The “Dakar” expedition of the Volkswagen team in detail

50 days until the 2010 Dakar Rally

The “Dakar” expedition of the Volkswagen team in detail

Volkswagen Race Touareg 2

Wolfsburg (13 November 2009). Project title defence: Volkswagen will again contest the famous Dakar Rally in January. One year after the triumph of the Wolfsburg-based automobile manufacturer at the debut event in Argentina and Chile – the first in the history of the legendary desert marathon by a diesel-powered automobile – Volkswagen will compete with five Race Touareg vehicles – and with a new sporting challenge: to again bring home the trophy to Wolfsburg. But what does the 32nd edition of the Dakar Rally mean for the five driver/co-driver duos in terms of the sport? What challenges are posed to the technology? And how will the complex logistics be organised?

Answers to these and other questions are provided in several press kits addressing various topics. The press kits containing information, brief interviews and facts sheets are provided by Volkswagen for downloading as part of the media countdown for the 2010 “Dakar”.

“Dakar” 2010: extreme landscapes, new adventures

More desert, more heat, more altitude – the Dakar Rally is anything but just a competition of automobiles. For the more than 500 participants it is the biggest adventure motorsport offers. And it is guided by two principles: the next “Dakar” is always the toughest one. And: expect the unexpected. In January 2010 the desert classic will again set a number of superlative milestones. The second traversing of Argentina and Chile in “Dakar” history – from ocean to ocean, with two crossings of the Andes surrounded by 6,000-metre high peaks as well as a centrepiece in the gruelling Atacama desert – seamlessly builds on the thrilling debut in 2009. Millions of spectators made for an enthusiastic audience to witness the first victory of a diesel-powered automobile clinched by the Volkswagen Race Touareg. The setting provided a daily reward to the roughly 80 members of the Volkswagen service crew that copes with its toughest time of the year during the “Dakar”. For the 2009 “Dakar” winners the running of the rally vehicles themselves as well as a marathon across the more than 10,000-kilometre service route is on the agenda every day – at times in the most difficult climatic conditions.

The entire “Adventure” press kit is attached to this e-mail.

Note to editors about the media countdown:
Up to the start on 02 January, Volkswagen will regularly offer news from the team and background information on various topics about the Dakar Rally. In addition, reports, photographs, TV footage as well as audio files are available in the media database at www.volkswagen-motorsport.info.

Volkswagen Motorsport public website: www.volkswagen-motorsport.com

Further info on 2010 Dakar Rally: www.dakar.com

Volkswagen to field five Race Touareg vehicles at 2010 “Dakar”

57 days until the 2010 Dakar Rally

Volkswagen to field five Race Touareg vehicles at 2010 “Dakar”

Maurício Neves

Wolfsburg (06 November 2009). It is truly a five-star line-up: Volkswagen will field five Race Touareg vehicles at the 2010 Dakar Rally in Argentina and Chile. The Wolfsburg-based automobile manufacturer has signed the Brazilians Maurício Neves and Clécio Maestrelli as another driver/co-driver team alongside the previously confirmed pairings Carlos Sainz/Lucas Cruz (E/E), Giniel de Villiers/Dirk von Zitzewitz (ZA/D), Mark Miller/Ralph Pitchford (USA/ZA) as well as Nasser Al-Attiyah/Timo Gottschalk (Q/D). The “factory” duos unanimously pursue one goal: to repeat the victory achieved in the 2009 Dakar Rally by the first diesel-powered automobile in the history of the tradition-steeped desert rally at the same venue. In January 2009 de Villiers/von Zitzewitz triumphed ahead of their team-mates Miller/Pitchford and thus made history: Volkswagen won the first “Dakar” held on South American soil with the 280-hp cross-country rally prototype.

“At the 2009 Dakar Rally we showed that the Race Touareg is not only the most reliable but also the fastest cross-country rally vehicle in the world and that the Volkswagen Group’s TDI technology is superior to other diesel power concepts,” says Volkswagen Motorsport Director Kris Nissen. “We want to successfully defend our title at the upcoming ‘Dakar’. We have put together a powerful drivers’ squad. I’m happy that by signing Maurício Neves and Clécio Maestrelli we’ve been able to contract two local heroes from the South American continent.”

Maurício Neves: debut with the Race Touareg in Brazil

Maurício Neves is already intimately familiar with the Volkswagen Race Touareg. The Brazilian driver made his competition debut in the “Dakar” prototype from Wolfsburg at the Rally dos Sertões at the end of June 2009. At the “little Dakar” in Brazil, which covered a distance of 4,500 kilometres, the 40-year-old Neves finished third in class behind the commanding one-two winners Sainz/Cruz and Al-Attiyah/Gottschalk and sixth overall. Clécio Maestrelli was signed as Neves’ co-driver for the upcoming “Dakar”.

“For Clécio and me, it is a great honour being able to contest the Dakar Rally with such a perfectly organized and professional team,” says Maurício Neves. “This makes a years-long dream come true. At the ‘Sertões’ I was able to experience the team’s working style and the perfect handling of the Race Touareg, now I want to prove at the ‘Dakar’ that Volkswagen’s trust in me is justified.”

Maurício Neves is the most successful driver in Brazilian cross-country rally racing: In his native Brazil he has clinched several drivers’ titles. Clécio Maestrelli navigated Neves as his co-driver in most of these exploits.

The countdown is underway – 100 days until Volkswagen’s start to the “Dakar”

100 days until the 2010 Dakar Rally

The countdown is underway – 100 days until Volkswagen’s start to the “Dakar”
Wolfsburg (24 September 2009). An XXL-sized Dakar Rally: Exactly 100 days from now, the demanding title defence project will kick off for Volkswagen in Argentina and Chile. At the second Dakar Rally in South America from 02 to 16 January 2010 the Wolfsburg-based automobile manufacturer aims to repeat its historic exploit in the same place. At the past “Dakar”, Volkswagen had been the first manufacturer in the 30-year history of the legendary desert classic to win the automobile classification with diesel power. The logistical and technical preparation for the “Dakar” victory project is already in full swing. In terms of personnel, Volkswagen is extremely well set: With Carlos Sainz/Lucas Cruz (E/E), Giniel de Villiers/Dirk von Zitzewitz (ZA/D), Mark Miller/Ralph Pitchford (USA/ZA) and Nasser Al-Attiyah/Timo Gottschalk (Q/D) in the cockpits of the factory prepared and factory fielded Race Touareg vehicles a strong driver line-up will move across the starting ramp in Buenos Aires.

“Just barely 250 days ago, we managed a historic feat by clinching the diesel-powered victory at the 2009 Dakar Rally,” said Volkswagen Motorsport Director Kris Nissen. With the Race Touareg and TDI technology Volkswagen proved its technical expertise in the toughest of all competitions. But now we’ve got a new goal. We aim to defend the title in January 2010 and underscore that the ‘Dakar’ victory was no coincidence. The next round through South America will even be tougher for the crews and the equipment. Over the next 100 days we’ll leave no stone unturned to prepare for this task as best we can.”

Extreme altitudes, deep sand, towering dunes – in 2010 the “Dakar” will even be tougher

From Buenos Aires across the Andes, through the Atacama desert in the north of Chile – and back: In January 2009, the Dakar Rally’s move from Africa to South America already resulted in the toughest demands ever made on the participants. The 31st Dakar Rally next January, marking the second one through Argentina and Chile, will bring a further increase of these challenges: On an anti-clockwise loop, the route from the start and finish of the gruelling desert rally raid, Buenos Aires, will run via the rally stronghold Córdoba and via La Rioja to Fiambalá – already taking the teams through demanding dune fields. After the first crossing of the Andes from Fiambalá to Copiapó with altitudes exceeding the 4,700-metre mark above mean sea level, the centrepiece of the 2010 Dakar Rally will follow. A total of four special stages will be held between Copiapó, Antofagasta and Iquique in the infamous Atacama desert, which is considered the world’s most arid desert while featuring the highest dune fields with soft sand. The rest day in Antofagasta will interrupt this four-fold desert showdown on 09 January and give the teams the opportunity to perform extensive vehicle maintenance. Via sprint rally-typical sections to La Serena and in Chile’s capital Santiago the “Dakar” route then leads back to Argentina. From San Juan the final three special stages of the “Dakar” will be held through the legendary pampas via San Rafael and Santa Rosa.

Tight logistics schedule: material to be shipped at the end of November

The 2010 Dakar Rally also poses technical and logistical challenges for the Volkswagen factory team. As early as at the end of November the service trucks carrying the spare parts and tools as well as other equipment will be shipped from Le Havre, France, to Buenos Aires. The rally vehicles of the Volkswagen duos will follow in two separate cargo planes during the 51st calendar week.

Four starts, four wins: Volkswagen is still unbeaten in South America

The Rallye por las Pampas in 2005, the Rallye dos Sertões in 2008 and 2009, and the Dakar Rally in 2009: Volkswagen has competed in as many as four cross-country rallies on the South American continent with factory-fielded vehicles, and four times the squad around Motorsport Director Kris Nissen was victorious. At the beginning of 2009 the Dakar Rally marked the most important triumph in the brand’s motorsport history. The exploit clinched by Giniel de Villiers/Dirk von Zitzewitz topped previous achievements in several ways. De Villiers was the first African to enter his name in the annals of this cross-country motorsport marathon’s history and together both were the winners of the first “Dakar” staged on South American soil. Mark Miller/Ralph Pitchford completed the triumph of TDI technology a little more than eight months ago in a one-two victory. The American Mark Miller thus celebrated the best result achieved by a driver from the United States.

Each of Volkswagen’s two runs in the Rallye dos Sertões through Brazil, which is considered an ideal preparation for the “Dakar”, ended in one-two victories as well. In 2008, de Villiers/von Zitzewitz as well as Miller/Pitchford finished as the two front runners, in 2009 Carlos Sainz/Lucas Cruz and Nasser Al-Attiyah/Timo Gottschalk followed their sporting exploits. These four pairings also formed the Volkswagen line-up at the Dakar Rally in January.

Most recently, Carlos Sainz/Lucas Cruz, Mark Miller/Ralph Pitchford and Giniel de Villiers/Dirk von Zitzewitz finished their preparations for the 2010 “Dakar” in competitive conditions at the inaugural round of the Silk Way Rally through Russia, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan with a one-two-three win for Volkswagen.

In total, the Race Touareg’s track record at 27 rallies reflects 36 podium finishes of which twelve were overall wins. 106 of 202 stage wins went to Wolfsburg and on 100 days Volkswagen led rallies with its Dakar prototype.

Note to editors about the media countdown
Volkswagen will regularly offer news from the team and background information about the Dakar Rally. In addition, reports, photographs, TV footage and audio files are available in the media database at www.volkswagen-motorsport.info.

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