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 after leg 13 http://www.volkswagen-motorsport.com...st=538&id=4280
Number of the day http://www.volkswagen-motorsport.com...st=538&id=4276