[Racer Duck]

Through a sea of sand: Volkswagen well equipped for "Dakar"


Through a sea of sand, longer and harder -- the route to celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of the Dakar Rally demands a good portion of respect from the participants just days before the start. Volkswagen faces this 16-day long challenge with four factory entered Race Touareg 2 prototypes driven by Carlos Sainz/Michel Perin (Spain/France), Giniel de Villiers/Dirk von Zitzewitz (South Africa/Germany), Mark Miller/Ralph Pitchford (USA/South Africa) and Germans Dieter Depping/Timo Gottschalk (Wedemark/Berlin). Fifteen stages covering a total of 9,273 kilometres lie before the 570 competitors in the car, motorbike and truck categories who tackle the 30th running of the desert classic starting on 5 January in Lisbon and who aim to reach the finish on in the Senegalese capital Dakar on 20 January.


After Volkswagen won the 2007 FIA Cross Country Rally World Cup with Carlos Sainz and Michel Perin at the beginning of November and led the entire field for eight days during the Dakar Rally a year ago the Wolfsburg based automobile manufacturer once again numbers among the small group of favourites to take victory in the world's hardest and longest rally. "Our goal is and remains to claim the first 'Dakar' win for diesel power with the Volkswagen Race Touareg," says Volkswagen Motorsport Director Kris Nissen.

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