Volkswagen prepared for start of Dakar 2010

Shortly after the festive period, attention will turn to the South American continent once again, where Volkswagen Motorsport hopes to continue the successes seen during this year when Volkswagen claimed the first diesel-powered victory in the first Dakar Rally to be held outside Africa.

On 2 January, Volkswagen will line up on the start of one of the most demanding events on the motorsport calendar with five factory prepared Race Touaregs.  Each of these rally prototypes, driven by some of the most successful names in the world of cross-country rallying, will aim to complete the gruelling 9,000 kilometre course with only one goal – to defend the coveted Dakar Rally title.

The five teams are made up of the 2009 Dakar winners Giniel de Villiers (ZA) / Dirk von Zitzewitz (D), Dakar Rally veterans Carlos Sainz (E) / Lucas Cruz (E) and Mark Miller (USA) / Ralph Pitchford (ZA), Nasser Al-Attiyah (Q) / Timo Gottschalk (D) and the most recent additions to the driver line-up, the Brazilian partnership Mauricio Neves / Clécio Maestrelli. 

For the entire two week duration of the Rally, regular updates from the team will be available from the Volkswagen Motorsport media site – volkswagen-motorsport.info.  These updates will include daily stage results, press releases, interviews and high resolution images.

Apple iPhone users can also receive updates in real-time using Volkswagen’s Dakar Rally app, available for free from the App Store or from volkswagen-motorsport.com/dakar_iPhone.