VW Race Touareg 2

Volkswagen celebrates one-two in the Dakar

Volkswagen made motor-racing history by winning the 2009 Dakar held in Argentina and Chile, with its Race Touareg. By winning the legendary desert classic, South African Giniel de Villiers and Germany’s Dirk von Zitzewitz made for the first win of a diesel powered car in the event’s 30 years of history.

The Spiess Motorenbau GmbH also observed the Dakar – that was held in South America for the first time – with a lot of excitement. After all, the innovative 280bhp TDI engine had demonstrated its qualities in numerous test-bench tests.

In the gruelling test for man and machine, the Volkswagen Race Touareg proved to be the fastest and most reliable car. With 14 diesel powered top cars, the field was one of the most competitive ones in the Dakar history. Mark Miller (USA) and his co-driver Ralph Pitchford (ZA) made for the icing on the cake for Volkswagen by finishing runner-up with their Race Touareg.

In the 2006 Dakar, 36-year old Giniel de Villiers had taken his Race Touareg to second place. Since 2006, Dirk von Zitzewitz has been his navigator. The 40-year old from Karlshof has got 15 German Enduro Championship titles under his belt. From the very beginning of this year’s Dakar, the Race Touareg squads succeeded in dominating the event. At the end of the day, 10 of the 13 special stages were won by Volkswagen drivers.

“We’ve made it,” beamed Volkswagen Motorsport Director Kris Nissen. “We wanted to be the first car manufacturer to win the Rally Dakar with a diesel powered car – and succeeded in doing so. Volkswagen may be really proud of this historic triumph. Securing a one-two in this extremely gruelling rally is a truly remarkable achievement.”