2009 Dakar : Volkswagen continues with triple lead

Leader - Carlos SAINZ/Michel PERIN - Volkswagen Race Touareg 2

Volkswagen celebrated its seventh stage victory on the ninth leg of the 2009 Dakar Rally, maintaining its overall lead with stage winners Carlos Sainz/Michel Périn, ahead of two further Race Touareg vehicles.

JANUARY 12, 2009

LEG 9
LA SERENA (Chile) to COPIAPO (Chile)
Road section: 88km - SS9: 449km - Road section: 0km
Total Distance: 537km

The 537-kilometre leg from La Serena to Copiapó in Chile demanded concentrated performance of the navigators, particularly during the starting phase, and put a severe physical strain on the crews due to long off-road stretches with hard impacts and stony sections. At first, Mark Miller/Ralph Pitchford looked like the stage winners for a long time. However, the American/South African duo lost about five minutes just before the finish because of a tyre change, but improved by one position in the overall classification. Miller/Pitchford took second place from their team colleagues Giniel de Villiers/Dirk von Zitzewitz, who lost 12.01 minutes on the ninth competition day due to a navigation error.

Carlos Sainz, who had been leading the cross-country classic for three days from the second leg onwards, then being replaced at the top for two days, has been running in front in the overall classification again since last Friday. After five stage victories, his lead over Miller now amounts to almost 20 minutes. De Villiers/von Zitzewitz follow with a three-minute gap in third place. Dieter Depping/Timo Gottschalk in the fourth 280-hp Race Touareg lost 1:48 hours and dropped from eighth to tenth place overall.

Team Repsol Mitsubishi Ralliart’s Joan ’Nani’ Roma and Lucas Cruz Senra (both Spain) maintained their stranglehold on fourth overall in the 2009 Dakar Rally, after setting the seventh fastest time on the ninth special stage across the southern extremities of the Atacama desert in Chile on Monday.

Stage 9 : Classification

Pos	Driver Co-Driver	Nat	Vehicle	Cat	Total Time	Diff Leader
1	Carlos SAINZ Michel PERIN	E F	VOLKSWAGEN RACE TOUAREG	T1.2	5:56:08	:
2	Mark MILLER Ralph PITCHFORD	USA AFS	VOLKSWAGEN RACE TOUAREG	T1.2	5:57:55	+1:47
3	Robby GORDON Andy GRIDER	USA USA	HUMMER H3	OP1	5:58:24	+2:16
4	Orlando TERRANOVA Alain GUEHENNEC	RA F	BMW X3 CC	T1.2	6:06:14	+10:06
5	Giniel DE VILLIERS Dirk VON ZITZEWITZ	AFS D	VOLKSWAGEN RACE TOUAREG	T1.2	6:08:09	+12:01
6	Leonid NOVITSKIY Oleg TYUPENKIN	RUS RUS	BMW X3 CC	T1.2	6:12:23	+16:15
7	Joan ROMA Lucas CRUZ	E E	MITSUBISHI RACING LANCER	T1.2	6:20:49	+24:41
8	Krzysztof HOLOWCZYC Jean-Marc FORTIN	POL B	NISSAN NAVARA	T1.1	6:22:56	+26:48
9	Ivar Erik TOLLEFSEN Quin EVANS	N GB	NISSAN NAVARA	T1.1	6:35:55	+39:47
10	Bernard ERRANDONEA Jean-Pierre GARCIN	F F	SMG V8 BUGGY	T1.3	6:49:06	+52:58
11	Pascal THOMASSE Pascal LARROQUE	F F	BUGGY	T1.3	6:58:04	+1:01:56
12	Rene KUIPERS Filipe PALMEIRO	NL P	BMW X3 CC	T1.2	6:59:48	+1:03:40
13	Tonnie VAN DEIJNE Wouter ROSEGAAR	NL NL	MITSUBISHI L200	T1.1	7:03:01	+1:06:53
14	Matthias KAHLE Thomas SCHUENEMANN	D D	HONDA BUGGY	T1.3	7:09:40	+1:13:32
15	Yaroslav SOLOVIEV Konstantin ZHILTSOV	RUS RUS	SMG V8 BUGGY	T1.3	7:09:41	+1:13:33
16	Miroslav ZAPLETAL Tomas OUREDNICEK	CZ CZ	MITSUBISHI L200	T1.1	7:12:34	+1:16:26
17	Laszlo PALIK Gabor DARAZSI	HON HON	NISSAN NAVARA	T1.1	7:14:32	+1:18:24
18	Bob GORDON Willaim HIGMAN	USA USA	HUMMER H3	OP1	7:21:53	+1:25:45
19	Alfie COX Jurgen SCHRODER	AFS D	SMG PORSCHE BUGGY	T1.3	7:27:56	+1:31:48
20	Erik VAN LOON Marc WAMS	NL NL	VOLKSWAGEN BUGGY HRT TDI	T1.4	7:29:43	+1:33:35

Overall : Classification

Pos	Driver Co-Driver	Nat	Vehicle	Cat	Total Time	Diff Leader
1	Carlos SAINZ Michel PERIN	E F	VOLKSWAGEN RACE TOUAREG	T1.2	33:26:07	:
2	Mark MILLER Ralph PITCHFORD	USA AFS	VOLKSWAGEN RACE TOUAREG	T1.2	33:45:59	+19:52
3	Giniel DE VILLIERS Dirk VON ZITZEWITZ	AFS D	VOLKSWAGEN RACE TOUAREG	T1.2	33:49:05	+22:58
4	Joan ROMA Lucas CRUZ	E E	MITSUBISHI RACING LANCER	T1.2	34:24:19	+58:12
5	Robby GORDON Andy GRIDER	USA USA	HUMMER H3	OP1	35:00:24	+1:34:17
6	Krzysztof HOLOWCZYC Jean-Marc FORTIN	POL B	NISSAN NAVARA	T1.1	36:50:00	+3:23:53
7	Ivar Erik TOLLEFSEN Quin EVANS	N GB	NISSAN NAVARA	T1.1	37:31:26	+4:05:19
8	Orlando TERRANOVA Alain GUEHENNEC	RA F	BMW X3 CC	T1.2	39:30:54	+6:04:47
9	Rene KUIPERS Filipe PALMEIRO	NL P	BMW X3 CC	T1.2	40:03:30	+6:37:23
10	Dieter DEPPING Timo GOTTSCHALK	D D	VOLKSWAGEN RACE TOUAREG	T1.2	40:06:06	+6:39:59
11	Tonnie VAN DEIJNE Wouter ROSEGAAR	NL NL	MITSUBISHI L200	T1.1	40:30:49	+7:04:42
12	Laszlo PALIK Gabor DARAZSI	HON HON	NISSAN NAVARA	T1.1	41:30:05	+8:03:58
13	Miroslav ZAPLETAL Tomas OUREDNICEK	CZ CZ	MITSUBISHI L200	T1.1	41:41:30	+8:15:23
14	Leonid NOVITSKIY Oleg TYUPENKIN	RUS RUS	BMW X3 CC	T1.2	45:39:36	+12:13:29
15	Patrick SIREY JOL Paul VIDAL	F F	BOWLER WILDCAT	T1.1	46:20:04	+12:53:57
16	Guerlain CHICHERIT Matthieu BAUMEL	F F	BMW X3 CC	T1.2	46:45:46	+13:19:39
17	Nicolas GIBON Akira MIURA	F J	TOYOTA VDJ 200	T2.2	47:15:45	+13:49:38
18	Bruce GARLAND Hiroaki SUZUKI	AUS AUS	ISUZU D-MAX	T1.2	47:19:27	+13:53:20
19	Matthias KAHLE Thomas SCHUENEMANN	D D	HONDA BUGGY	T1.3	47:53:46	+14:27:39
20	Xavier FOJ Joan PUJOLAR	E E	TOYOTA LAND CRUISER	T2.2	48:25:25	+14:59:18