Facts and figures about Volkswagen’s one-two win at the “Dakar”

Dakar Rally – two weeks after the event

Wolfsburg (30 January 2009). The first victory of a diesel-powered prototype at the Dakar Rally two weeks ago marked a two-fold triumph for Volkswagen. Giniel de Villiers (ZA) and Dirk von Zitzewitz (D) won the debut event of the off-road classic in South America ahead of their team-mates Mark Miller/Ralph Pitchford (USA/ZA). A sixth-place finish was achieved by the Germans Dieter Depping/Timo Gottschalk in a further Volkswagen Race Touareg. The toughest of all rallies caused a sensation around the world. From its adventurous aspect to spectator response, here are some facts and figures on the 2009 “Dakar”.

Did you know that …

… the Dakar Rally was truly a resounding spectator success? Over 500,000 fans flocked just to the ceremonial start in Buenos Aires. Overall, the number of fans who accompanied the “Dakar” along the rally routes is estimated to amount to more than two million.

… the number of TV viewers tuning into the event was a success for the Dakar Rally as well? The fascinating pictures of the first South American “Dakar” were aired in 189 countries. The European sports channel “Eurosport” broadcast 48 hours of Dakar Rally coverage, reaching 33 million spectators. German TV stations aired more than ten hours of “Dakar” pictures, watched by 140 million viewers. 80 million people tuned into “Dakar” coverage just on RTL.

… the data of the engineers for Carlos Sainz revealed an average accelerator pedal position of 81 per cent? His longest stretch without “lifting”: 9.91 kilometres.

… the first victory of a diesel-powered prototype at the Dakar Rally clinched by the Race Touareg also marked Volkswagen’s tenth outright exploit in cross-country rally racing since 2004?

… 89 out of 184 possible stage victories since the Race Touareg program was launched in 2004 went to Wolfsburg?

… the highest elevation of the Dakar Rally was reached on the eleventh leg from Copiapó to Fiambalá? While crossing the San Franzisco pass, the contenders ascended to a height of 4,726 metres.

… the total time set by Giniel de Villiers/Dirk von Zitzewitz at the “Dakar” – 48h10m57s – could have even been a few seconds better? On the tenth special stage, a loop around the Chilenean desert town of Copiapó, an armadillo crossed their path. More than likely, the mammal was more shocked about the encounter than the two subsequent “Dakar” winners.

… the competitive balance in the Volkswagen factory was particularly high in 2009? 24 out of 39 possible top-three positions on the individual stages were scored by Volkswagen. On average, 4m27.30s separated the best and the second-best contenders from Wolfsburg on the special stages. The smallest gap: 20 seconds – between de Villiers/von Zitzewitz und Miller/Pitchford on leg six.

…the average driving time of Giniel de Villiers/Dirk von Zitzewitz on the special stages was 3h42m38s? Added to this were the liaison stages before and after the specials. For comparison: The contender who reached the finish after the longest driving time spent 11h52m43s hours in the car every day – also plus the liaison legs.

… Giniel de Villiers/Dirk von Zitzewitz, Mark Miller/Ralph Pitchford and Dieter Depping/Timo Gottschalk completed 4,330 timed kilometres on the 13 classified special stages? This equates to about 50 percent of the total distance of these 13 legs.

… “Dakar” winner Dirk von Zitzewitz used eight different colours to mark his roadboak and spent an average of three hours preparing it?

… Dirk von Zitzewitz and Giniel de Villiers can also communicate in German in the cockpit if necessary? Giniel de Villiers’ mother tongue is Afrikaans, which has its origins in the Dutch language. Phonetically, “left” and “right” are identical to German.

… the communication inside the cockpit between the two “Dakar” winners on one occasion was not enough to achieve the purpose? On the extremely rough and crucial twelfth leg Dirk von Zitzewitz pointed the way to his driver by running in front of the car through a field of scree – one of the keys to their triumph.

2009 SXS STADIUM SERIES AT PERRIS AUTO SPEEDWAY NAMES TITLE SPONSORS AND IS READY TO KICKSTART A NEW SEASON WITH TONS OF SUPPORT FROM THE INDUSTRY’S GIANTS!//

With the ‘09 season getting ready to start – The Mickey Thompson/Kal Gard Lubricant’s SXS Stadium Series
presented by Skin Industries has put together an all star list of support from the industry’s giants & legends
such as Mickey Thompson and Kal Gard Lubricants as well as receiving support from the industry’s largest
media sources including Off-Road Magazine!

Title Sponsors//
Mickey Thompson Tires:
Mickey Thompson, with deep roots in Baja & short course stadium racing, has teamed up with us to bring
short course racing back into the masses in ‘09 & beyond. As a title sponsor, Mickey Thompson Tires will
also be offering an awesome tire sponsorship & contingency program available to all of our racers.***
www.mickeythompsontires.com

Kalgard Lubricants:
Kalgard has the industry’s best performing oils & lubricants on the market & with a whole new look – the decade
old company will be once again raising the bar in 2009. Kal Gard lubricants has stepped up as a title sponsor for
the series and has also committed to an extensive contingency and give away package for the racers.***
www.kalgard.com

Presenting Sponsor//
Skin Industries:
Skin Industries will be jumping head first into off-road racing this year with Team Drivers Kyle Leduc & Jake Frederiksen.
Be on the lookout at a local Skin Retailer for a chance to win a ride with Kyle Leduc in the Skin Superlite at an upcoming
round of the SXS Stadium Series.
www.skinindustries.com

New Support//
Off-Road Magazine:
Offroad Magazine, which is distributed monthly to 70,000 enthusiasts, can be found on every major newstand
nationally. Off-Road Magazine is the scenes largest Off-Road publication & will be covering the entire series in
there magazine & online.
www.offroadweb.com

Direct Concept Engineering:
Direct Concept will be offering up an impressive $5,000 year end cash bonus to the top 3 finishers in the SXS Pro Class
at the SXS Stadium Series, furthering there commitment to growing the Rhino, Teryx & Polaris movement!***
www.directconcepteng.com

Dirt Alliance:
DA will be on hand shooting high res photos & putting together short clips of each round of the series that will be
up within the week after the race to showcase to friends, families & sponsors.
www.dirtalliance.com

Check it out!//
M4SX:
With a whole new website – Stay plugged into m4sx.com for up to date information on points, info, registration, media, etc.
www.m4sx.com or visit www.perrisautospeedway.com.

***BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR MORE INFO – COMING SOON***

———-

We would like to thank all of our sponsors going into the 2009 SXS Stadium Series:

Title Sponsors:
-Mickey Thompson Tires –         www.mickeythompsontires.com
-Kalgard Lubricants –             www.kalgard.com

Presenting Sponsors include:
-Skin Industries –                 www.skinindustries.com

Affiliates include:
-Discount RV Centers -            www.discountrvs.com
-Pole Position Raceway –         www.racep2r.com
-Addicted 2 Riding Apparel –         www.mayheminmotion.com
-No Fear –                     www.nofear.com
-Cognito Motorsports –             www.cognitomotorsports.com
-RB Components –                 www.rbcomponents.com
-Pro Comm Race Radios –         www.procommraceradios.com
-Twisted Stitches Seating-         www.twistedstitchinc.com
-Direct Concept Engineering –     www.directconcepteng.com
-OMF Performance –             www.omfperformance.com
-Outlaw Offroad  –                 www.outlawoffroad.com
-AMB –                         www.amb-it.com
-Smithline Industries –             www.smithlineindustries.com

Media Partners include:
-Off Road Magazine –             www.offroadweb.com
-RC Car Action –                 www.rccaraction.com
-Cycle Trader -                www.cycletrader.com
-IE Weekly -                    www.ieweekly.com
-Sand Addiction –                 www.sandaddiction.com
-SXS Action –                     www.sxsaction.com
-Rebel X Magazine –             www.rebelxmag.com
-Dirt Life –                     www.dirtlifemag.com
-Race-Dezert –                 www.race-dezert.com
-TORR –                         www.torrshow.com
-Dirt Alliance -                  www.dirtalliance.com
-Rubbertree Studios –             www.rubbertreestudios.com

BJ Baldwin fights mechanical issues for a top five finish at 2009 SCORE Laughlin Desert Challenge

The SCORE Laughlin Desert Challenge is one of the most unique off-road races of the season in that it mixes the best of long distance desert racing with spectator friendly short course viewing. The race consists of two days of racing eight laps around a rugged 6.25-mile course, including an infield with the famous “Laughlin Leap” as part of the course.  Racers start two vehicles wide, drag racing to the first jump leading out into the treacherous Nevada desert. Considered the best off-road race for spectators, it features multiple spectator viewing areas, including a stadium seating area which features the extremely popular SCORE Vision, a gigantic large-screen LCD display, showing live footage from approximately 95 percent of the race course. The 14th annual SCORE Laughlin Desert Challenge featured motorsports fans and racers from 17 states, as well as racers from Mexico and Germany all converging in Laughlin, NV, the desert resort town along the banks of the Colorado River.

On Saturday, BJ Baldwin rocketed off the start drag racing Robby Gordon to the first tabletop jump and out into the desert. The racing was heated as drivers battled for every inch of every lap. By lap five BJ had fallen back due to mechanical issues. Prior to the race, a new floorboard had been added to BJ’s #1 Trophy Truck to lengthen the brake pedal for increased leverage. The new floorboard had no holes to allow rocks to fall out. Every time a rock got behind the gas pedal the throttle would stick wide open. In order to prevent a catastrophic accident BJ had to shut the ignition off to get his truck to slow down and then re-fire it after un-jamming the throttle. The final result of the day was a 5th in trophy trucks and 5th overall for BJ Baldwin.

Sunday would prove to be even more frustrating as the two time defending Laughlin Desert Challenge champ showcased his spectacular driving, climbing from the 5th position to 1st on time when his transmission suddenly failed. Not one to give up, BJ whipped the truck into reverse (the one gear left working) and finished almost a whole lap in reverse. Upon crossing the finish line to cheering crowds, BJ set out to finish the 8th and final lap, but was unable to do so within the time limit.

“ This course is always tough. Tavo did great on Saturday. We had trouble with the throttle sticking wide open for all 8 laps on Saturday. It progressively got worse. It slowed us down a lot. Sunday was great! I felt really good. The truck and the new General Tires were working great. I was pacing myself but trying to move up steadily. I had caught up with Robby on time and put about 33 seconds on him when my transmission went. I was so bummed when I felt it go. I thought I might be able to limp it on in, or at least complete all eight laps, so I put in reverse and attempted to complete the race. My new General Tires actually work great in reverse too! Robby Gordon did great this weekend, he drove smart both days to take the win. Now I am going to focus on getting ready for Parker,” stated the confident BJ Baldwin.

Check out BJ Baldwin’s website for race results, photos and video at  http://ballisticbjbaldwin.com/

BJ Baldwin’s next race will be the BITD Parker 425 February 6th – 8th.

BJ Baldwin is sponsored by:
General Tire, Vision-X lights, and King Shocks

Management & Media by:

Mad Media
Matt Martelli
(760) 721-3600 or matt@madmedia.com

For additional news and updates check out:
http://ballisticbjbaldwin.com/

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