VW Touaregs win Dakar Rally for third time in row

The VW team celebrates another tremendous result on the podium.

VOLKSWAGEN has claimed overall victory in the Dakar Rally for the third consecutive year, and defended the 1-2-3 podium lock-out result of last year in the process.
The result crowned a successful premiere for the Race Touareg 3 on the event. Drivers Nasser Al-Attiyah from Qatar, with his German co-driver Timo Gottschalk, finished the final stage with the second quickest time and an overall winning margin of 49m 41s.
This year’s result sees Al-Attiyah become the first Arab in the desert classic’s history to be presented with the Dakar winners’ trophy, now in its 33rd year.  The back-to-back hat-trick of victories means that Volkswagen is still unbeaten since the famous event moved to South America.
Four diesel-powered Race Touareg 3s competed, and completed, the gruelling 9,600 kilometre course through Argentina and Chile, winning 12 out of the 13 stages between them and remaining at the top of the timesheets throughout.
The two previous title holders of the rally joined Al-Attiyah and Gottscahlk on the podium in Buenos Aries with the 2009 winners Giniel de Villers and Dirk von Zitzewitz claiming second overall, and last year’s winners Carlos Sainz and Lucas Cruz finishing third.  The fourth Volkswagen pairing of Mark Miller and Ralph Pitchford completed the solid Volkswagen team performance in sixth position.
With seven stage victories, including the 13th and final stage of the Rally, Carlos Sainz broke the record for the highest number of stage wins on the Dakar.  This victory took his tally to 24, overtaking the previous record-holder and Volkswagen’s closest rival on this year’s Dakar, Stéphane Peterhansel.

The VW Race Touareg 3 in action during the gruelling event.