You’ve always got to stay cool-headed at the ‘Dakar'

Volkswagen shows a positive mid-point track record at the Dakar Rally: Three of the five Race Touareg cars that started to the ‘Dakar’ are clearly leading the world’s toughest rally on its only rest day.

After seven of 14 legs Carlos Sainz/Lucas Cruz (E/E) are ranking 11m 03s ahead of Nasser Al-Attiyah/Timo Gottschalk (Q/D) and 22m 06s in front of Mark Miller/Ralph Pitchford (USA/ZA). Three stage wins have so far gone to Volkswagen, on four days one of the driver/co-driver pairings with TDI power led the event. The legendary motorsport cross-country marathon put extreme demands on "man and material” during the first rally week: On the first seven legs from Buenos Aires (Argentina) via Iquique to Antofagasta (both in Chile) the rally featured quick sections as well as dizzying altitudes of up to 4,726 metres above mean sea level during the first crossing of the Andes. Deep and soft sand, towering dunes, steep mountain ranges and endless scree fields are again making the desert classic the greatest challenge motorsport has to offer.

The extreme demands took a toll on Volkswagen too. The title defenders Giniel de Villiers/Dirk von Zitzewitz (ZA/D) lost several hours on the third stage due to damage that occurred as the consequence of an accident. On the sixth rally day the Brazilian duo Maurício Neves/Clécio Maestrelli retired due to injuries suffered in an accident.

Kris Nissen (Volkswagen Motorsport Director)

"My assessment after the first seven of 14 ‘Dakar’ days? First of all: The competition is tough, particularly the X-raid team and Stéphane Peterhansel are fast. Secondly: The first half of the rally was harder than expected. And thirdly: Everyone in the team is doing an outstanding job. I’m proud of each and every one in the squad. We’re leading this extremely tough competition with three vehicles. This means that we’ve achieved a lot but haven’t won anything yet. The following will apply to the coming seven stages as it has before: You’ve always got to stay cool-headed at the ‘Dakar’. Only then will you have a chance to be at the very front in the end as well. The rest day is just a snapshot.”