The Volkswagen Touareg takes the lead at Dakar Rally

Volkswagen celebrated a stage victory on the second leg of the 2010 Dakar Rally and now leads the event’s overall standings with two vehicles. All five Race Touareg cars powered by TDI diesel engines are among the top six vehicles in the overall classification.

Nasser Al-Attiyah/Timo Gottschalk (Q/D) won the second, 355-kilometre special stage from Córdoba to La Rioja in Argentina, followed with a 2.01-minute gap by their team-mates Maurício Neves/Clécio Maestrelli (BR/BR) in another Race Touareg in third place behind Guerlain Chicherit/Tina Thörner (F/S) in the BMW. Carlos Sainz/Lucas Cruz (E/E) in the next Race Touareg came fourth with another 40-second gap, ahead of Mark Miller/Ralph Pitchford (USA/ZA). Giniel de Villiers/Dirk von Zitzewitz (ZA/D) followed in eighth place.

By clinching the stage victory Volkswagen took the overall lead of the Dakar Rally as well. Nasser Al-Attiyah ranks 1.19 minutes in front of his team-mate Carlos Sainz and 2.30 minutes ahead of Stéphane Peterhansel in a BMW. Mark Miller, Maurício Neves and Giniel de Villiers followed on positions four to six.

Kris Nissen (Volkswagen Motorsport Director)

"It was an outstanding day for Volkswagen because things went very well. Those who were in one of the front starting positions today were clearly at a disadvantage. Tomorrow, we’ll be in for a difficult stage. But I’m very happy with our stage and overall results and am therefore confident that we’ll be able to continue this way tomorrow.”