Volkswagen gears up for Dakar victory bid

Volkswagen is making its biggest effort yet to win the world’s toughest motorsport event, the Dakar Rally, and in so doing become the first manufacturer to take victory with a diesel-powered car.

When the flag falls in Lisbon on 31 December to mark the start of the two-week trans-Africa marathon, no fewer than five TDI-powered Volkswagen Race Touareg 2 challengers will be in the field.

And Volkswagen has assembled a driving squad of unrivalled experience and talent, led by double World Rally Champion Carlos Sainz and featuring newly crowned FIA Cross-Country Rally World Cup Champion Bruno Saby and also the first and only woman to win the Dakar Rally, Jutta Kleinschmidt.

It’s the culmination of a two-year programme to secure victory in rallying’s greatest event. Volkswagen Motorsport director Kris Nissen believes the team is ready: ‘Since last year’s Dakar Rally we have been preparing intensively. The focal areas are engineering, logistics and the team, and in all of these we have achieved improvements.

‘The Dakar is a unique competition in every respect, and it makes the maximum demands on both people and the machine, and over an unusually long period of time at that. Our extensive tests have prepared us for these demands.’

The Race Touareg was introduced to competition in 2004 and was immediately competitive, in Kleinschmidt’s hands winning a stage of the Dakar Rally and claiming its maiden podium finish, on the Rallye d’Orient.

This season Volkswagen has mopped up in the world of marathon rallying, Frenchman Saby piloting his Race Touareg to victory on Argentina’s Por Las Pampas Rally before leading home an historic Volkswagen 1-2-3 on the Moroccan Rally and also a 1-2 on Turkey’s Rallye d’Orient. Little wonder that Saby clinched the World Cup crown with two events in hand.

There was success also for the Race Touareg on the 2005 Dakar Rally, with Germany’s Kleinschmidt taking third place overall to give Volkswagen the first-ever Dakar podium finish by a diesel-powered car.

Now there is a new Volkswagen rally weapon, the Race Touareg 2, which enjoyed a competitive maiden outing on last month’s Rallye Baja Portalegre; Kleinschmidt took second in Portugal, Sainz third on his Volkswagen debut and Saby fourth.

The new car is 200 mm shorter than its predecessor yet has an increased wheelbase to help improve rough-terrain handling and allow the crew greater cockpit space. The machine’s centre of gravity has also been lowered and visibility from the cockpit enhanced.

Under the bonnet, the proven five-cylinder TDI power unit has been reworked in many areas, boosting power to approximately 275 PS and torque to in excess of 550 Nm. There is a revised dry sump lubrication system and a new, two-stage turbocharging system, as well as improved engine management.

Sainz was impressed with the car’s performance in Portugal: ‘Clinching a podium place on my debut in the Volkswagen team, and also in my first marathon rally event, was very good. I took two stage victories and learned a lot about this sport,’ said the 43-year-old Spaniard who, with 26 event victories, is the most successful driver in the history of the World Rally Championship.

Lining up alongside Sainz, Kleinschmidt and 1993 Dakar victor Saby in the Volkswagen team are South African Giniel de Villiers, 33, who is a four-time South African touring car champion and a top-seven Dakar finisher for the last three years; and also experienced American off-road racer Mark Miller, 43.

There are three women in the squad: Kleinschmidt’s co-driver is the Italian Fabrizia Pons, who used to partner Audi rally legend Michel Mouton. Sitting alongside de Villiers will be Sweden’s Tina Thorner.

The exact route of the Dakar Rally for 2006 is due to be revealed later this month. It’s expected to cover a total distance in excess of 9000 km and will lead competitors from Portugal through Spain to Morocco, Mauritania, Mali and Guinea before the finish in Senegal on 15 January.