ACVWSA Dakar '09 thread - CONGRATS Giniel on FIRST place!

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Re: The official ACVWSA Dakar '09 thread

Post by Pine »

SOME GREAT NEWS!

Alfie Cox is STILL in the Dakar! Coen van Zyl, his spokeperson who is currently in Chili himself was on the radio half an hour ago. In a nutshell, the following:

- In the previous stage, many of the smaller teams (Cox included) and private entrants got stuck in the sand, and were not able to complete the stage within the required time
- The organisers decided to disqualify all these entrants
- As such many of the support trucks of the bigger teams, who got stuck as well, were automatically 'disqualified' as well
- The disqualified entrants approached the organisers, and requested them to reconsider their decision, as there are still higly sought-after completion trophies that will be awarded to all who finish Dakar '09
- The organisers then decided to withdraw the disqualifications, but added a 4 hour penalty to all these entrants
- As such, Alfie Cox was still allowed to race yesterday, and accomplished the following:

Finished 25th overall, after starting in 89th place
Will start in 47th overall position on the grid today

WELL DONE!! :hangloose: :hangloose: :hangloose:
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Re: The official ACVWSA Dakar '09 thread

Post by Pine »

NEWSFLASH: Dakar Rally, Leg 9, 12 January 2009
Volkswagen maintains triple lead at Dakar Rally

Wolfsburg (12 January 2009). On the ninth leg Volkswagen celebrated its seventh stage victory at the 2009 Dakar Rally, continuing to run in front overall with stage winners Carlos Sainz/Michel Périn (E/F), ahead of two further Race Touareg vehicles. On the demanding leg from La Serena to Copiapó in Chile, for a long time it looked like Mark Miller/Ralph Pitchford (USA/ZA) in the Race Touareg would be the stage winners but a tyre change just before the finish cost them about five minutes. Nevertheless, the American/South African duo managed to make up one position in the overall standings. Miller/Pitchford have taken over second place form their team colleagues Giniel de Villiers/Dirk von Zitzewitz (ZA/D), who lost 12.01 minutes on the ninth competition day.

Carlos Sainz, who had been leading the cross-country classic for three days from the second leg onwards and then briefly dropped, has been running in front in the overall classification again since last Friday. His advantage to Miller after five stage victories now amounts to almost 20 minutes. De Villiers/von Zitzewitz follow with a three-minute gap. Dieter Depping/Timo Gottschalk (D/D) in another Volkswagen lost 43 minutes in the starting phase of the leg.
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Re: The official ACVWSA Dakar '09 thread

Post by Pine »

Dakar Rally, Leg 9, 12 January 2009
Volkswagen continues with triple “Dakar” lead

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Wolfsburg (12 January 2009). Volkswagen celebrated its seventh stage victory on the ninth leg of the 2009 Dakar Rally, maintaining its overall lead with stage winners Carlos Sainz/Michel Périn (E/F), ahead of two further Race Touareg vehicles. The 537-kilometre leg from La Serena to Copiapó in Chile demanded concentrated performance of the navigators, particularly during the starting phase, and put a severe physical strain on the crews due to long off-road stretches with hard impacts and stony sections. At first, Mark Miller/Ralph Pitchford (USA/ZA) looked like the stage winners for a long time. However, the American/South African duo lost about five minutes just before the finish because of a tyre change, but improved by one position in the overall classification. Miller/Pitchford took second place from their team colleagues Giniel de Villiers/Dirk von Zitzewitz (ZA/D), who lost 12.01 minutes on the ninth competition day due to a navigation error.

Carlos Sainz, who had been leading the cross-country classic for three days from the second leg onwards, then being replaced at the top for two days, has been running in front in the overall classification again since last Friday. After five stage victories, his lead over Miller now amounts to almost 20 minutes. De Villiers/von Zitzewitz follow with a three-minute gap in third place. Dieter Depping/Timo Gottschalk (D/D) in the fourth 280-hp Race Touareg lost 1:48 hours and dropped from eighth to tenth place overall.

Kris Nissen (Volkswagen Motorsport Director)
"Today I’ve got to pay a huge compliment to our co-drivers Michel Périn and Ralph Pitchford. This leg was extremely demanding in terms of navigation. Our team did a great job across the board. Carlos Sainz further extended his advantage and we defended our one-two-three lead in the overall classification. The bottom line is that we’re very satisfied – if we continue working at the same level of consistency and concentration as before, our first ‘Dakar’ victory will be possible.”

#301 – Carlos Sainz (E), 1st place leg / 1st place overall
"This was a very tough and demanding leg which, in the beginning, particularly tested the navigation skills of my co-driver Michel Périn – he really did a fantastic job. On the driving side, lots of off-road passages, hard shocks and stones galore made life difficult for us. But we handled these challenges well. The next few days will remain rough – that’s why our main goal is to get through without any problems. Then we’ll see what results this will produce.”

#305 – Giniel de Villiers (ZA), 5th place leg / 3rd place overall
"We neither had any punctures nor any other problems – as far as the technology goes, we got through perfectly. Unfortunately, though, we completely got lost on two occasions. The first time, the wrong route we’d taken even matched the roadbook descriptions quite well; that’s why we noticed that we were lost only after five kilometres. That definitely cost us 15 minutes. But there are still some tough days ahead on which a lot can happen.”

#307 – Dieter Depping (D), 22nd place leg / 10th place overall
"At the beginning, we turned into a wrong canyon. After finding our way out again, we wanted to catch up and put the pedal to the metal. 120 kilometres before the finish we slipped off the track, hit a rock, bent two rear wishbones and had to replace both of them. That’s why we dropped to tenth place.”

#308 – Mark Miller (USA), 2nd place leg / 2nd place overall
"Particularly the beginning of this extremely difficult leg went very well for my co-driver Ralph Pitchford and me. Ralph did a perfect job of navigating, so we caught up with my team-mate Carlos Sainz after only 60 kilometres. We stayed close to his dust and expected to be following him all the way to the finish. But Carlos and Michel made a small navigation mistake – so we passed them. Unfortunately, a slow puncture and the resulting tyre change later prevented my first stage victory at the ‘Dakar’. But that’s not so important. The main thing is that in the end a ‘blue vehicle’ will be the overall front runner.”

From the Volkswagen bivouac

- Nazan Eckes takes acid test – RTL presenter follows the "Dakar” tracks: RTL TV presenter Nazan Eckes is truly subjecting herself to an acid test during the second rally week of the "Dakar”. For the "Punkt 12” show she covers special aspects of this motorsport cross-country marathon. The first programme item from "behind the scenes”: a ride in the Volkswagen Race Touareg with Dieter Depping during which Nazan Eckes was put to the test as a co-driver – albeit outside the rally programme during a test drive of the 280-hp cross-country rally prototype on rest day. The roughly nine-minute films will be aired on 15 and 16 January between 12:00 and 14:00 hrs on the "Punkt 12” show on RTL TV, followed by a 25-minute documentary entitled "Die Rallye Dakar 2009 – Ankommen ist alles” on 18 January at 23:50 hrs.

- The desert adventure – Volkswagen Race Truck #556 back in the race: Thanks to two neutralised special stages after the rest day the Race Truck of the Volkswagen team with the Belgian trio Tom de Leeuw, Dirk van Obbergen and Arnaud Libois resumed the Dakar Rally. After the fast assistance vehicle had tipped to the side on the fifth leg from Neuquén to San Rafaël in a dune field the crew was freed from its predicament after spending two lonely days and nights in the desert, repaired the MAN truck and directly drove across the Andes to Valparaíso in Chile. There, the stewards, in addition to granting the squad a starting permission for leg eight to La Serena, imposed a hefty time penalty of 200 hours. Nevertheless, the Volkswagen team sighed with relief: The Race Trucks, two of which continue to run in the race, are ready to render valuable assistance on the marathon leg from Copiapó via Fiambalá to La Rioja. According to the rules, night-time servicing of the four Race Touareg vehicles in Fiambalá may only be performed by registered participants.

- A bit of 007 flair – Race Touareg enters James Bond territory: On the tenth leg of the Dakar Rally the crews of the four Race Touareg cars will be exploring genuine James Bond territory. On the loop around Copiapó – considered the pinnacle of all the Dakar Rally’s legs – they will be crossing the extremely dry Atacama desert. The world-famous observatory on the "Cerro Paranal” mountain in Chile and the surrounding area, which is only about 200 kilometres away from the leg, was the location where the latest 007 film "Quantum of Solace” was shot in 2008.

Standings after leg 09, La Serena (RCH) – Copiapó (RCH); 430/537 km stage 9/total

Pos.; Team; Vehicle; Leg 9; Overall time
1. Carlos Sainz/Michel Périn (E/F); Volkswagen Race Touareg 2; 5h56m08s (1st); 33h26m07s
2. Mark Miller/Ralph Pitchford (USA/ZA); Volkswagen Race Touareg 2; 5h57m55s (2nd) + 19m52s
3. Giniel de Villiers/Dirk von Zitzewitz (ZA/D); Volkswagen Race Touareg 2; 6h08m09s (5th) + 22m58s
4. Nani Roma/Lucas Cruz Senra (E/E); Mitsubishi Racing Lancer; 6h20m49s (7th) + 58m12s
5. Robby Gordon/Andy Grider (USA/USA); Hummer; 5h58m24s (3rd) + 1h34m17s
6. Krzysztof Holowczyc/Jean-Marc Fortin (PL/B); Nissan Navara; 6h22m56s (8th) + 3h23m53s
7. Ivar Tollefsen/Quin Evans (N/GB); Nissan Navara; 6h35m55s (9th) + 4h05m19s
8. Orlando Terranova/Alain Guehennec (RA/F); BMW X3; 6h06m14s (4th) + 6h04m47s
9. René Kuipers/Filipe Palmeiro (NL/P); BMW X3; 6h59m48s (12th) + 6h37m23s
10. Dieter Depping/Timo Gottschalk (D/D); Volkswagen Race Touareg 2; 7h44m22s (22nd) + 6h39m59s
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Re: The official ACVWSA Dakar '09 thread

Post by Pine »

Coming up today:
Tuesday, 13 January: Copiapó (RCH) – Copiapó (RCH). The special stage of the tenth leg is the longest one of the 2009 Dakar Rally. In view of long dune stretches across several hundred kilometres in the Atacama desert, it is also considered the toughest one. Extreme heat is another technical challenge making the timed kilometres around Copiapó a real acid test.

There are 686.21 km on the menu for the 10th stage, with 670.16 timed kilometers, making it the longest special stage of the rally and also the most difficult. In fact, for this loop through the heart of the Atacama Desert, the program for the competitors can be described as follows: dunes, sand and off-roading… though there will be some sections of fast tracks in between by way of relief! The most experienced competitors may take advantage and let their skills on the dunes do the talking, hoping all the while that the Chilean sand possesses the same properties as in Mauritania. In the car race, South African Giniel De Villiers could take advantage to make up ground on his Volkswagen team-mates, even if Spaniard Carlos Sainz can count on the navigational talents of his co-pilot Michel Perin. In the bike race, the leader, Spaniard Marc Coma (KTM), would be wise to avoid risk-taking and let his rivals do the hard work, leaving Despres and Frétigné to open the way. These two riders have no other choice but to attack, or even try something out of the ordinary, on THE special stage which could allow them to make up a lot of time on the leader.

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Re: The official ACVWSA Dakar '09 thread

Post by Pine »

Update (no news of Giniel at the moment :| _
Stage victory for Carlos Sainz!...

The first 3 cars have now arrived at the end of the day’s special stage and it is Spain’s Carlos Sainz (VW) who wins the stage 21" ahead of the Hummer of US driver Robby Gordon, and 7’39 ahead of his US team mate Mark Miller (VW). The already solidly anchored leader in the general standings wins here his 6th stage victory of this year’s rally and its 15th stage victory in the history of the Dakar!
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Re: The official ACVWSA Dakar '09 thread

Post by Pine »

Dakar Rally, Leg 10, 13 January 2009

Volkswagen continues running in front at “Dakar” with three cars

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Wolfsburg (13 January 2009). Volkswagen has kept the upper hand with three cars leading the event, even on the extremely demanding tenth leg of the 2009 Dakar Rally: Carlos Sainz/Michel Périn (E/F) in the Race Touareg extended their advantage in the overall classification by another 7.39 minutes, to 27.31 minutes. On the loop around Copiapó in Chile, which contained a lot of camel grass and high dune fields with soft sand as well as stony and rough sections, the duo clinched its sixth stage victory with a narrow lead. After 470 kilometres through the Atacama desert merely 21 seconds separated the Volkswagen team from Robby Gordon/Andy Grider (USA/USA) in the Hummer. For Sainz, who is just contesting his third "Dakar”, this marked as much as the 15th stage victory in the off-road classic.

Mark Miller/Ralph Pitchford (USA/ZA) solidified their second place overall in the rally by setting the third-best time of the day despite a puncture. They reached the finish 7.39 minutes behind Sainz. Their team colleagues Giniel de Villiers/Dirk von Zitzewitz (ZA/D) drove the sixth-best time with an 18.15-minute gap on the loop that was shortened by about 200 kilometres versus the original planning due to the delayed start in the morning on account of fog. 20 kilometres before the finish they had gotten stuck in deep sand in a blind area near the top of a dune. In the overall classification, the South African-German pairing remains in third place, now ranking 41.13 minutes behind the front runners.

For the first time, Volkswagen’s outright advantage over their best rival has increased to over one hour: ranking fourth overall, Nani Roma/Lucas Cruz (E/E) as the only remaining Mitsubishi team are trailing Carlos Sainz by as much as 1:13 hour. Dieter Depping/Timo Gottschalk in a further Volkswagen Touareg experienced a strange accident that set them back quite a bit. Behind the top of a dune, at the bottom of the next valley, they noticed their stranded compatriot Matthias Kahle but were not able to slow down their Race Touareg while running downhill in the sand and slid into the rear of the German’s Buggy. After digging themselves out of the sand and losing time in the process, both teams were able to continue the rally.

Kris Nissen (Volkswagen Motorsport Director)
"The tenth day of the Dakar Rally has been the toughest one so far and we’re satisfied to have had all four Race Touareg vehicles reach the finish. Carlos Sainz and Michel Périn really did a good job today. They perfectly mastered the difficult dune section at the end and did a good job of navigating. Today, we took another step towards achieving our goal of winning the ‘Dakar’. Still, despite the fact that we’ve defended our one-two-three lead nobody should be deluded into thinking that we’re on the safe side now. The next days will again be extremely rough – and at the risk of repeating myself: it’s true that we’ve achieved a lot but we haven’t won anything yet.”

#301 – Carlos Sainz (E), 1st place leg / 1st place overall
"Lots of off-roading, high camel grass, soft sand, stones galore – this special stage really pushed us to the limits. Particularly on the last section, the organiser had some tough tasks in store for us. So, today I’m really bushed. Of course it’s great to have won another stage and to have increased our overall lead that way. But today, reaching the finish without any major problems was really the main thing.”

#305 – Giniel de Villiers (ZA), 6th place leg / 3rd place overall
"You could write a whole book just about this leg. The route was exceptionally demanding and despite a puncture the special stage went extremely well for us – until we drove into a hole at the top of a dune about 20 kilometres before the finish and ended up with all four wheels in the air. We had to dig to get out of there again. That Mark Miller wasn’t able to pull us out wasn’t his fault – that place was simply too soft. He did the right thing by moving on. But, unfortunately, this cost us 20 minutes. But we’re continuing to rank third overall. That’s good for us and, particularly, for Volkswagen.”

#307 – Dieter Depping (D), 18th place leg / 9th place overall
"When we were crossing the crest of that dune, nobody warned us. After we’d crossed it we were only able to see the car of Matthias Kahle, who was stuck at the bottom of the dune, when it was too late. I wasn’t able to do anything any more and slowly slid into his car. From the top of this really steep dune we simply couldn’t see the car. That was very unfortunate – and it’s also a strange coincidence that two German teams would meet this way in this vast desert.”

#308 – Mark Miller (USA), 3rd place leg / 2nd place overall
"That was by far the most difficult special stage of the Dakar Rally up to now. Right at the beginning we got lost several times. While we were still looking for the right way one of our tyres went flat. I’m not criticising my co-driver Ralph Pitchford – as always, he did a good job. It’s just that today was incredibly difficult because the roadbook wasn’t very precise. At the end, we unfortunately had to leave Giniel de Villiers and Dirk von Zitzewitz, who had gotten stuck, behind because otherwise we’d have gotten stuck ourselves. I apologise for that but there was simply no chance to pull them out of this soft sand.”

Three questions for Andreas Lautner, Technical Director

Even before the "Dakar”, today’s special stage around Copiapó was considered the pinnacle of all the legs. What made it so special from a technical point of view?
"Today’s leg led through huge dune fields with special characteristics. For one, the dune crests here are very sharp-edged and unpredictable, and for the other, the sand in the Atacama desert is particularly soft. I think that our choice of tyre – the BFGoodrich All Terrain – was a good one for this. In addition, power, in other words torque, is a crucial factor – and our TDI engine has plenty of that.”

Looking back at the first ten legs, what special aspects of the "Dakar” premiere in South America have been particularly attractive in terms of technology?
"Particularly in Argentina, but in Chile as well, the terrain kept changing several times every day on the various legs. This meant we had to find a good compromise for the set-up of the vehicles. But we prepared for this very well during our tests in Morocco where we had a good prerequisites for simulating the conditions here in South America – soft sand and dune passages or hard gravel stretches.”

The Race Touareg has proved to be a reliable as well as fast vehicle at this "Dakar”. What was the top technological priority of the development project?
"The best idea was to reduce the evolution of the Race Touareg to detailed work and to increase our focus on the newly established quality assurance, and to feed the findings from that area into the preparation of the vehicles. We only use components that have been tested a hundred per cent in the ‘Dakar’. This has given us the – hopefully – crucial advantage in this extremely tough test of material.”

Standings after leg 10, Copiapó (RCH) – Copiapó (RCH); 470/490 km stage 10/total

Pos.; Team; Vehicle; Leg 10; Overall time
1. Carlos Sainz/Michel Périn (E/F); Volkswagen Race Touareg 2; 5h32m55s (1st); 38h59m02s
2. Mark Miller/Ralph Pitchford (USA/ZA); Volkswagen Race Touareg 2; 5h40m34s (3rd) + 27m31s
3. Giniel de Villiers/Dirk von Zitzewitz (ZA/D); Volkswagen Race Touareg 2; 5h51m10s (6th) + 41m13s
4. Nani Roma/Lucas Cruz Senra (E/E); Mitsubishi Racing Lancer; 5h47m56s (5th) + 1h13m13s
5. Robby Gordon/Andy Grider (USA/USA); Hummer; 5h33m16s (2nd) + 1h34m38s
6. Ivar Tollefsen/Quin Evans (N/GB); Nissan Navara; 6h41m54s (8th) + 5h14m18s
7. Krzysztof Holowczyc/Jean-Marc Fortin (PL/B); Nissan Navara; 8h00m58s (25th) + 5h51m56s
8. René Kuipers/Filipe Palmeiro (NL/P); BMW X3; 6h57m23s (13th) + 8h01m51s
9. Dieter Depping/Timo Gottschalk (D/D); Volkswagen Race Touareg 2; 7h25m30s (18th) + 8h32m34s
10. Laszlo Palik/Gabor Darazsi (H/H); Nissan Navara; 7h19m26s (17th) + 9h50m29s
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Re: The official ACVWSA Dakar '09 thread

Post by Pine »

STAGE 11: COPIAPO - FIAMBALA

The day’s special stage has been cancelled. As the weather forcast announces heavy fog on the whole route of the stage and as the timing of the stage cannot be altered due to the crossing of the Andes and the crossing of the border between Chile and Argentina, the organizers have decided to cancel the portion of stage 11 between Copiapo and Fiambala that should have been against the clock. The participants will be getting to the Fiambala bivouac in liaison starting at 8:00 AM.

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Re: The official ACVWSA Dakar '09 thread

Post by Pine »

Dakar Rally, Leg 11, 14 January 2009
Volkswagen goes to Dakar Rally’s final spurt with leading trio

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Wolfsburg (14 January 2009). Impressive spectator enthusiasm and fascinating landscapes that offer extremely tough sporting challenges: Volkswagen goes to the final spurt of the Dakar Rally featuring the event’s last three legs. On the eleventh day of the rally the four Race Touareg vehicles with Carlos Sainz/Michel Périn (E/F), Giniel de Villiers/Dirk von Zitzewitz (ZA/D), Mark Miller/Ralph Pitchford (USA/ZA) and Dieter Depping/Timo Gottschalk (D/D) completed a liaison stage from Copiapó via the Chilenian-Argentine border to Fiambalá and back to Argentina. The eleventh special stage was cancelled due to the late ending of the tenth leg the day before as well as an inclement weather forecast, and changed to a so-called liaison stage.

Continuing as the front runners in the overall standings are Carlos Sainz/Michel Périn in the Race Touareg marked as competition vehicle number 301. The Spanish-French duo has so far taken the Race Touareg powered by a 280-hp TDI diesel engine to six victories on ten legs. The tally of two-time world rally champion Sainz and three-time "Dakar” winner Périn reflects eight days on which the pairing led the event.

"Volkswagen can look at an interim result of the Dakar Rally that is positive across the board,” says Volkswagen Motorsport Director Kris Nissen. "Eight out of ten stage victories show that the Race Touareg is the fastest car in the field. Furthermore, the fact that all four vehicles entered in the event are reaching Fiambalá, thus returning to Argentine soil, shows that we’ve got an extremely reliable car. Now, three more legs are on the agenda. The way the ‘Dakar’ has gone so far has taught us not to underestimate them. Particularly the twelfth leg on Thursday to La Rioja and the huge white dunes pose a tough challenge that puts man and material to yet another extremely severe test.”

A winner already: South American "Dakar” debut thrills the masses

Straight from the start, the Dakar Rally proved to be a crowd puller at its South American debut. More than 500,000 enthusiastic spectators witnessed the starting ceremony in Buenos Aires, over 80.000 of them flocked to the "Dakar Village” for the autograph sessions of the teams, and countless fans have been lining the route through Argentina and Chile on each of the rally days that have taken place so far.

The three-some of Volkswagen, X-raid-BMW and Mitsubishi treated them to a nail-biting fight for the lead, the thrill of which was fuelled by the extreme demands made on man and material. "I expected to see a lot of enthusiasm but this surpassed my wildest expectations. The huge turnout of fans – it’s incredible,” says Carlos Sainz, who – not least owing to his three world championship wins in Argentina – is being celebrated as a hero in all quarters.

In addition to Carlos Sainz/Michel Périn, Giniel de Villiers/Dirk von Zitzewitz have – on two occasions so far - entered their names on the list of stage winners. Before the final trilogy of the Dakar Rally the South African-German duo is ranking third in the overall classification. Mark Miller and Ralph Pitchford in a further Race Touareg solidified their position as the overall runner-up, 27.31 minutes behind Sainz/Périn. A strong impression as well has been left by the fourth pairing in the cross-country rally prototype from Wolfsburg sporting Red Bull blue: Dieter Depping/Timo Gottschalk delivered convincing performances of top times too, but were extremely unfortunate on a number of occasions and are now ranking ninth overall, as the best German duo.

Race Touareg proves itself on roughest terrain

Quick gravel stretches, soft sand and huge dune fields, high camel grass and trial-like sections: On the way to Fiambalá, the Volkswagen Race Touareg has so far reliably mastered extremely demanding landscapes. At the Dakar Rally all kinds of different terrain are encountered each day, requiring the technicians to achieve the perfect compromise in terms of vehicle set-up and the drivers to swiftly adapt to the changing terrain.

"The frequent changes pose a real challenge to us, the drivers, as well as to the co-drivers. We were not accustomed to them from the previous ‘Dakar’ in this form,” says Giniel de Villiers, and Mark Miller adds, "The landscape is breathtaking, absolutely fantastic. During the first crossing of the Andes we briefly stopped on the liaison leg to enjoy this stunning view.”

And the remaining stages will continue to feature variety galore. Myriad forms of dunes including the ominous white dunes on Thursday on the way to La Rioja, followed by huge cactus landscapes on Friday and Saturday, and – through the legendary pampas – back to Buenos Aires where the participants will cross the finish ramp on Sunday (the 18th).


From the Volkswagen bivouac

- Heroes of the marathon leg – Race Truck crew as mechanics: Mission "marathon leg” – at the finish of the eleventh "Dakar” day, in Fiambalá, the crews of the two Volkswagen team’s two Race Trucks would normally play an especially important part. As registered participants, they, in addition to the drivers and co-drivers of the Race Touareg vehicles themselves, are authorised to service the cross-country rally prototypes. On the evening of the marathon day, merely the change of the air filter and the four wheels was planned, as well as an in-depth inspection of the 280-hp diesel-powered vehicles. After the liaison stage in the direction of Fiambalá, the mechanics of the Race Trucks, Arnaud Libois, Dirk van Obbergen, Thorsten Goldberg, Jürgen Damen as well as the two Race Truck drivers, Tom de Leeuw and François Verbist, are now in for a less strenuous night – a welcome relief after the strains of the special stages completed so far.

- Refreshment as a reward for success – ice cream for the mechanics in case of stage victory: As many as eight times Volkswagen Motorsport Director Kris Nissen has treated the Volkswagen mechanics to ice cream at the Dakar Rally – as a special reward for stage wins. On the tenth leg of the off-road classic Nissen would have had to deliver on his promise in any event: He had promised Hummer driver Robby Gordon and his mechanics the same "prize” in case of their stage victory. At the finish, Race Touareg driver Carlos Sainz and Gordon were separated by merely 21 seconds.

- 900 litres of water per day – the supply of the Volkswagen bivouac: High heat in the bivouacs, strenuous physical work for drivers, co-drivers and technical crews: The Volkswagen squad consumes about 250 litres of drinking water per day at the Dakar Rally. In addition, there are the 250 litres used by the team’s own kitchen and the 400 litres which the four Race Touareg crews and the 80 team members split between themselves for daily personal hygiene. The only exception: On rest day the four diesel prototypes were each treated to 400 litres of water for extensive washing.


Standings after leg 10, Copiapó (RCH) – Copiapó (RCH); 470/490 km stage 10/total

Pos.; Team; Vehicle; Leg 10; Overall time
1. Carlos Sainz/Michel Périn (E/F); Volkswagen Race Touareg 2; 5h32m55s (1st); 38h59m02s
2. Mark Miller/Ralph Pitchford (USA/ZA); Volkswagen Race Touareg 2; 5h40m34s (3rd) + 27m31s
3. Giniel de Villiers/Dirk von Zitzewitz (ZA/D); Volkswagen Race Touareg 2; 5h51m10s (6th) + 41m13s
4. Nani Roma/Lucas Cruz Senra (E/E); Mitsubishi Racing Lancer; 5h47m56s (5th) + 1h13m13s
5. Robby Gordon/Andy Grider (USA/USA); Hummer; 5h33m16s (2nd) + 1h34m38s
6. Ivar Tollefsen/Quin Evans (N/GB); Nissan Navara; 6h41m54s (8th) + 5h14m18s
7. Krzysztof Holowczyc/Jean-Marc Fortin (PL/B); Nissan Navara; 8h00m58s (25th) + 5h51m56s
8. René Kuipers/Filipe Palmeiro (NL/P); BMW X3; 6h57m23s (13th) + 8h01m51s
9. Dieter Depping/Timo Gottschalk (D/D); Volkswagen Race Touareg 2; 7h25m30s (18th) + 8h32m34s
10. Laszlo Palik/Gabor Darazsi (H/H); Nissan Navara; 7h19m26s (17th) + 9h50m29s
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Re: The official ACVWSA Dakar '09 thread

Post by Pine »

Today's Stage:
Thursday, 15 January: Fiambalá (RA) – La Rioja (RA). The twelfth leg features many branch-offs, and thus puts exacting demands on the drivers and co-drivers. Three days before the much-longed-for arrival at the finish the drive across various types of dunes, including the ominous white dunes, is on the agenda. In total, the leg will cover 518 kilometres, 253 of which are timed.

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Re: The official ACVWSA Dakar '09 thread

Post by Pine »

BREAKING NEWS!

Things are looking good for our SA boytjie :hangloose: ... sorry Sainz :?

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Volkswagen leads with Giniel de Villiers in front of Mark Miller

Wolfsburg (15 January 2009). Volkswagen has maintained a one-two lead on what proved to be the Dakar Rally’s most turbulent day so far. On the twelfth of 14 legs Giniel de Villiers/Dirk von Zitzewitz (ZA/D) in the Race Touareg took the lead in front of their team-mates Mark Miller/Ralph Pitchford (USA/ZA). Carlos Sainz/Michel Périn (E/F), who had been leading the rally ever since the seventh leg, retired after an accident.

The 223-kilometre special stage from Fiambala to La Rioja saw not just one but two changes in the lead in the desert classic. Sainz/Périn had an accident after 79 kilometres, and Périn was flown out for further medical checks due to a suspected shoulder injury. On the special stage and in the virtual interim classification Miller/Pitchford were running in front over long distances and maintained their lead almost up to the final dune belt of the stage. But then de Villiers/von Zitzewitz converted a 2m18s gap into a 16m17s advantage. They thus took over first place overall as well and, before the last two legs, are running 2m35s in front of Miller/Pitchford, who are also driving a Race Touareg powered by 280 hp.

After the Spaniards Nani Roma/Lucas Cruz in the field of those chasing the front runners, as the only remaining Mitsubishi duo, encountered technical problems, Robby Gordon/Andy Grider (USA/USA) in the Hummer are now in third place overall. However, they are lacking as much as 1h18m to the leading Volkswagen.

Kris Nissen (Volkswagen Motorsport Director)
"The most important news is that the accident of Carlos Sainz and Michel Périn did not result in any serious personal injuries but we still have to wait for the results of the in-depth medical checks. Apparently, Michel sustained a shoulder injury. I talked with both of them on the phone. They are both disappointed that the Dakar Rally is over for them; at the same time, they’re relieved that the incident did not result in serious consequences. We knew that to win we’d first have to overcome the ’Dakar’ itself. Our most promising team is now no longer in the race, but with Mark Miller/Ralph Pitchford and Giniel de Villiers/Dirk von Zitzewitz we’ve still got two irons in the fire to win the Dakar Rally with the Race Touareg.”

#301 – Carlos Sainz (E), retirement
"Suddenly, a four-metre deep hole appeared in front of us. We fell into it and landed on our roof. A BMW and Nani Roma were able to get around us at the last moment. The BMW team stopped and helped us to put the car back on its wheels. In the meantime an ASO doctor had arrived who briefly checked Michel Périn and barred him from continuing the drive on account of a shoulder injury. The Race Touareg was by and large okay, the engine was running. Of course we were lucky in this situation as well. I’m very disappointed and I’m very sorry for the team that we’re out, but I’m hoping that our team will win in the end anyhow.”

More to follow later...
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Re: The official ACVWSA Dakar '09 thread

Post by Chris »

Sorry for the way he is in front,but that's racing.

GOOOOOO Giniel!!
Damn,I'm good!
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Re: The official ACVWSA Dakar '09 thread

Post by Pine »

Volkswagen leads “Dakar” with Giniel de Villiers in front of Mark Miller


Wolfsburg (15 January 2009). Volkswagen maintained a one-two lead on what proved to be the Dakar Rally’s most turbulent day so far. On the twelfth of 14 legs Giniel de Villiers/Dirk von Zitzewitz (ZA/D) in the Race Touareg took the lead in front of their team-mates Mark Miller/Ralph Pitchford (USA/ZA). Carlos Sainz/Michel Périn (E/F), who had been leading the rally ever since the seventh leg, retired after an accident. Dieter Depping/Timo Gottschalk (D/D) reached the stage finish in La Rioja in fourth place and thus improved to sixth position in the overall standings.

The 223-kilometre special stage from Fiambala to La Rioja saw not just one but two changes in the lead in the desert classic. Sainz/Périn had an accident after 79 kilometres and the duo was fored to retire due to Michel Périn having suffered a broken shoulder blade. On the special stage and in the virtual interim classification Miller/Pitchford were running in front over long distances and maintained their lead almost up to the final dune belt of the stage. But then de Villiers/von Zitzewitz converted the 2m18s gap into a stage lead of 16m17s, thanks to good navigating. They thus took over first place overall as well and, before the last two legs, are running 2m35s in front of Miller/Pitchford, who are also driving a Race Touareg powered by 280 hp.

After the Spaniards Nani Roma/Lucas Cruz in the field of those chasing the front runners, as the only remaining Mitsubishi duo, encountered technical problems, Robby Gordon/Andy Grider (USA/USA) in the Hummer are now in third place overall. However, they are lacking as much as 1h18m to the leading Volkswagen.

Kris Nissen (Volkswagen Motorsport Director)
"The most important news is that the accident of Carlos Sainz and Michel Périn did not result in any severe personal injuries. Both of them are very disappointed that the ‘Dakar’ is over for them, but at the same time they’re relieved that with a shoulder injury for Michel the incident did not result in really serious consequences. We wish Michel a speedy recovery. But – we knew that to win, we’d first have to overcome the ‘Dakar’ itself. With Giniel de Villiers/Dirk von Zitzewitz and Mark Miller/Ralph Pitchford we’ve still got two irons in the fire to win the Dakar Rally with the Race Touareg and TDI power.”

#301 – Carlos Sainz (E), retired
"Suddenly, a four-metre deep hole appeared in front of us. We fell into it and landed on our roof. A BMW and Nani Roma were able to get around us at the last moment. The BMW team stopped and helped us to put the car back on its wheels. In the meantime an ASO doctor had arrived who briefly checked Michel Périn and barred him from continuing the drive on account of a shoulder injury. The Race Touareg was by and large okay, the engine was running. Of course we were lucky in this situation as well. I’m very disappointed and I’m very sorry for the team that we’re out, but I’m hoping that our team will win in the end anyhow.”

#301 – Michel Périn (F), co-driver
"About 30 kilometres before our accident we’d lost our way but soon found the right route again. We were heading towards the next waypoint, I counted down the distance – as always – and just as I was saying ‘20 metres’ we dropped into this whole. Even the days before, the roadbook had not been particularly accurate and today we paid the price for it. I broke a shoulder blade in the accident and that ended the rally for me and Carlos. I’m very sorry for the team. But I’m hoping that in the end a ‘blue’ vehicle will finish in front.”

#305 – Giniel de Villiers (ZA), 1st place leg / 1st place overall
"It was an incredibly rough day for us. Although the special stage today was short, it was extremely slow. The organiser selected routes with large stones, deep and super-soft sand. In addition, there were some places left out in the roadbook, which of course made the navigation extremely difficult. But about five kilometres before the finish my co-driver Dirk von Zitzewitz made up a lot of time for us when he found the quickest way while others were still looking for it.”

#307 – Dieter Depping (D), 4th place leg / 6th place overall
"I think today wasn’t just 100 per cent ‘Dakar’, it was more like 120 per cent ‘Dakar’. The dunes were incredibly hard to handle, lots of vegetation that made life difficult for us, and we had to cross riverbeds several times. My co-driver Timo Gottschalk had his work cut out for him. Many branch-offs were hard to see and the roadbook led us astray several times today as well. So, today had everything a rally day could offer.”

#308 – Mark Miller (USA), 2nd place leg / 2nd place overall
"Today is one of those days where there’s a lot to talk about. The special stage has definitely been the most difficult one of this ‘Dakar’ so far. Particularly in the sand we had to work hard, we got stuck several times and had to dig ourselves out. On several occasions we let some air out of the tyres and filled them up again after the difficult passages. Once we got stuck, and when I left the car I only then realized we’d lost the rear part of the body – I haven’t noticed beforehand that we’d lost it at all. We were leading for a long time, but lost time again at the end. The overall gap between me and my team colleague Giniel de Villiers is small now – but the main thing is that a Volkswagen will be in front in the end.”

From the Volkswagen bivouac

- Historic mark achieved – Race Touareg with 30th stage victory: Almost unnoticed amidst dramatic sporting events on the twelfth leg, Volkswagen achieved a historic best mark. With the win clinched by Giniel de Villiers/Dirk von Zitzewitz (ZA/D) today, the Race Touareg celebrated its 30th "Dakar” stage victory in five "Dakar” competitions since its 2004 debut. The South African-German duo now clinched the ninth stage win for the Volkswagen Race Touareg at the current edition of the desert classic. In total, Volkswagen – the winner of the 1980 Dakar Rally – has decided as many as 37 stages of the cross-country competition in its favour. On Thursday, exactly one week ago, Volkswagen again took the lead in the overall standings and has maintained it ever since. On ten of twelve competition days at least one Race Touareg was running in front.

- Expect the unexpected – heavy rain before twelfth "Dakar” leg: It is known as Argentina’s hottest region but just before the twelfth leg of the Dakar Rally the section between Fiambalá and La Rioja presented itself in a different way. The morning was dominated by perennial rain before La Rioja had sunshine again, with hot temperatures of 37 degrees. But just the evening before temperatures at the bivouac in Fiambalá had been up to 48 degrees.

- Almost 30 years with Volkswagen: Service Truck driver Axel Schröder: A real character in the racing community and the heart and soul of the Volkswagen team: Service Truck driver Axel Schröder will celebrate his 30th anniversary with the Volkswagen brand on 26 April. From the assembly line in passenger car production he moved via the research and development department into motorsport. There, Schröder has so far accompanied all "Dakar” editions with the Race Touareg since 2004.


Standings after leg 12, Fiambalá (RA) – La Rioja (RA); 223/488 km stage 12/total

Pos.; Team; Vehicle; Leg 12; Overall time
1. Giniel de Villiers/Dirk von Zitzewitz (ZA/D); Volkswagen Race Touareg 2; 4h06m43s (1st); 43h46m58s
2. Mark Miller/Ralph Pitchford (USA/ZA); Volkswagen Race Touareg 2; 4h23m00s (2nd) + 2m35s
3. Robby Gordon/Andy Grider (USA/USA); Hummer; 4h32m10s (3rd) + 1h18m52s
4. Ivar Tollefsen/Quin Evans (N/GB); Nissan Navara; 5h21m59s (6th) + 5h48m21s
5. Krzysztof Holowczyc/Jean-Marc Fortin (PL/B); Nissan Navara; 5h40m42s(7th) + 6h44m42s
6. Dieter Depping/Timo Gottschalk (D/D); Volkswagen Race Touareg 2; 4h48m45s(4th) + 8h33m23s
7. Miroslav Zapletal/Tomas Ourednicek (CZ/CZ); Mitsubishi L200; 5h44m06s (8th) + 10h49m36s
8. Leonid Novitskiy/Oleg Tyupenkin (RUS/RUS); BMW X3; 5h02m08s (5th) + 13h19m06s
9. Guerlain Chicherit/Matthieu Baumel (F/F); BMW X3; 6h11m52s (10th) + 14h56m00s
10. Patrick Sireyjol/Paul Vidal (F/F); Bowler Wildcat; 7h48m40s (19th) + 17h55m42s
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Re: The official ACVWSA Dakar '09 thread

Post by Pine »

Short clip of the Sainz Touareg shortly after overturning, glad they made it out alive

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Re: The official ACVWSA Dakar '09 thread

Post by Pine »

Coming up:
La Rioja > Cordoba

After having swallowed thousands of kilometers, participants will face a first-class physical challenge in this next-to-the-last stage. State-of-the-art pilots must maintain their position, while amateurs must avoid an excess of confidence. Errors can leave bitter memories, since this will be the day of cacti. At the bivouac, doctors will no doubt be called on to wield the tweezers. Finally, for the experts of traditional rallies, certain routes are part of the patrimony of the World Cup that takes place every year in Cordoba. Here, aficionados will guarantee a large popular fiesta.

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Re: The official ACVWSA Dakar '09 thread

Post by JohnHoffe »

Lets hope that Giniel keeps his cool and the Taureg doesn't go up in flames like 2 years ago!!!

Pine,
Thanks for the daily update, it is highly appreciated!
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