volkswagen Motorsport) Wolfsburg (15 January 2011). Tumultuous celebration at the "Dakar” finish: Volkswagen has won the Dakar Rally for the third time in succession. Standing alongside Nasser Al-Attiyah/Timo Gottschalk (Q/D) on the podium in Buenos Aires on Sunday will be Giniel de Villiers/Dirk von Zitzewitz (ZA/D) and Carlos Sainz/Lucas Cruz (E/E). In front of millions of enthusiastic spectators the new Race Touareg 3 scored a much celebrated one-two-three finish in the desert classic through Argentina and Chile. As a result, Volkswagen is the only manufacturer to have won the automobile category in the desert classic with diesel technology – and remains unbeaten on the South American continent thanks to TDI power. To complete the victory all three cars must still roll across the winner’s ramp on Sunday and midday local time in Buenos Aires. Three Volkswagen "Dakar” winners on the Podium With Nasser Al-Attiyah from Qatar and Timo Gottschalk from Germany a third duo clinched a "Dakar” victory for Volkswagen in the 33rd running of the motorsport marathon. Thanks to superior and exceptionally durable high-tech made in Wolfsburg, the three victorious driver/co-driver pairs from the previous three years mount the winners’ podium as first, second and third – an expression of a harmonious and strong driving squad that dominated the 2011 "Dakar” from the beginning. Volkswagen alone is credited with 12 of a possible 13 stage victories. Carlos Sainz realised a personal best with his stage victory on the way to Buenos Aires: Now with stage win number 24 he surpasses the 23 stage victories scored in the car class by current rival Frenchman Stéphane Peterhansel. One of the Volkswagen teams led the rally, with its many extremely hard stages, from the start. The challenges: winding gravel roads, soft and deep desert sand in the unrelenting Atacama Desert, navigationally demanding sections through labyrinth-like canyons and washed-out river beds as well as spectacular river crossings. Mark Miller/Ralph Pitchford (USA/ZA) completed the solid Volkswagen team performance in sixth position. All four Race Touareg 3 that started finished the rally in leading positions and continued the success story of enviable reliability: Volkswagen has not recorded a single technically related retirement in cross country rallying in four years. The three pillars of a historic victory Reliable technology, perfect teamwork and strong driver squad – Volkswagen once again set the standards during the 2011 Dakar Rally with this winning formula. The TDI technology, which represents efficiency and reliability in millions of Volkswagen road cars, revolutionised cross country rallying. Thanks to the powerful and compact design it is also pioneering in the "Dakar”. The four 310 hp Race Touareg 3 spooled-off the approximate 9,600 kilometres overall distance with clockwork precision – and in the process always perfectly prepared for the forthcoming rally day by a closely-knit team and prepared tactically astute by Volkswagen Motorsport Director Kris Nissen. In addition to the service crew on location, the employees in Wolfsburg and Hanover undertook careful preparatory work beforehand – indispensable for the "Dakar” win. The technological basis – unbeaten since the end of 2008 – was converted by Sainz/Cruz into seven, Al-Attiyah/Gottschalk into four and de Villiers/von Zitzewitz into one stage victory. The three: new Race Touareg triumph on debut The third generation Race Touareg equipped with a 2.5 litre TDI engine and permanent four-wheel drive completed its "Dakar” premiere successfully from the beginning. The power unit’s in-line 5-cylinder, bi-turbo design guaranteeing compact dimensions and low overall weight when compared to its direct competition proved to be the best overall package for the third time in succession suiting both the WRC-like tracks and the extreme dune crossings. The TDI engine in the Race Touareg 3 is one of the most powerful and, at the same time, most efficient diesel power units in motorsport. On extremely hot stages, where ambient temperatures neared 60 degrees Celsius, the new cooling concept paid dividends for the extreme prototype from Wolfsburg. Thanks to improved air flow and an optimised radiator the Race Touareg 3 shrugged off the boiling heat in Chile’s Atacama Desert and the extreme conditions in the notorious dunes in the Sierras Pampeanas around Fiambalá in Argentina. Reliability combined with speed – on every terrain Volkswagen demonstrated its technical expertise during the 2011 "Dakar”. The three: multiple-winners made in Wolfsburg One-two in 2009, one-two-three in 2010, one-two-three in 2011 – Volkswagen continues an irresistible winning streak in the Dakar Rally. The Wolfsburg based brand has been pace setter since the event moved from Africa to South America. In January 2009, Giniel de Villiers/Dirk von Zitzewitz recorded the brand’s first "Dakar” victory since the prototype project started in 2004, followed by their team mates Mark Miller/Ralph Pitchford (USA/ZA). It was the second Volkswagen win in motorsport’s toughest test after Freddy Kottulinsky/Gerd Löffelmann (S/D) had won in a production based Volkswagen Iltis in 1980. In 2010, the first one/two/three followed with Carlos Sainz/Lucas Cruz (E/E) claiming victory from their Volkswagen team mates Nasser Al-Attiyah/Timo Gottschalk and Mark Miller/Ralph Pitchford (USA/ZA) in the closest ever "Dakar” finish in history. Number three marks the successful revenge for Al-Attiyah/Gottschalk – also an important entry in their career histories. Nasser Al-Attiyah becomes the first Arab in the desert classic’s history to be presented with the big "Dakar” trophy. The Qatari won in his sixth "Dakar” competition, his second for Volkswagen, for the first time. His navigator Timo Gottschalk is only the fourth co-driver, after Gerd Löffelmann, Andreas Schulz and Dirk von Zitzewitz, to bring the "Dakar” victory to Germany – a premiere for the vehicle technology engineer living in Rheinsberg, Brandenburg. Quotes Kris Nissen (Volkswagen Motorsport Director) "The third successive ‘Dakar’ victory for Volkswagen is a historic performance which was achieved thanks to perfect teamwork, exceptional driving and navigational skills and more specifically thanks to superior technology. I’m incredibly proud of the entire team, both the employees who made this win possible and also the team with its superhuman efforts here on location. It was without a shadow of doubt the toughest ‘Dakar’ that we have ever contested, and also probably the best organised. My compliments therefore also go to the organiser A.S.O. I think we proved that the Race Touareg 3 is currently the world’s most reliable and strongest cross country rally vehicle. This is the result of years of hard work. Congratulations to Nasser Al-Attiyah and Timo Gottschalk who have worked outstandingly and obviously also to the other Volkswagen pairs who made this one-two-three finish possible.” #302 – Nasser Al-Attiyah (Q), 2nd place leg / 1st position overall "My first ‘Dakar’ win. I’m absolutely delighted to have been the first Arab to win the world’s toughest desert rally. These feelings are incredibly difficult to express in words. I reached my greatest goal thanks to the world’s best cross country rally car and the best team in this sport. I’m delighted for the entire squad which slaved around the clock for three weeks for this victory. In Timo Gottschalk I have an exceptional co-driver at my side, who played an immense role in this victory. Today we’ll party like there’s no tomorrow.” #302 – Timo Gottschalk (D), co-driver "Victory in the ‘Dakar’ – I can still hardly believe it. Over last few days we built up a comfortable advantage and things looked really good for us in the previous stages. Nevertheless, everybody ignored any thoughts of victory, because anything can happen in this rally even within sight of the finish. I’m proud and happy about the win. It was the hardest ‘Dakar’ which I have ever contested. We’ve now spent two weeks at the absolute physical limit. The organiser kept its promise of wanting to stage the toughest Dakar Rally ever. To have won exactly this one is an incredibly good feeling.” #308 – Giniel de Villiers (ZA), 4th place leg / 2nd position overall "The Dakar Rally is an extremely long race during which a great deal can happen. At the beginning we tried to drive cautiously and tactically. Because you only have a chance of getting a good result if you reach the finish. This approach brought us second place and I’m delighted about the result. A podium finish in the Dakar Rally is always something special. Something we can personally be proud of. The team can be proud of making first, second and third positions possible.” #308 – Dirk von Zitzewitz (D), co-driver "An incredibly demanding ‘Dakar’ because the days were extremely long. In the mornings you had to get up very early, we only reached the bivouac in the late afternoon. There were loads of changes to the roadbook, which duly gave us co-drivers plenty of work during the night. The stages were also physically challenging. In the Atacama Desert the navigation could certainly have been a little more challenging, which was the case in Argentina, as is fitting for a ‘Dakar’. My highlight was the Fiambalá stage which we won because of perfect navigation. All in all a positive Dakar Rally for me – especially because second overall was the reward.” #300 – Carlos Sainz (E), 1st place leg / 3rd position overall "All in all I’m more than satisfied with 2011 Dakar Rally. I think that my co-driver Lucas Cruz and I did a good job and therefore were rightfully fighting for victory for a long time. Unfortunately two bad days and several mistakes cost us any chance of overall victory. But this is the Dakar Rally: You always have to be alert. I’m delighted for the entire Volkswagen team, which truly deserves this one-two-three finish, and to have contributed to it. Everybody worked hard for this win.” #300 – Lucas Cruz (E), co-driver "This was by far the most challenging ‘Dakar’ that I have ever completed. It was full of tricky situations for a navigator which had to be solved with caution. There were plenty of dune sections of soft sand which meant an incredible amount of work for the driver in the cockpit. On top of this were the WRC-like sections with jumps and extreme temperatures. The rally was very varied. However, the Race Touareg 3 is the perfect car for such conditions. From the sporting point of view we were beaten for the first time since Carlos Sainz and I compete together. However, I think that we nevertheless did a good job. Luck deserted us on occasion.” #304 – Mark Miller (USA), 5th place leg / 6th position overall "This ‘Dakar’ was a wonderful event, with many interesting stages that demanded everything from man and machine. Unfortunately we lost so much time already on the second stage that we were out of the battle for overall victory. Our role was then to support our team mates – a task we were happy to do. When you work an entire year as team for victory, it goes without saying that you support one another to reach the targets. We did exactly this with energy and vigour on the eleventh stage to help Carlos Sainz onto the podium.” #304 – Ralph Pitchford (ZA), co-driver "This year on the Dakar Rally there were many hard stages that ran through fascinating landscapes. Mark and I had real highlight stages which we really enjoyed. Unfortunately we lost our chance of overall victory right at the beginning. However, I’m delighted for the entire team that it turned out to be a one-two-three finish. I think this is just reward. Now, after the last stage and after all the tension has gone we’ll have a big celebration. It was fantastic to have worked together with this team. We have all earned the fun and relaxation which comes now.” Number of the day During the 33rd running of the desert classic, the total length of felt pen markings made while "Dakar” winner Timo Gottschalk prepared his road book was 120 metres. For better identification of the directions at rally pace the German uses five different day-glow marker pens. Results Final result after leg 13, Córdoba (RA)–Buenos Aires (RA); 181/826 km SS 13/total Pos. Team Vehicle Leg 13 Total time 1 Nasser Al-Attiyah/Timo Gottschalk (Q/D); Volkswagen Race Touareg 3 1h 16m 46s (2); 45h 16m 16s 2 Giniel de Villiers/Dirk von Zitzewitz (ZA/D); Volkswagen Race Touareg 3; 1h 18m 06s (4) + 49m 41s 3 Carlos Sainz/Lucas Cruz (E/E); Volkswagen Race Touareg 3; 1h 16m 08s (1) + 1h 20m 38s 4 Stéphane Peterhansel/Jean-P. Cottret (F/F); BMW X3 CC; 1h 19m 05s (6) + 1h 43m 48s 5 Krzysztof Holowczyc/Jean-Marc Fortin (PL/B); BMW X3 CC; 1h 17m 33s (3) + 4h 11m 21s 6 Mark Miller/Ralph Pitchford (USA/ZA); Volkswagen Race Touareg 3; 1h 18m 10s (5) + 4h 54m 42s 7 Ricardo Leal dos Santos/Paulo Fiuza (P/P); BMW X3 CC; 1h 27m 16s (11) + 6h 50m 07s 8 Christian Lavieille/Jean-Michel Polato (F/F); Nissan Proto; 1h 25m 07s (10) + 7h 57m 18s 9 Guilherme Spinelli/Youssef Haddad (BR/BR); Mitsubishi Racing Lancer; 1h 20m 06s (7) + 8h 23m 37s 10 Matthias Kahle/Thomas Schünemann (D/D); Buggy SMG; 1h 28m 02s (12) + 15h 11m 56s director@rallydakar.org prensa@rallydakar.org

Sainz wins stage, Al-Attiyah/Gottschalk target overall victory

Zetavision Rally Dakar (Special Volkswagen Motorsport) Wolfsburg (14 January 2011). The Volkswagen factory drivers also dominated events on the twelfth and penultimate stage of the Dakar Rally: A one-two-three led by Carlos Sainz (E) from Giniel de Villiers (ZA) and Nasser Al-Attiyah (Q) proved impressively the qualities of the Volkswagen Race Touareg 3 and its driving crews on the longest stage. All three also occupy the first three positions in the overall standings: The leader Nasser Al-Attiyah has the best chance of overall victory ahead of de Villiers and Sainz. "It looks much easier from the outside than it really is. In view of the results you could almost think that only Volkswagen was participating in the 2011 Dakar Rally,” stresses Volkswagen Motorsport Director Kris Nissen. "There were however, in addition to the four Volkswagens, actually seven BMWs, two Hummers, a Mini and also cars from Toyota, Mitsubishi and Nissan competing. The dominance can easily be attributed to the best car in the field – the new Volkswagen Race Touareg 3. It was entered by the best team in this sport and driven by the best drivers and co-drivers. They have worked towards achieving this goal for one year. Thanks to all the Volkswagen Motorsport employees, whether they are at home in Germany or on location in South America. Such success would not have been possible without these employees.” Carlos Sainz/Lucas Cruz (E/E) secured their sixth stage win on the way from San Juan to Córdoba – the eleventh for Volkswagen in the 2011 "Dakar”. Their team mates Giniel de Villiers/Dirk von Zitzewitz (ZA/D) followed only 2 minutes 43 seconds behind. Nasser Al-Attiyah/Timo Gottschalk (Q/D) arrived at the finish another 3 minutes 28 seconds behind. The two overall leaders could take a more controlled approach: In the overall standings they have a 48 minute 21 second advantage over de Villiers. Carlos Sainz completes the Volkswagen trio at the head of the rally leader board in third place. Mark Miller/Ralph Pitchford (USA/ZA) continue to hold sixth place. The twelfth of 13 stages was dominated by several lead changes and an extremely demanding route with many changes of direction and crests. Stéphane Peterhansel initially controlled the pace in the X-raid-BMW. The Giniel de Villiers assumed the lead which he lost to Carlos Sainz from the middle of the stage. At 555 kilometres in length today’s stage was the longest of the entire rally. The route was so soft in place due to the heavy rain that those responsible had to neutralise the stage for the cars between route-kilometres 294 and 341. On Saturday an 826 kilometre long final stage is on the agenda, whereby the actual stage length is only 181 kilometre. The Volkswagen duo Nasser Al-Attiyah/Timo Gottschalk has the best chance of taking their first overall victory in the Dakar Rally.
		Quotes #300 – Carlos Sainz (E), 1st place leg / 3rd position overall "Today was all about finding our rhythm again after our problems over the course of the last two days. We had loads of cars to overtake. Luckily the dust wasn’t too bad and we encountered a lot of help. We only got stuck a little longer behind one of the X-raid-BMW’s. When we had overtaken it we got a puncture and had to pass it again. It’s a fantastic thing to have equalled Stéphane Peterhansel’s tally of 23 ‘Dakar’ stage victories. I have to thank my mechanics who gave me a perfect car.” #302 – Nasser Al-Attiyah (Q), 3rd place leg / 1st position overall "It was anything but easy to maintain concentration today. It was a long stage during which my thoughts wandered into the future. Nevertheless, we quickly found our rhythm and a good pace, which meant as little risk as possible. Tomorrow there is another near 180 kilometre stage on the agenda. I hope we can enjoy it with our comfortable lead and not get nervous. If we finish it without problems I hope that we’ll have plenty of reason to celebrate. Till then we still have to do our jobs.” #304 – Mark Miller (USA), 6th place leg / 6th position overall "At the beginning of the stage we waited for Carlos as arranged, so we could run behind him. This belongs to our role as team player and we are happy to do it. Unfortunately we got stuck at a stupid place immediately after and lost more time. The stage today was long and hard. I’m now looking forward to the finale tomorrow, which hopefully brings the result Volkswagen deserves. It looks very good for the team, now we just have to bring the baby home. We’ll do everything possible to make sure this is the case.” #308 – Giniel de Villiers (ZA), 2nd place leg / 2nd position overall "The first 220 kilometres just simply refused to end today. To me they seemed incredibly long and hard. There was a lot of mud and sodden tracks, which demanded everything. Today we decided to complete the stage by taking as little risk as possible. We caught up with both our team mate Nasser Al-Attiyah as well as Stéphane Peterhansel in the X-raid-BMW and the decided to follow them to the finish. This didn’t make the job any easier, but it was the best decision in order to complete the job in hand tomorrow, which is what we had in mind: the one-two-three for Volkswagen. But the ‘Dakar’ is relentless. We certainly shouldn’t underestimate the remaining 180 kilometres. We’ll all approach them with respect.”
		Number of the day The Race Touareg 3 electrical wiring system is comprised of a total of 2,543 metres of cable – if you placed every single strand lengthwise in a row. This represents a column of almost 600 Race Touareg 3 parked one after the other lengthways.
		Did you know that... ... the Rally Dakar fleet had to prepare itself for significantly hotter outside temperatures on its return to Argentina? On the eleventh stage Mark Miller/Ralph Pitchford and Carlos Sainz/Lucas Cruz completed the suspension repair on the Race Touareg in 54.9 degrees Celsius. The value measured in the shade in the air filter housing of the 310 hp "Dakar” prototype does not accurately reflect the actual prevailing heat. As there was no shadow to be found far and wide during the successful repair which kept Sainz/Cruz in the race for a podium position. ... the Volkswagen service crew completes around 7,000 kilometres during the "Dakar”, 588 of this alone today between San Juan and Córdoba? The employees rely on the energy drink supplied by main sponsor Red Bull on the journeys made by the "Blue Angels” during the day and occasionally during the night. In a study carried out by Utrecht University the drink containing taurine and caffeine was certified to increase concentration and to reduce the danger of falling asleep at the steering wheel when enjoyed on long motorway trips. ... in addition to Red Bull, 450 half-litre bottled drinks are consumed daily just by the mechanics during the service in the Volkswagen bivouac? 250 bottles of still water and 200 bottles of soft drinks keep the fluid intake balanced at temperatures verging on the 40 degree mark. Not included are the drinks consumed on the journey from bivouac to bivouac. ... Volkswagen transports its own carbon workshop from location to location during the Dakar Rally? Mike Zentner is ready every day to repair damaged bodywork components from carbon-fibre reinforced plastic – as it is correctly called. A job in demand: The tough stages on the 2011 "Dakar” with their potholes, steep downhill dune slopes and the vegetation occasionally protruding onto route frequently batters the exterior skin on the four Race Touareg 3 beyond breaking point.
		Results Standings after leg 12, San Juan (RA)–Córdoba (RA); 555/678 km SS 12/total Pos. Team Vehicle Leg 12 Total time 1 Nasser Al-Attiyah/Timo Gottschalk (Q/D); Volkswagen Race Touareg 3; 5h 43m 29s (3); 43h 59m 30s 2 Giniel de Villiers/Dirk von Zitzewitz (ZA/D); Volkswagen Race Touareg 3; 5h 40m 01s (2) + 48m 21s 3 Carlos Sainz/Lucas Cruz (E/E); Volkswagen Race Touareg 3; 5h 37m 18s (1) + 1h 21m 16s 4 Stéphane Peterhansel/Jean-P. Cottret (F/F); BMW X3 CC; 5h 44m 13s (4) + 1h 41m 29s 5 Krzysztof Holowczyc/Jean-Marc Fortin (PL/B); BMW X3 CC; 5h 51m 09s (5) + 4h 10m 34s 6 Mark Miller/Ralph Pitchford (USA/ZA); Volkswagen Race Touareg 3; 5h 54m 09s (6) + 4h 53m 18s 7 Ricardo Leal dos Santos/Paulo Fiuza (P/P); BMW X3 CC; 6h 07m 28s (8) + 6h 39m 37s 8 Christian Lavieille/Jean-Michel Polato (F/F); Nissan Proto; 6h 29m 30s (12) + 7h 48m 57s 9 Guilherme Spinelli/Youssef Haddad (BR/BR); Mitsubishi Racing Lancer; 6h 02m 54s (7) + 8h 20m 17s 10 Matthias Kahle/Thomas Schünemann (D/D); Buggy SMG; 6h 25m 55s (10) + 15h 00m 40s

director@rallydakar.org
prensa@rallydakar.org

Sainz takes stage win, Al-Attiyah sets sights on overall victory

Zetavision Rally Dakar (Special Volkswagen Motorsport)

Wolfsburg (14 January 2011). The Volkswagen factory drivers also dominated events on the twelfth and penultimate stage of the Dakar Rally: A one-two-three led by Carlos Sainz (E) from Giniel de Villiers (ZA) and Nasser Al-Attiyah (Q) proved impressively the qualities of the Race Touareg 3 and its driving crews on the longest stage. All three also occupy the first three positions in the overall standings: The leader Nasser Al-Attiyah has the best chance of overall victory ahead of de Villiers and Sainz.

"It looks much easier from the outside than it really is,” stresses Volkswagen Motorsport Director Kris Nissen. "In view of the result you could almost think that only Volkswagen was participating in the 2011 Dakar Rally. There were however actually seven BMWs, two Hummers, a Mini and four Volkswagens competing, and not forgetting the cars from Mitsubishi and Nissan and many others. The dominance can easily be attributed to the best car in the field – the new Race Touareg 3. It was entered by the best team in this sport and driven by the best drivers and co-drivers. They have worked towards achieving this goal for one year. Thanks to all the Volkswagen Motorsport employees, whether they are at home in Germany or on location in South America. This success would not have been possible without the employees.”

Carlos Sainz/Lucas Cruz (E/E) secured their sixth stage win on the way from San Juan to Córdoba – the eleventh for Volkswagen in the 2011 "Dakar”. Their team mates Giniel de Villiers/Dirk von Zitzewitz (ZA/D) followed only 2 minutes 43 seconds behind. Nasser Al-Attiyah/Timo Gottschalk (Q/D) arrived at the finish another 3 minutes 28 seconds behind. They could take a more controlled approach: In the overall standings they have a 48 minute 21 second advantage over de Villiers. Carlos Sainz completes the Volkswagen trio at the head of the rally leader board in third place. Mark Miller/Ralph Pitchford (USA/ZA) continue to hold sixth place.

The twelfth of 13 stages was dominated by several lead changes and an extremely demanding route. Stéphane Peterhansel initially controlled the pace in the X-raid-BMW. The Giniel de Villiers assumed the lead which he lost to Carlos Sainz from the middle of the stage. At 555 kilometres in length today’s stage was the longest of the entire rally. The route was so soft in place due to the heavy rain that the organisers had to neutralise the stage for the cars between route-kilometres 294 and 341.

On Saturday an 826 kilometre long final stage is on the agenda, whereby the actual stage length is only 181 kilometre. The Volkswagen duo Nasser Al-Attiyah/Timo Gottschalk has the best chance of taking their first overall victory in the Dakar Rally.

director@rallydakar.org
prensa@rallydakar.org

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

Zetavision Rally Dakar (Special Volkswagen Motorsport)

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.”

director@rallydakar.org
prensa@rallydakar.org

Stage victory for de Villiers - Al-Attiyah extends overall lead

Zetavision Rally Dakar (Special Volkswagen Motorsport) Wolfsburg (12 January 2011). While Volkswagen factory drivers Giniel de Villiers/Dirk von Zitzewitz (ZA/D) recorded their first stage win on the tenth of 13 legs, their team mates established themselves clearly at the top of the Dakar Rally leader board. The duo increased their advantage in the overall standings to 12 minutes 37 seconds on the difficult dune filled stage from Copiapó in Chile to Chilecito in Argentina. Last year’s winners Carlos Sainz/Lucas Cruz (E/E) follow in second place. Dramatic scenes unfolded among the notorious white dunes close to Fiambalá: Nasser Al-Attiyah initially led the stage before Stéphane Peterhansel in the X-raid-BMW took control. Then Nasser Al-Attiyah transformed a 2 minute 30 second deficit into a 1 minute 18 second advantage at the highest point of the route in a dune mountain range. However, approaching the end of the stage, between the fifth and sixth way points, Giniel de Villiers/Dirk von Zitzewitz caught the leader unawares by selecting the cleverest route – and thus took a sensational victory on the day. Dirk von Zitzewitz immediately found the right direction at a junction and did not follow the tracks left by Peterhansel. Nasser Al-Attiyah dropped back to fourth place on the day’s stage losing a total of 8 minutes 54 seconds. As Carlos Sainz even lost 18 minutes 13 seconds on the stage Al-Attiyah was able to extend his overall lead. Mark Miller/Ralph Pitchford (USA/ZA) lost 1 hour 4 minutes 18 seconds on the stage, but remains fifth overall. Giniel de Villiers/Dirk von Zitzewitz (ZA/D) completes Volkswagen’s one-two-three in the standings behind Al-Attiyah and Sainz. The tenth stage took competitors from Chile back to Argentina again. In the process the teams scaled the rally’s highest point – the 4,725 metre high Paso San Francisco. Quotes Kris Nissen (Volkswagen Motorsport Director) "A very short stage which was incredibly dramatic and very difficult. The navigation was anything but easy and the sand very soft. No driver pair got through today without small mistakes. The Race Touareg 3 has once again mastered the challenging conditions in great style. I’m delighted that Giniel and Dirk won this difficult stage.” #300 – Carlos Sainz (E), 5th place leg / 2nd position overall "That was an absolutely catastrophic day for us. We got bogged down on a dune after only five kilometres. On top of this came a puncture later. We got lost several times, especially at the end of the stage when we didn’t find the correct exit from a river bed. Furthermore we damaged the gearbox, which also slowed us down. So, all in all it could have been better. But also worse: The deficit in the overall standings is not unassailable. We’ll give our utmost up until the final metre to try and win.” #302 – Nasser Al-Attiyah (Q), 4th place leg / 1st position overall "The start of the stage went really well for us. We quickly found our rhythm and rapidly overtook our team mate Carlos Sainz, who had got bogged down on a dune. We drove at a good pace to the end. Unfortunately we didn’t find the right way immediately and looked where all the top teams had looked for the route. Only our team mates Giniel de Villiers and Dirk von Zitzewitz were cleverer than everybody else. Congratulations on winning the stage.” #304 – Mark Miller (USA), 8th place leg / 5th position overall "A challenging day for man and material. To start we did everything right, my co-driver Ralph Pitchford directed us perfectly to the way points. Unfortunately we emerged over the crest of a dune with too little momentum and got bogged down. All in all it was, however, a really good but tough ‘Dakar’ stage. It could have been quite a bit different today with a little more luck.” #308 – Giniel de Villiers (ZA), 1st place leg / 3rd position overall "Today was our day. I think that I did just as good a job as my co-driver Dirk von Zitzewitz. However, at the end his stroke of genius made all the difference. It’s fabulous also to finally win a stage in this ‘Dakar’, even though it came a little later than I’d hoped. On the way there were plenty of difficulties to overcome. You had to keep an eye on the engine temperature, every one of the top teams got lost at least once. On top of this sand, sand and more sand which was very soft. The final part was a real labyrinth of washed our river beds and canyons. A lot of teams will still be searching for the right way there today.” Number of the day On the section between Copiapó and Chilecito Volkswagen contested its 100th "Dakar” stage since the first prototype’s first event in 2004. From the Volkswagen bivouac Sailing ace Russell Coutts visits Volkswagen factory team High-ranking visit from the high seas: The four-time America’s Cup winner, multiple sailing World Champion and Olympic winner Russell Coutts was shown the Volkswagen bivouac from Carlos Sainz, Nasser Al-Attiyah and Mark Miller. In Copiapó in Chile, actual Dakar Rally rest day for the mechanics, the 48-year old New Zealander made a flying visit during the service after the ninth stage. Local hero and favourite together: Mine worker meets Al-Attiyah A special moment for both: Volkswagen factory driver Nasser Al-Attiyah, "Dakar” overall leader, was given a surprise visit in the bivouac after the ninth stage. Luis Urzúa, shift manager for the miners trapped in San José north of Copiapó in autumn 2010, got an impression of the Volkswagen factory team in his hometown Copiapó. Urzúa, the 33rd and last rescued, was impressed. "Just like us miners a team in the ‘Dakar’ also works hand in hand. It’s fantastic to rub shoulders with the team members and see the rally in my hometown,” said the 54-year old. "To be able to meet Nasser Al-Attiyah one of the favourites was incredible.” Results Standings after leg 10, Copiapó (RCH)–Chilecito (RA); 176/862 km SS 10/total Pos. Team Vehicle Leg 10 Total time 1 Nasser Al-Attiyah/Timo Gottschalk (Q/D); Volkswagen Race Touareg 3; 3h 02m 09s (4); 33h 58m 34s 2 Carlos Sainz/Lucas Cruz (E/E); Volkswagen Race Touareg 3; 3h 11m 28s (5) + 12m 37s 3 Giniel de Villiers/Dirk von Zitzewitz (ZA/D); Volkswagen Race Touareg 3; 2h 53m 15s (1) + 46m 57s 4 Stéphane Peterhansel/Jean-P. Cottret (F/F); BMW X3 CC; 2h 58m 53s (3) + 1h 39m 32s 5 Mark Miller/Ralph Pitchford (USA/ZA); Volkswagen Race Touareg 3; 3h 57m 33s (8) + 3h 40m 43s 6 Krzysztof Holowczyc/Jean-Marc Fortin (PL/B); BMW X3 CC; 2h 57m 38s (2) + 3h 49m 37s 7 Ricardo Leal dos Santos/Paulo Fiuza (P/P); BMW X3 CC; 3h 24m 06s (6) + 5h 48m 25s 8 Christian Lavieille/Jean-Michel Polato (F/F); Nissan Proto; 3h 36m 38s (7) + 6h 27m 23s 9 Guilherme Spinelli/Youssef Haddad (BR/BR); Mitsubishi Racing Lancer; 4h 26m 42s (10) + 7h 25m 57s Coming up next … Thursday, 13 January: The Dakar Rally competitors have to contend with the final stage dominated specifically by deep, anthracite coloured sand in the section between Chilecito and San Juan. Soft powder sand, known in local vernacular as "Guadal” and similar to Fesh-Fesh in Africa, makes demands of man and equipment as well as the stony and bumpy sections that are extremely demanding on the suspension. director@rallydakar.org prensa@rallydakar.org

Volkswagen one-two-three: Sainz strikes back, but Al-Attiyah maintains lead

Zetavision Rally Dakar

Wolfsburg (11 January 2011). With their one-two-three stage victory the Volkswagen factory drivers continue to keep the battle at the head of the Dakar Rally field exciting: Nasser Al-Attiyah/Timo Gottschalk (Q/D), who hold the overall lead in a Race Touareg 3 after nine stages from Carlos Sainz/Lucas Cruz (E/E), staged a no-holds-barred battle for seconds with their Spanish team mates. With his fifth stage victory Sainz moved to within 3 minutes 18 seconds of the leader after losing the top spot yesterday – a tiny value according to "Dakar” standards. Today’s stage of the Dakar Rally ran around Copiapó. Al-Attiyah, the rally professional form Qatar, initially led. As yesterday’s winner he had to open the stage. Disbelieving faces then after 63 stage kilometres: The favourites passed the second control point with times identical to the second. Thereafter Sainz pulled away and won by 1 minute 56 seconds. A tyre failure later caused Nasser Al-Attiyah to drop back, however the Arab used his skills as dune expert to reduce the gap to Sainz again. As a result the diesel powered Race Touareg has won eight of the nine Dakar Rally stages held so far. Volkswagen has topped the overall standings without interruption since the rally has started. Giniel de Villiers/Dirk von Zitzewitz (ZA/D) and Mark Miller/Ralph Pitchford (USA/ZA), who drive two other Race Touareg cars, finished the stage in third and fifth positions respectively. Last year’s winner de Villiers strengthened his third place in the process, while Miller remains fifth in the rally. The day’s fourth fastest time went to Volkswagen’s closest rival: Stéphane Peterhansel in the X-raid-BMW arrived at the finish 11 minutes 14 seconds behind and remains fourth overall. The ninth stage was reduced from the original 235 kilometres to 207. It nevertheless offered the typical varied "Dakar” terrain: Hard sand and dune sections with camel grass vegetation to begin, stony gravel sections with a dry river bed to cross in the middle sector and more sandy dune crossings to conclude formed the character of this special stage. Lots of knocks and bangs shook the drivers who all emphasised the physical efforts. Original comments from Timo Gottschalk, co-driver of Nasser Al-Attiyah: "Today absolutely everything hurts.”
		Quotes Kris Nissen (Volkswagen Motorsport Director) "Yesterday’s stage was extremely difficult and many competitors couldn’t cope with it – but all four Race Touareg cars got through it very well just as they managed it again today. Today’s stage was also demanding, even though it was significantly shorter. The last few days have shown the Race Touareg 3 to be the measure of all things as the best and most competitive car. Together with our first rate drivers and co-drivers this is currently the best team in cross country rallying and one of the best teams worldwide. At the moment this team is simply unbeatable.” #300 – Carlos Sainz (E), 1st place leg / 2nd position overall "A short but certainly no easy ‘Dakar’ day. After some kilometres we caught up our team mate Nasser Al-Attiyah who had opened the stage. In a dry river bed we took the opportunity to overtake him. Afterwards we lost contact because it would appear he had a puncture. However, in the dunes he was able to catch up again. He must have been really flying there. Tomorrow we have to open the stage. The dunes of Fiambalá have always played a crucial role over the previous years. We are not so far behind and the tables could turn again.” #302 – Nasser Al-Attiyah (Q), 2nd place leg / 1st position overall "Today we lost about two minutes. This is just the way things run when you have to open the stage. We had no tracks for orientation and so my team mate was able to pass us relatively early. As we were running in his dust cloud we hit a stone and had to change a damaged tyre as a result. In the dunes I was able to close the gap again and crossed the finish line almost at the same time as him. Tomorrow Carlos has the disadvantage of opening the stage. If we can catch up with him we only need to keep him in our sights in order to get back the two minutes again that we’ve lost today. However, this is just theory.” #304 – Mark Miller (USA), 5th place leg / 5th position overall "To begin this stage we found a good rhythm and could hold a constant gap to our team mate Giniel de Villiers who had started in front of us. We had to overtake a motorbike rider in an off-road section during the first third of the stage and without any apparent reason got a puncture. Immediately after we were very cautious when crossing a scree field so as not to take any risks. I think this explains the deficit on today’s stage.” #308 – Giniel de Villiers (ZA), 3rd place leg / 3rd position overall "Today we again made up time on Stéphane Peterhansel in the BMW. This was important. On this short but nevertheless punchy stage it was all about getting through it without mistakes and to look after the material. We managed this. Towards the end we reduced our pace a little because as my neck was painful after we got shaken to bits in the car beforehand. Nothing that our physiotherapist can’t put right, but enough to make us a little more cautious today.”
		Number of the day On the ninth stage of the 2011 Dakar Rally, the loop around Copiapó, the longest jump over a crest by Carlos Sainz was exactly 15.43 metres. The value was logged by the sensors on the Race Touareg 3 suspension, which are extended completely in such a case and therefore indicate a spring travel of zero millimetres to the engineer.
		Did you know that... ... the Dakar Rally stops in Copiapó, the scene of one of Chile’s greatest moments when 33 trapped miners were rescued in the middle of October 2010? One of the rescue capsules used successfully to release the miners from a depth of 700 metres formed the centre of the "Dakar” bivouac: The "Fénix 3”. ... the ninth stage of the Dakar Rally is the actual rest day for the mechanics? For the first time the "Dakar” Armada remains in the same location thanks to the start and finish of the start being in Copiapó. The advantage: A service route covering hundreds of kilometres must not be completed. In contrast the so-called rest day three days ago in Arica actually represented the busiest day to date for the service crew. ... Volkswagen transports 350 tyres of the type BFGoodrich "All Terrain” pre-mounted on rims to the Rally Dakar for the four Race Touareg 3 cars entered? From the logistic angle the team is in credit: For stages ten, eleven, twelve and 13 there are still 140 units available.
		Results Standings after leg 09, Copiapó (RCH)–Copiapó (RCH); 207/270 km SS 09/total Pos. Team Vehicle Leg 09 Total time 1 Nasser Al-Attiyah/Timo Gottschalk (Q/D); Volkswagen Race Touareg 3; 2h 16m 35s (2); 30h 56m 25s 2 Carlos Sainz/Lucas Cruz (E/E); Volkswagen Race Touareg 3; 2h 14m 39s (1) + 3m 18s 3 Giniel de Villiers/Dirk von Zitzewitz (ZA/D); Volkswagen Race Touareg 3; 2h 23m 41s (3) + 55m 51s 4 Stéphane Peterhansel/Jean-P. Cottret (F/F); BMW X3 CC; 2h 25m 53s (4) + 1h 42m 48s 5 Mark Miller/Ralph Pitchford (USA/ZA); Volkswagen Race Touareg 3; 2h 29m 31s (5) + 2h 45m 19s 6 Krzysztof Holowczyc/Jean-Marc Fortin (PL/B); BMW X3 CC; 2h 31m 44s (6) + 3h 54m 08s 7 Ricardo Leal dos Santos/Paulo Fiuza (P/P); BMW X3 CC; 2h 51m 34s (10) + 5h 26m 28s 8 Christian Lavieille/Jean-Michel Polato (F/F); Nissan Proto; 2h 44m 34s (9) + 5h 52m 54s 9 Guilherme Spinelli/Youssef Haddad (BR/BR); Mitsubishi Racing Lancer; 2h 44m 11s (8) + 6h 01m 24s 10 Matthias Kahle/Thomas Schünemann (D/D); Buggy SMG; 2h 52m 44s (11) + 7h 43m 06s

director@rallydakar.org
prensa@rallydakar.org

Volkswagen scoops top four positions: Al-Attiyah new leader

Zetavision Rally Dakar (Special Volkswagen Motorsport)

Wolfsburg (10 January 2011). On the most difficult Dakar Rally stage so far the Volkswagen teams guaranteed enormous tension with a change of leadership. As was the case on Friday the four Race Touareg teams took the top four finishing positions on the eighth stage from Antofagasta to Copiapó. In Chile’s most famous town since the mining miracle the Nasser Al-Attiyah/Timo Gottschalk (Q/D) duo took their third stage win. On his favourite terrain in deep sand Al-Attiyah replaced last year’s winner Carlos Sainz/Lucas Cruz (E/E) at the head of the overall standings. The Arab is now 5 minutes 14 seconds ahead of the Spaniard.

Initially, after winning yesterday and thus having to open today’s stage, Nasser Al-Attiyah was behind Sainz. Only after the tenth of 13 way points did the professional rally driver from Qatar transform a 1 minute 58 second deficit into a 6 minute 36 second advantage. Behind Sainz and Al-Attiyah, Giniel de Villiers/Dirk von Zitzewitz (ZA/D) ended the day third in front of their Volkswagen team mates Mark Miller/Ralph Pitchford (USA/ZA). As a result the two duos each moved up a place in the overall standings: De Villiers is third. Miller, who led the stage at the start, is now fifth in the rally.

While Volkswagen recorded the seventh of a possible eight stage victories, the Wolfsburg based squad’s strongest challenger fell further behind. Stéphane Peterhansel in the X-raid-BMW is fourth overall more than one hour behind.

At 508 kilometres in length the teams today completed the rally’s longest stage so far. Only the forthcoming stages on 13 and 14 January will be longer. In the first part of the stage the teams had to master many opencast mining access roads and passed the Paranal Observatory – the scene of the James Bond film "Quantum of Solace”. The final section was dominated by demanding dune sections in the Atacama Desert.

Kris Nissen (Volkswagen Motorsport Director)
"Today was the Volkswagen day! The Race Touareg ran without problems, our drivers and co-drivers worked very well. There has quite possibly never been such a difficult stage as today’s. And here Volkswagen has pulled out such a large margin. It shows how good our car is and just what the occupants achieved in the cockpit. Many thanks to the whole team for this. We move ever closer to our big goal, but the ‘Dakar’ is and remains merciless. We must continue to give our all.”

director@rallydakar.org
prensa@rallydakar.org

Volkswagen opens second "Dakar" half with one-two-three win

Zetavision Rally Dakar (Special Volkswagen Motorsport)

Wolfsburg (9 January 2011). Volkswagen maintains lead with Carlos Sainz/Lucas Cruz (E/E) in the Race Touareg 3 as Dakar Rally enters second half. However, with victory on the day in the seventh stage in Chile their team mates Nasser Al-Attiyah/Timo Gottschalk (Q/D) have moved to within 1 minute 22 seconds the Spaniard in the overall standings. In their battle for the lead the two Race Touareg 3 have moved further ahead of their closest pursuer Stéphane Peterhansel in the X-raid-BMW. The Frenchman is already 21 minutes 11 seconds off the lead.

Al-Attiyah celebrated his second stage victory of the rally ahead of Carlos Sainz on the way to Arica from Antofagasta – for Volkswagen it was already the sixth on the seven stage to date. In the process Al-Attiyah halved his deficit to Sainz. Giniel de Villiers/Dirk von Zitzewitz (ZA/D) completed the successful day in third 2 minutes 56 seconds behind.

The character of today’s stage resembled the recently driven sixth stage; however the teams completed the route in the opposite direction. A serpentine downhill section to conclude the stage proved so narrow that the drivers had to reverse in some of the corners. The accompanying service fleet also mastered a known route in the opposite direction. The sporting events forced the organiser to change the route: Following the extremely difficult fifth and sixth stages many drivers only arrived at the bivouac throughout the course of the rest day on Saturday a whole twenty-four hours late. To make the start of the second rally week easier for them, those responsible shortened the original 611 kilometre long seventh stage to 273 kilometres. As a result, the teams already reached the stage finish close to the Rio Loa with its view across the Pacific. It is the only river with its source in the Andes and which does not completely evaporate in the Atacama Desert as it meanders to the sea.

Kris Nissen (Volkswagen Motorsport Director)
"That was a fantastic day for three of our cars. The one-two-three shows just how well the team worked on the rest day. I’m delighted with the start of the second half of the rally. We also managed to increase the cushion to Stéphane Peterhansel. Nevertheless the same still applies: We must first beat the Dakar Rally and its conditions and secondly continue to keep Stéphane Peterhansel at arm’s length.”

director@rallydakar.org
prensa@rallydakar.org

Volkswagen at the “Dakar”: with a 1-2-3-4 win and 1-2 lead into the rest day

Zetavision Rally Dakar (Special Volkswagen Motorsport) Wolfsburg (08 January 2011). The Volkswagen drivers went into the rest day of this year’s Dakar Rally with a 1-2-3-4 win. After the victories in the first week the score in the duel with the X-raid BMW team is now 5-1 to Volkswagen. After six legs through Argentina and Chile Carlos Sainz/Lucas Cruz (E/E) are leading by 2m 42s in front of their team colleagues Nasser Al-Attiyah/Timo Gottschalk (Q/D). After 1,925 of the 5,020 kilometres against the clock Stéphane Peterhansel/Jean-Paul Cottret (F/F) in the X-raid BMW are Volkswagen’s fiercest rivals. Their gap amounts to 14m 51s – a time as short as the blink of an eye at the Dakar Rally. Four out of six possible stage wins so far went to Sainz/Cruz and one each to Al-Attiyah/Gottschalk and Peterhansel/Cottret. The leading trio is followed within a striking distance by two other Volkswagen factory duos: Giniel de Villiers/Dirk von Zitzewitz (ZA/D) in fourth and Mark Miller/Ralph Pitchford (USA/ZA) in sixth place overall. Yet the rest day of the "Dakar” is anything but a day for lazing around. The mechanics intensively prepare the vehicles for the second week of the "Dakar”. After the joint press conference the drivers, co-drivers and team management will present the Volkswagen bivouac to Chile’s President Sebastián Piñera and subsequently be available to the media for interviews. The first rally week offered the "Dakar” participants the variety which is typical for South America. The terrain changed several times a day between gravel passages, scree fields, solid clay soil, jungle sections and soft dune sand. On the sixth leg the Volkswagen drivers definitely earned their day of rest, which gives them the first chance to recuperate since the rally started on New Year’s Day in Buenos Aires. Plenty of the powder-like sand that is called "guadal” in the national language (and is similar to Africa’s fesh fesh) made this leg a particularly gruelling endeavour for "man and material”. The Volkswagen duos finished this stage with a 1-2-3-4 victory. The second half of the Dakar Rally will start on Sunday and Monday like a thunderbolt. A total of 611 timed kilometres on the seventh and 508 on the eighth leg are on the agenda. The tasks are as varied as they were in the first part of the "Dakar”. Gravel, solid ground and lots of sand make sure that the participants will not suffer from boredom. The Dakar Rally ends on 15 January after the second crossing of the Andes and after thirteen legs when the teams arrive at the finish in Buenos Aires. Quotes Kris Nissen (Volkswagen Motorsport Director) "On the rest day we can look back on six exciting ‘Dakar’ days that were successful for Volkswagen. The pace and the challenge are even higher than they were last year. Stéphane Peterhansel and Jean-Paul Cottret are doing a great job in the X-raid BMW, and our Volkswagen duos Carlos Sainz and Lucas Cruz plus Nasser Al-Attiyah and Timo Gottschalk an even better one. We worked hard and delivered a strong team performance to clinch the one-two lead. The whole squad is doing an impeccable job. I’m proud of this. In total we’ve got four cars among the top six, which means we’re in a good position for the second week of the rally. But we also know that we’ve achieved a lot but haven’t won anything yet.” #300 – Carlos Sainz (E), 1st place overall "On the whole, the first rally week went very well for us. Despite some rough stages the Race Touareg 3 ran without the slightest technical problems. We had the honour of being the stage winners a total of three times and the handicap of having to open the stage. My co-driver Lucas Cruz did a great job. Now, on the rest day, we’ve got to perfectly prepare for the second week. I know that I can rely on the work of my mechanics one hundred per cent. This gives me the backing for a tough second week.” #300 – Lucas Cruz (E), co-driver "We’ve just finished a little less than 2,000 of the more than 5,000 kilometres of special stages. They were tough but next week the ‘Dakar’ will probably be showing its true face on even more occasions. I’m expecting many more sandy passages which don’t make the work for the drivers and co-drivers any easier. We’ll use the rest day to prepare as well as we can. The pace at the front is high – any mistake could mix up the order of the standings. The race continues to be thrilling.” #302 – Nasser Al-Attiyah (Q), 2nd place overall "The situation with respect to the overall standings is no less exciting than it was last year. Quite the opposite is true. The battle between two has turned into a battle between three contenders. My team colleague Carlos Sainz and I enlarged our gap a bit. But these gaps are extremely small for a Dakar Rally. We’ve got to continue to stay concentrated and attack at the right moment. I’m really looking forward to the second ‘Dakar’ week.” #302 – Timo Gottschalk (D), co-driver "The first week passed quickly and I’ve got to admit that I’m a little relieved that it has. The battle at the front of the field is extremely fierce. Running at the necessary pace with a calculated risk isn’t easy. The second week is equally interesting. Now the days are coming up on which we’ll need to work out an advantage if we want to win the rally. Even though we’ve already got one week in our bones we need to maintain the energy and concentration that are needed to achieve our goal.” #304 – Mark Miller (USA), 6th place overall "A less-than-perfect day that threw us out of contention for overall victory. That’s our story at the Dakar Rally. Since then our task has changed. We want to help our team-mates as best we can to clinch the third ‘Dakar’ victory in a row. We need to stay close to the blue cars in front. The past few days have shown that we’ve got the right pace to do so. The day before today’s rest day revealed that the time we set – down to nearly a second – was about the same as that of our team colleague Giniel de Villiers. I think taking this approach is exactly what’s expected of us.”" #304 – Ralph Pitchford (ZA), co-driver "The first week was extremely varied and I really enjoyed the third special stage in particular. Unfortunately, we didn’t achieve the results we’d imagined. But I think that the toughest job is still ahead of us. The first two legs after the rest day are real humdingers. I’m looking forward to these tasks and another ‘Dakar’ week.” #308 – Giniel de Villiers (ZA), 4th place overall "Actually, the first part of the Dakar Rally was going pretty well for us, even though I’d have wished to have been closer to the front-running duos. But my team colleagues Carlos Sainz and Nasser Al-Attiyah are running at a fast pace. Right at the beginning we lost the time on the first two stages that we’re now lacking. But our performance on the three days before the rest day was good. We’ve still got more of a distance ahead of than behind us. We won’t give up until the very end. That’s why I’m looking forward to the upcoming seven legs.” #308 – Dirk von Zitzewitz (D), co-driver "The first week of the Dakar Rally was a far cry from what Giniel de Villiers and I expected. On the first WRC-like stages we lost a lot of time and on the off-road sections we didn’t do as well as we could have either. Our aim is clear: We want to attack again in the second half of the rally. Anything’s still possible.” Number of the day More than once around the globe: If the impellers of the turbocharger compressors in Carlos Sainz’ Race Touareg 3 were made to revolve as many times as they have on the special stages up to the rest day, the total number of revolutions would amount to a distance of 53,668 kilometres. This equates to about 1.34 times the circumference of the earth. Results Interim standings after 06 of 13 legs Pos. Team Vehicle Total time 1 Carlos Sainz/Lucas Cruz (E/E); Volkswagen Race Touareg 3; 4h 53m 53s (1); 20h 39m 41s 2 Nasser Al-Attiyah/Timo Gottschalk (Q/D); Volkswagen Race Touareg 3; 4h 54m 02s (2) + 2m 42s 3 Stéphane Peterhansel/Jean-P. Cottret (F/F); BMW X3 CC; 5h 06m 18s (5) + 14m 51s 4 Giniel de Villiers/Dirk von Zitzewitz (ZA/D); Volkswagen Race Touareg 3; 5h 03m 42s (3) + 31m 09s 5 Krzysztof Holowczyc/Jean-Marc Fortin (PL/B); BMW X3 CC; 5h 19m 19s (6) + 1h 13m 19s 6 Mark Miller/Ralph Pitchford (USA/ZA); Volkswagen Race Touareg 3; 5h 03m 43s (4) + 1h 35m 53s 7 Orlando Terranova/Filipe Palmeiro (ARG/P); BMW X3 CC; 5h 32m 48s (8) + 1h 37m 54s 8 Guilherme Spinelli/Youssef Haddad (BR/BR); Mitsubishi Racing Lancer; 5h 38m 15s (9) + 2h 17m 56s 9 Guerlain Chicherit/Michel Périn (F/F); Mini Countryman; 5h 22m 27s (7) + 2h 45m 25s 10 Christian Lavieille/Jean-Michel Polato (F/F); Nissan Proto; 5h 47m 23s (11) + 3h 07m ೫೪ಸ್

Volkswagen enters second half with 1-2-3-4 win and 1-2 lead

Zetavision Rally Dakar (Special Volkswagen Motorsport)

Wolfsburg (07 January 2011). With a 1-2-3-4 stage win on the sixth leg Volkswagen bids farewell to the first half of the Dakar Rally for the well-deserved rest day on Saturday. At the mid-point of the world’s toughest rally the Wolfsburg-based squad maintains the top two positions overall with the Race Touareg 3. But the competition is staying on the heels of the two leading Volkswagen factory drivers, Carlos Sainz/Lucas Cruz (E/E) and Nasser Al-Attiyah/Timo Gottschalk (Q/D), because a battle between three rivals again dominated the action at the front of the field. X-raid BMW driver Stéphane Peterhansel had been leading part of the sixth leg from Iquique to Arica before dropping back due to punctures. The two quickest Volkswagen duos subsequently fought a fair duel on the 456-kilometre stage, which has been the second-longest one so far. Like yesterday, the decision was only made on the final kilometres of the special in the barren Atacama Desert in which so-called fesh fesh – a powder-like sand that makes up the ground – made the conditions considerably more difficult. After Peterhansel’s time loss Sainz took the lead. But then Al-Attiyah on the final 100 kilometres temporarily converted a gap of 1m 27s into a 14-second advantage. Yet in the end Sainz secured his fifth stage win with the Race Touareg. After 4h 53m of driving time the Spaniard reached the finish a mere nine seconds in front of his team-mate Al-Attiyah who thus again bumped Stéphane Peterhansel from second place overall. Giniel de Villiers/Dirk von Zitzewitz (ZA/D) finished the stage in third place. The 2009 "Dakar” winners continue to rank in fourth place overall. Mark Miller/Ralph Pitchford (USA/ZA) completed the 1-2-3-4 stage result of the TDI-powered Race Touareg, moving up to sixth place in the overall standings.
		Quotes Kris Nissen (Volkswagen Motorsport Director) "The 1-2-3-4 stage win is a fantastic result. The entire Volkswagen squad did everything right today. I want to express my sincere thanks to all of them. Now the team would have deserved a break. But like every year there will be a lot of work to do on the upcoming rest day. During this important service the cars will be prepared for the second half of the rally with new parts. To be in front in the end we first have to defeat the ‘Dakar’ and then our rivals.” #300 – Carlos Sainz (E), 1st place leg / 1st place overall "What a tough day. Today the fesh fesh was the dominant soil. But like all the previous ‘Dakar’ legs this stage offered plenty of variety. On a stony section I had to stop to change a tyre. I had closed the gap to my team-mate Nasser Al-Attiyah who had started in front of me. But in his dust I failed to notice a hidden stone. Apart from this minor misfortune it was a really good day for my co-driver Lucas Cruz and me.” #302 – Nasser Al-Attiyah (Q), 2nd place leg / 2nd place overall "It’s incredible how close the race was again today. My team colleague Carlos Sainz won the stage in front of us with a razor-thin margin. So for Volkswagen it was more than a good day. We drove with a little more caution on the stony sections to avoid the risk of a puncture. That paid off. As it looks, Carlos and I are battling for victory at the moment. But you can never be sure at the ‘Dakar’. In any case, in second place we’ll have a good position for the day after the rest day to attack and to hopefully manage a good start into the second rally week.” #304 – Mark Miller (USA), 4th place leg / 6th place overall "Fesh fesh, all over the place we saw fesh fesh. Today was extremely strenuous and we’ve earned tomorrow’s rest day through another day of hard work. On the many blind hilltops we didn’t want to risk as much as the top three duos did. That’s where we lost a bit of time. Then, towards the end of the leg, we suffered a slow puncture. All in all, I’m glad that this extremely demanding leg is over now, and look forward to the second ‘Dakar’ week.” #308 – Giniel de Villiers (ZA), 3rd place leg / 4th place overall "I don’t think I’ve ever seen as much powder-like sand on a single leg as I did today. I think we had a good pace although I didn’t tackle the blind hilltops as boldly as some of the teams who started in front of us. At one of the dune crossings we had to make an evasive manoeuvre. We came out a little too far on the left and it took some doing there to find the route again. Then, on a stony section at the end of the stage, we suffered two punctures within five kilometres. That was unfortunate – but on the whole I’m pleased with our performance.”
		Number of the day With the Race Touareg vehicles of Carlos Sainz, Giniel de Villiers and company Volkswagen, before the rest day, continues to have all four cars in the race that were entered. Before reaching Buenos Aires they could be logging about 20,000 additional kilometres of special stages. Since 2004 all Race Touareg cars combined have completed 325,537.5 kilometres of special stages, and 111,147 of them at the Dakar Rally. The addition of the total times of all finishes reveals that the drivers and co-drivers of the Wolfsburg-based brand were out for 86 days, one hour, 14 minutes and twelve seconds, not counting the times of the current "Dakar”.
		Did you know that ... ... in the Race Touareg 3 a total of 14 fans, of which 13 are electrically and one hydraulically operated, are used? They assure the required air flow for the intercooler, the radiator, the driver and co-driver plus the gearbox and the windscreen, among other things. ... the drivers and co-drivers receive beverages specifically mixed for them every day? The liquid energy sources contain minerals, electrolytes and trace elements. Aromas are added for flavour. The preferred choices of the Volkswagen drivers: citrus and blood orange flavours. ... that Volkswagen has even made provisions for servicing the support vehicles at the Dakar Rally? In addition to the factory team, which also travels in the PanAmericana Multivan, the organiser A.S.O. (Amaury Sport Organisation) has opted for the Volkswagen Amarok as the official vehicle. In total, 66 vehicles of the Wolfsburg-based brand have been deployed. To assist in case of emergencies, a truck with spare parts and a small service crew is part of the convoy that travels from bivouac to bivouac.
		Results Standings after leg 06, Iquique (RCH)–Arica (RCH); 456/721 km SS 06/total Pos. Team Vehicle Leg 06 Total time 1 Carlos Sainz/Lucas Cruz (E/E); Volkswagen Race Touareg 3; 4h 53m 53s (1); 20h 39m 41s 2 Nasser Al-Attiyah/Timo Gottschalk (Q/D); Volkswagen Race Touareg 3; 4h 54m 02s (2) + 2m 42s 3 Stéphane Peterhansel/Jean-P. Cottret (F/F); BMW X3 CC; 5h 06m 18s (5) + 14m 51s 4 Giniel de Villiers/Dirk von Zitzewitz (ZA/D); Volkswagen Race Touareg 3; 5h 03m 42s (3) + 31m 09s 5 Krzysztof Holowczyc/Jean-Marc Fortin (PL/B); BMW X3 CC; 5h 19m 19s (6) + 1h 13m 19s 6 Mark Miller/Ralph Pitchford (USA/ZA); Volkswagen Race Touareg 3; 5h 03m 43s (4) + 1h 35m 53s 7 Orlando Terranova/Filipe Palmeiro (ARG/P); BMW X3 CC; 5h 32m 48s (8) + 1h 37m 54s 8 Guilherme Spinelli/Youssef Haddad (BR/BR); Mitsubishi Racing Lancer; 5h 38m 15s (9) + 2h 17m 56s 9 Guerlain Chicherit/Michel Périn (F/F); Mini Countryman; 5h 22m 27s (7) + 2h 45m 25s 10 Christian Lavieille/Jean-Michel Polato (F/F); Nissan Proto; 5h 47m 23s (11) + 3h 07m 54s
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