Volkswagen Leads Dakar Rally with Three Cars at Mid-Point

BOTANY, AUSTRALIA – January 11, 2010: After seven of the 14 legs of the 2010 Dakar Rally Volkswagen maintains a commanding advantage: Three Race Touareg cars with TDI power are running in front of the overall standings before the rest day. Carlos Sainz/Lucas Cruz (E/E) are leading the world’s toughest rally with 11m 03s in front of their team-mates Nasser Al-Attiyah/Timo Gottschalk (Q/D) and 22m 06s in front of Mark Miller/Ralph Pitchford (USA/ZA).

Nasser Al-Attiyah managed an outstanding feat on the seventh leg: From Iquique to Antofagasta in the Chilean Atacama desert the Volkswagen factory driver from Qatar commandingly won the 600-kilometre, and so far longest, stage. After a nail-biting duel and the lead changing many times he arrived 3m 29s earlier at the finish than StéphanePeterhansel/Jean Paul Cottret (F/F) in the X-Raid-BMW. On the first 80 kilometres the two drivers had been snatching individual seconds from each other. For Al-Attiyah it was the second stage win after his exploit on the second day of the rally.

Carlos Sainz finished the stage that first consisted of dunes, then a surface of “salar” salt crystal blocks and, ultimately, quicker, stony sections in third place. Mark Miller took the fourth position. Last year’s winners Giniel de Villiers/Dirk von Zitzewitz (ZA/D) finished the stage before the rest day in sixth place after two punctures but, due to previous delays, are ranking 4h 31m behind the front runners.