The vehicles can only be described using superlatives. And the same is pretty much true of the terrain in which they will eventually be deployed – in what is quite simply considered the toughest rally in the world. The 2011 Dakar Rally will be the ultimate acid test for a team that has twice in succession dominated the mother of all rallies and taught its competitors a lesson or two. The opponents of Volkswagen’s Race Touareg have no desire to let the team surrounding Carlos Sainz and Kris Nissen dominate the classic rally for a third year running. This is why the Volkswagen team must prepare more meticulously than ever. A faultless performance may be necessary to secure a third victory in South America.
It is an extraordinary challenge for extraordinary people. The Dakar Rally - the toughest automobile race in the world - has long been a great lure for adventurers and adrenalin seekers. 2011 marks the 33rd anniversary of the desert race and draws drivers from around the globe to South America. After having lost by only a small margin last year, one driver has high hopes for 2011.
Hot stunts with rally cars let almost melt down the snow at the event "Dakar on snow" in
Flachau last weekend. In a clip we have put together the best pictures of the spectaculous Touareg-jump show.
9000 kilometres across some really rough terrain – that’s the challenge facing the rally drivers taking part in the “Dakar Rally” in January. Two weeks of stress and strain. The head of motor racing in charge of the teams is under enormous pressure too, but in his case it’s not confined to that single fortnight. All year long he has to put together a car drawing on a given budget; a car that will pose a genuine threat to the competition. At the same time he must organise and supervise: the safety of the entire team, the fitness of the drivers and co-drivers, the transportation of the equipment, and so on and so forth. Mhoch4 has accompanied Volkswagen’s head of motor racing Kris Nissen and seen the extent of the demands made on him on the eve of the Dakar Rally.
These days, the world’s toughest rally is about a lot more than just the driving skills of the men behind the wheel. Proper navigation is equally important, and of course: being in top physical form. And the Volkswagen team has been working really hard on the latter in the Austrian village of Grän. We went along to watch the defending champions work out as they prepare for their Mission Hat-trick.
With only two weeks to the start of the Dakar 2011, gruelling challenges await the drivers and their vehicles. The Volkswagen team around Kris Nissen and Carlos Sianz seem strangely cheerful despite being about to face intense and grindingly painful special stages. Pointing the way to the first stage, the ‘Race Touareg 3’ travels from Europe to South America. This is very special freight indeed. The journey begins at Amsterdam airport.
Driving around London in a car - due to the city congestion charge, that isn´t always the best idea of how to spend your day. And the traffic could be another argument.
Nevertheless Rallye Dakar participant and titleholder Dirk von Zitzewitz took the challenge and drove on a weekday around the city with his race Touareg. Totally fearless of course, as you can expect from a participant of the toughest race on earth. The Londoners were quite surprised.
Drivers and co-drivers are often going for each others\' throats. Left, right, straight ahead? Or is the map upside down? In the Dakar Rally, arguments and mistakes simply aren\'t allowed to happen. Those who aim to win this race, the toughest in the world of motor sport, are advised to get to know the terrain and route inside out. The co-pilot and navigator is for the speed and success of the team just as important as the pilot. Which is why the VW team dedicates a whole week to give the navigators enough time to prepare for the still completely unknown route with the aid of maps and the internet.
Musique du Monde - JE SUIS LA le Nouveau CLIP de YE -http://ye-music.fr
- Le titre "Je suis là" est issu du premier EP du groupe parru chez
Scali Music - enfin sur Youtube - remerciements aux artistes, auteurs,
compositeurs et réalisateurs de cette oeuvre collective sans oublier
les musiciens entre Dakar et Paris... big up ! say Yé by Westaf Musichttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMSqHsE6eWA
A rally racing success story from the Volkswagen team.
After victories at the Dakar Rally in 2009 and 2010, it has now presented its latest car in Trier. In Germany’s oldest town, state-of-the-art technology met historical surroundings in an impressive spectacle. Against the breathtaking backdrop of the 2000-year-old amphitheatre in Trier, Volkswagen presented the car that will defend the title at the 2011 Dakar Rally.
Der Mini konnte zweimal in Folge die Rallye Dakar gewinnen. Er hat weltweit mehr als 100 Automobilmärkte erobert. Kann er auch die Gesetze der Schwerkraft überwinden und Snowboardern den perfekten Rückwärtssalto vorführen? Der französische Extremsportler, Freestyle-Skifahrer und Rallyepilot hat es jetzt unter Beweis gestellt. Der MINI kann auch dies. Im französischen Wintersportresort Tignes meisterte Chicherit in einem MINI den ersten jemals mit einem Automobil vollführten Backflip Jump über eine statische Rampe. Auf einer extra für den Show Event präparierten Piste landeten Fahrer und MINI nach ihrem perfekt ausgeführten Überschlag in der Luft unversehrt im frischen Pulverschnee.
With the famous Dakar Rally, unquestionably the toughest motor race in the world, it's first and foremost all about getting through, for both people and material. And even when we as normal car drivers don't directly profit from the sometimes unbelievable performances of the racing drivers, we at least benefit from the experience gained from the racing cars and their components. Each part, from the smallest screw up to a twin turbo fuel injection system, is subjected to the very toughest of tests during the Dakar Rally. And such components have to supply a maximum of performance – after all, for the teams it's all about winning. At the end of the rally the engineers know a whole lot more, yet again: knowledge invested in the construction of Golf & Co.
