Volkswagen have continued their stranglehold on the Dakar Rally with a third successive victory.
Volkswagen have been unstoppable in the last three runnings of the event with their Race Touareg 3 - and Qatari driver Nassar Al-Attiyah and his German co-driver Timo Gottschalk - leading a VW 1-2-3 in their TDI-engined machine to clinch the 2011 spoils.
It is the second year in succession that the German manufacturer has enjoyed a podium 1-2-3 in the desert classic, which ran from Buenos Aries in Argentina to Arica in Peru and back again. Along the way the drivers and their machines had to contend with gravel roads, the soft sand of the unrelenting Atacama Desert, labyrinthine canyons and riverbeds, and water crossings along the gruelling course of almost 6000 miles.
"My first Dakar win and I'm absolutely delighted to be the first Arab to win the world's toughest desert rally," said an ecstatic Al-Attiyah, "These feelings are incredibly difficult to express in words. I reached my greatest goal thanks to the world's best cross country rally car and the best team in this sport."
Following Al-Attiyah and Gottschalk were Giniel de Villiers and co-driver Dirk von Zitzewitz in another VW Race Touareg 3. South African de Villiers won the 2009 event for Volkswagen, the first event to be held on the South American continent following safety and security concerns surrounding its original African setting.
Completing the Volkswagen lock-out of the podium were Spanish duo Carlos Sainz and his co-driver Lucas Cruz. Sainz led the similar VW 1-2-3 in the 2010 event. Along his way to a podium place this year, the Spaniard claimed his 24th stage victory, a new class record beating Stephane Peterhansel’s previous best of 23.
A Volkswagen Race Touareg 3 was ahead of the pack from start to finish in this years event, and also claimed victory in 12 out of 13 stages during the rally. The car remains the only one to have won the Dakar Rally using diesel power. The 310bhp TDI-powered Race Touareg 3 has proved exceptionally reliable in the event, and once again all four vehicles entered made it to the finish, with the Mark Miller and Ralph Pitchford crewed car coming in sixth-place.
Volkswagen Motorsport Director Kris Nissen said, "This is the result of years of hard work. Congratulations to Nasser and Timo who have worked outstandingly and obviously also to the other Volkswagen pairs who made this one-two-three finish possible. The third successive Dakar victory for Volkswagen is a historic performance which was achieved thanks to perfect teamwork, exceptional driving and navigational skills and more specifically thanks to superior technology. I'm incredibly proud of the entire team; the employees who made this win possible and also the team with its superhuman efforts here on location."
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