Giniel de Villiers/Dirk von Zitzewitz (South Africa/Germany), driving the Volkswagen Race Touareg 2, wrapped up the final stage of the six-day Morocco Rally by crossing the finish line 3:13 minutes ahead of team-mates Carlos Sainz/Michel Périn (Spain/France).
Carlos Sousa/Andreas Schulz (Portugal/Germany), driving a Race Touareg for the Lagos Team, came in fourth ahead of Volkswagen factory drivers Mark Miller/Ralph Pitchford (USA/South Africa).
Carlos Sainz, winner of the Transibérico Rally in early July, began the sixth and final leg with a slim advantage of only eight seconds, kept in front in the early stage of the test, but then lost precious time as a result of two punctures. This opened the door for Giniel de Villiers, who also suffered a puncture, to race to victory over the 222-kilometre stage through the rocky Atlas Mountains.
Giniel de Villiers now has three wins under his belt for Volkswagen, following victories at the Transibérico and Morocco Rallies last season. At the fourth round of the FIA Cross-Country World Cup, the South African native and his German co-pilot Dirk von Zitzewitz racked up three stage wins, with Carlos Sainz and Michel Périn capturing the other three legs. The Volkswagen Race Touareg claimed 15 of the 18 possible top three finishes over the six stages in Morocco.
The Race Touareg, powered by a strong 280 horsepower, 2.5-litre TDI diesel, now has seven Cross-Country World Cup victories. Altogether, the prototype boasts 60 stage wins and has held the lead on 54 days while competing in 19 tests since 2004.
Kris Nissen (Volkswagen Motorsport Director)
"Volkswagen’s performance in Morocco was a huge success. Our four Race Touaregs finished first, second, fourth and fifth. We’re particularly pleased with the double victory by Giniel and Carlos because they were driving with the latest technical specification for the 2008 Dakar Rally. Our cars ran extremely well over the six stages. In addition, our drivers and co-pilots, as well as the entire crew, worked perfectly as a team. If you look at the lead we have on Al-Attiyah, we expect to have an exciting race at the ‘Dakar’. We’re now concentrating on preparations for the ‘Dakar’ and the upcoming competition at the UAE Desert Challenge at the end of October.”
#202 – Giniel de Villiers (RSA), 1st place (day) / 1st place overall
"A tough, but great Rally. The last stage held some surprises. We made one wrong turn, later had tyre damage and thought the outcome of the race had already been decided. But then a little later we saw Carlos sitting on the side with a puncture. We learned a lot here that will be useful at the ‘Dakar’. Dirk did a super job, especially on the fourth day when we opened up the route, but still made up time on Carlos.”
#201 – Carlos Sainz (E), 3rd place (day) / 2nd place overall
"Our congratulations to Giniel and Dirk. This rally was thrilling right down to the end. Although we drove very carefully during the last stage, we still had two punctures. We simply had bad luck. The double victory is a great success for Volkswagen. It was a versatile rally - sandy, fast, bumpy and curvy in the mountains. It offered us a chance to prepare for Dakar in January.”
#205 – Carlos Sousa (P), 2nd place (day) / 4th place overall
"I’m satisfied. This event was a good test for Dakar and that’s what counts. We gained lots of test kilometres. In addition, the Dakar route traverses this area. I’m a bit disappointed with the result because my goal was to end up on the podium. We made up several minutes on the last stage, but just missed third place. At the end of the day, every second counted.”
207 – Mark Miller (USA), 6th place (day) / 5th place overall
"The last stage ran super for us. In contrast to my team-mates’ Race Touareg, my vehicle doesn’t have the last evolution in motor and transmission technology yet, so it doesn’t perform as well. I gave it everything I had, but it still wasn’t enough to keep up with my team-mates. The results here showed us that the Race Touareg has progressed to the newest stage of development. That gives me a positive outlook for the ‘Dakar’.”
Morocco Rally, 25-30 September 2007
1. Giniel de Villiers/Dirk von Zitzewitz (RSA/D), Volkswagen Race Touareg 2, 17h36m35s
2. Carlos Sainz/Michel Périn (E/F), Volkswagen Race Touareg 2 + 3m13s
3. Nasser Al-Attiyah/Alain Guehennec (QA/F), BMW X3 CC + 35m56s
4. Carlos Sousa/Andreas Schulz (P/D), Volkswagen Race Touareg 2 + 37m35s
5. Mark Miller/Ralph Pitchford (USA/RSA), Volkswagen Race Touareg 2 + 1h23m32s
6. Dominique Housieaux/Jean-M. Polato (F/F), Schlesser + 2h07m14s
7. Paulo Nobre/Filipe Palmeiro (BR/P), BMW X3 CC + 3h08m35s
8. Lukasz Komornicki/Rafal Marton (PL/PL), SMG + 3h46m05s
9. Jose Luis Monterde/Jean-M. Lurquin (E/B), Schlesser + 3h51m38s
10. Kenjiro Shinozuka/Roberto di Persio (J/I), Nissan Pathfinder + 4h33m50s
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