Volkswagen begins 2011 Dakar Rally quest with the Silk Way Rally
2010-09-02 13:11:16 Author: admin Source:
Volkswagen Motorsports embark on a definite quest for the ultimate prize, the 2011 Dakar Rally, with its latest Touareg evolution, the Race Touareg 3 (RT3). The first quest takes the VW crews to the Silk Way Rally in Russia from 11 - 18 September, starting at the city of Saint Petersburg to Sochi.
The ceremonial start at the Palace Square with the impressive Winter Palace in St. Petersburg kicks off the Silk Way Rally in a historic setting. From the world’s northernmost metropolis the first leg will lead to Staraya Russa and from there via Vyazma and Lipetsk to Volgograd. On the way to Sochi, the rally’s final destination and venue of the 2014 Winter Olympics, stage destinations in Astrakhan, Elista and Maykop are on the agenda. The route with eight special stages across North Russia featuring the sandy massifs of Kalmykia and the rough foothills of the Caucasus is regarded as ideal preparation for the Dakar Rally thanks to its multi-faceted terrain.
The brand new Race Touareg 3, now with an output of 310 hp and sporting the attractive design language of the production model, will be piloted by the 2010 Dakar winners Carlos Sainz and co-driver Lucas Cruz. The three other Volkswagen crews, Nasser Al-Attiyah/Timo Gottschalk, Giniel de Villiers/Dirk von Zitzewitz and Mark Miller/Ralph Pitchford, will compete in the predecessor model, the RT 2, and will receive the new vehicle generation for the Dakar as well.
After more than 10,000 kilometres of testing in Spain and Morocco, the RT 3 has to prove its prowess in competitive conditions for the first time at the Silk Way Rally: the powerful 4x4 with a TDI engine is in for a competition covering nearly 4,600 kilometres of which about 2,100 are timed.
Sainz commented "After a nearly eight-month break in rally racing the whole team has to find the right rhythm. Obviously, winning is always the goal – but this time we also want to demonstrate the progress we’ve made with the new car compared with the old one. So this event will be about two things: regaining our ‘Dakar’ speed and thoroughly testing the ‘RT3’ in competitive conditions.”
Ever since Sainz and Cruz have been competing jointly for Volkswagen they have remained unbeaten, and in addition to the 2010 "Dakar” victory, the track record of the Spanish pairing reflects exploits at the 2009 Silk Way Rally and the 2009 Rallye dos Sertões – three of the 13 cross-country rally wins achieved by VW to date. Another "Dakar” winning duo – de Villiers and von Zitzewitz – is aiming for victory in Russia too, and so are the two other competitive VW crews of Al-Attiyah/Gottschalk and Miller/Pitchford.
With the RT3, VW intends to add to an already impressive off-road racing track record of 39 podium places in 28 rally runs – 13 of them wins.
The 2010 Silk Way Rally Route
11 Sep Stage 1 St. Petersburg–Staraya Russa, 80.00 km, 324.00 km, 404.00 km
12 Sep Stage 2 Staraya Russa–Vyazma, 209.00 km, 505.00 km, 714.00 km
13 Sep Stage 3 Vyazma–Lipetsk, 205.00 km, 403.00 km, 608.00 km
14 Sep Stage 4 Lipetsk–Volgograd, 355.00 km, 425.00 km, 780.00 km
15 Sep Stage 5 Volgograd–Astrakhan, 380.00 km, 129.00 km, 509.00 km
16 Sep Stage 6 Astrakhan–Elista, 490.00 km, 15.00 km, 505.00 km
17 Sep Stage 7 Elista–Maykop, 340.00 km, 435.00 km, 775.00 km
18 Sep Stage 8 Maykop–Sochi, 14.00 km, 270.00 km, 284.00 km
