On the most difficult Dakar Rally stage so far the Volkswagen teams guaranteed enormous tension with a change of leadership.

As was the case on Friday the four Race Touareg teams took the top four finishing positions on the eighth stage from Antofagasta to Copiapó. In Chile’s most famous town since the mining miracle the Nasser Al-Attiyah/Timo Gottschalk (Q/D) duo took their third stage win. On his favourite terrain in deep sand Al-Attiyah replaced last year’s winner Carlos Sainz/Lucas Cruz (E/E) at the head of the overall standings. The Arab is now 5 minutes 14 seconds ahead of the Spaniard.

Initially, after winning yesterday and thus having to open today’s stage, Nasser Al-Attiyah was behind Sainz. Only after the tenth of 13 way points did the professional rally driver from Qatar transform a 1 minute 58 second deficit into a 6 minute 36 second advantage. Behind Sainz and Al-Attiyah, Giniel de Villiers/Dirk von Zitzewitz (ZA/D) ended the day third in front of their Volkswagen team mates Mark Miller/Ralph Pitchford (USA/ZA). As a result the two duos each moved up a place in the overall standings: De Villiers is third. Miller, who led the stage at the start, is now fifth in the rally.

While Volkswagen recorded the seventh of a possible eight stage victories, its strongest challenger fell even further behind. Stéphane Peterhansel in the X-raid-BMW is 1 hour 33 minutes behind in fourth overall.

At 508 kilometres in length the teams today completed the rally’s longest stage so far. Only the forthcoming stages on 13 and 14 January will be longer. In the first part of the stage the teams had to master many opencast mining access roads and passed the Paranal Observatory – the scene of the James Bond film "Quantum of Solace”. All in all it was a kind of mini "Dakar” in one stage: The stage between Antofagasta and Copiapó provided a huge array of varied terrain. On the one side gravel sections requiring a more respectful approach for the material, and on the other washed out sand sections, dry river beds and canyons, which tested the navigators’ skills. Several dune belts formed the crowning glory on the toughest stage of the 2011 Dakar Rally to date.

Number of the day
Multi cultural for victory: The "Dakar” factory team is formed from team members representing 15 different nations. In addition to the factory drivers from Spain, Qatar, Germany, the USA and South Africa, technicians and engineers from Denmark, Belgium, the Netherlands, Austria, Argentina, Slovakia, Italy, Lithuania, Turkey and Ireland complement the squad. Main language for communication: English.

Coming up next…Tuesday, 11January: The loop around Copiapó gives the teams a contrasting picture. While the mechanics have no service route to overcome on this occasion and for the first time briefly have chance to catch their breath during the "Dakar”, for the drivers and co-drivers one of the toughest rally days is on the agenda. Off-road sections of deep, soft sand on one side and on the other stony sections – physical torture requiring impeccable fitness.


Quotes after leg 8 http://www.volkswagen-motorsport.com...st=538&id=4246

Three questions to car engineer Gerhard Jan de Jongh http://www.volkswagen-motorsport.com...st=538&id=4246