The USA’s Mark Miller and South African Ralph Pitchford, driving a factory Volkswagen Race Touareg, followed up their fine fourth place in the last Dakar Rally in Africa in 2007 with an even better second overall in the 2009 version in Argentina and Chile, which ended in Buenos Aires on Saturday afternoon.
The pair, who ran in the top three from day six of the 15-day event, finished the 13-stage 10 000-km race just 8 min 59 sec behind team-mates Giniel De Villiers of South Africa and German Dirk von Zitzewitz. It was Volkswagen’s first win on the Dakar since 1980 and the first for the Race Touareg. It was also the first time a diesel-engined car has won the world’s toughest cross country marathon.
Sixth overall was the third Volkswagen Race Touareg to finish, with German pairing of Dieter Depping and Timo Gottschalk finishing 8 hr 43 min 20 sec behind De Villiers.
It was a dominant performance by the team from Wolfsburg in Germany and all three cars and crews were in good shape at the finish after 56 hours of driving in the case of Depping, testimony to the excellent preparation of both men and machines by Volkswagen.
Carlos Sainz, the Spanish former world rally champion who led the race for seven of the rally’s first 10 days, was the only Volkswagen casualty. He was forced to withdraw on stage 12 when his Touareg somersaulted into a deep ravine, landing on its roof and breaking French co-driver Michel Perin’s shoulder blade.
“This is one time when coming second is acceptable,” said an excited Pitchford. “This was a great team effort and Mark and I are very happy with our achievement. This has been a long and incredibly hard race, but we were very well prepared and our new cars showed how strong they are. I’m very pleased for my good friend Giniel. As a fellow South African, I’m very proud of him and what we together have done for our country.”
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