VW Race Touareg 2

Dakar Rally 2009 - Leg 2

Sunday, 4th January: Santa Rosa > Puerto Madryn

• Link section: 0 km
• Special stage: 237 km
• Link section: 600 km
• Total: 837 km

The longest leg of the rally does not necessarily represent the most difficult one. Nonetheless, vigilance is a must and the driving skills will be taken to their very limit. Following a rather fast opening section, this special stage provides a foretaste of the sandy conditions the entrants will have to cope with on the coming days. While contesting this leg’s off-track sections, the co-drivers are well advised to exactly focus on their road-books. Otherwise, spinning and other incidents may be the result.

On the 837-kilometre leg from Santa Rosa de la Pampa to Puerto Madryn in Argentina – the longest leg of the off-road classic – Volkswagen Touareg driver Carlos Sainz took the lead for the first time. His South African Volkswagen team-mate Giniel de Villiers and his German co-driver Dirk von Zitzewitz (Karlshof), runner-up in the 2006 Dakar, crossed the finish line 2:19 minutes behind the leader, thus giving Volkswagen a one-two.

Multi-time winner Mitsubishi, victorious in each of the past seven Dakar editions, also succeeded in making up for lost ground. By setting the second-fastest time of the day, behind Sainz, nine-time Dakar winner Stéphane Peterhansel (France) worked his way up from fifth to third (3:51 minutes behind the leader).

The BMW-X-Raid-Team from Trebur represented by driver Nasser Al-Attiyah from Qatar lost its lead after just one day. On the second special stage, Al-Attiyah who finished fourth in the 2004 Olympics’ clay-pigeon shooting competition, lost a lot of time and dropped back to fourth position, 4.15 minutes behind Sainz.

By winning the second leg of the Dakar Rally in South America and taking the lead, Carlos Sainz has put the balance of power straight.

“A truly difficult special stage,” revealed Sainz. “We had to drive in the dense dust caused by the motorbike drivers ahead of us – and had to pass a lot of them.”

Having crossed the second checkpoint, the Spaniard had to push really hard as he lay more than a minute behind Peterhansel, at this point in time. But with a stunning chase, Sainz made for the Volkswagen one-two, prior to the next leg, taking the field from Puerto Madryn to Jacobacci.

“What can I say? A good day for Volkswagen,” beamed Volkswagen Motorsport Director Kris Nissen. And despite having encountered several problems, on day two, de Villiers also came to a positive conclusion: “We lost our way once, in the mid-section, and lost one or two minutes,” he said. “It was a difficult special stage, particularly for the co-drivers. Therefore, having moved up to the runner-up position, nevertheless, is particularly satisfying.”

Hiroshi Masuoka’s day, however, was far less positive. The Japanese failed to get his Mitsubishi ready to race in time and therefore couldn’t contest the second special stage, due to engine and gearbox problems. The result: the early and sudden retirement of the 2002 and 2003 Dakar winner.

Leg 3 »