2009 Dakar : Volkswagen narrowly wins day four of the “Dakar”

305-Giniel de Villiers/Dirk von Zitzewitz - Volkswagen Race Touareg

Volkswagen clinched a thrilling duel on the fourth leg of the Dakar Rally to win its second stage victory.


Stage 4 : Jacobacci - Neuquen - Connection 4 km, Special 459 km, Connection 25 km

January 6, 2009

Pending validation of the results, Spaniard Carlos Sainz (VW) picked up his 2nd stage victory of the rally, his 11th on the Dakar, 6 short seconds only in front of his main rival since the start of the event, Qatari Nasser Al-Attiyah (BMW), and 2.24 in front of Frenchman Luc Alphand (Mitsubishi).

In the general standings, the VW-BMW duel continues: “El Matador” Sainz holds onto the lead and is now 3.46 ahead of the Qatari. The Wolfsburg based constructor has two Touaregs on the provisional podium, because 3rd place is still occupied by South African Giniel De Villiers (VW), now 11.33 behind Sainz.

In the Open category, Robby Gordon (Hummer) pulled off another stage victory, with the day’s 10th best time. Lastly, in the Production category, once again the category leader in the general standings, Japan’s Jun Mitsuhashi (Toyota), was victorious.

Stage 4 : Classification

Pos	Driver Co-Driver	Nat	Vehicle	Cat	Total Time	Diff Leader
1	Carlos SAINZ Michel PERIN	E F	VOLKSWAGEN RACE TOUAREG	T1.2	3:42:57	**:**
2	Nasser AL ATTIYAH Tina THORNER	QAT S	BMW X3 CC	T1.2	3:43:03	+0:06
3	Luc ALPHAND Gilles PICARD	F F	MITSUBISHI RACING LANCER	T1.2	3:45:21	+2:24
4	Mark MILLER Ralph PITCHFORD	USA AFS	VOLKSWAGEN RACE TOUAREG	T1.2	3:47:17	+4:20
5	Joan ROMA Lucas CRUZ	E E	MITSUBISHI RACING LANCER	T1.2	3:48:35	+5:38
6	Giniel DE VILLIERS Dirk VON ZITZEWITZ	AFS D	VOLKSWAGEN RACE TOUAREG	T1.2	3:48:45	+5:48
7	Orlando TERRANOVA Alain GUEHENNEC	RA F	BMW X3 CC	T1.2	3:49:46	+6:49
8	Stephane PETERHANSEL Jean-Paul COTTRET	F F	MITSUBISHI RACING LANCER	T1.2	3:49:51	+6:54
9	Guerlain CHICHERIT Matthieu BAUMEL	F F	BMW X3 CC	T1.2	3:53:28	+10:31
10	Robby GORDON Andy GRIDER	USA USA	HUMMER H3	OP1	3:55:10	+12:13
11	Dieter DEPPING Timo GOTTSCHALK	D D	VOLKSWAGEN RACE TOUAREG	T1.2	3:55:46	+12:49
12	Krzysztof HOLOWCZYC Jean-Marc FORTIN	POL B	NISSAN NAVARA	T1.1	3:56:11	+13:14
13	Leonid NOVITSKIY Oleg TYUPENKIN	RUS RUS	BMW X3 CC	T1.2	4:00:42	+17:45
14	Peter VAN MERKSTEIJN Eddy CHEVAILLIER	NL B	BMW X3 CC	T1.2	4:01:19	+18:22
15	Guilherme SPINELLI Marcelo VIVOLO	BRA BRA	MITSUBISHI PAJERO	T1.1	4:01:50	+18:53
16	Jean DE AZEVEDO Youssef HADDAD	BRA BRA	MITSUBISHI PAJERO	T1.1	4:07:03	+24:06
17	Christian LAVIEILLE Jean-Paul FORTHOMME	F B	NISSAN PROTO	T1.1	4:08:20	+25:23
18	Miroslav ZAPLETAL Tomas OUREDNICEK	CZ CZ	MITSUBISHI L200	T1.1	4:11:48	+28:51
19	Rene KUIPERS Filipe PALMEIRO	NL P	BMW X3 CC	T1.2	4:12:18	+29:21
20	Ivar Erik TOLLEFSEN Quin EVANS	N GB	NISSAN NAVARA	T1.1	4:12:26	+29:29

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	12:47:45	**:**
2	Nasser AL ATTIYAH Tina THORNER	QAT S	BMW X3 CC	T1.2	12:51:31	+3:46
3	Giniel DE VILLIERS Dirk VON ZITZEWITZ	AFS D	VOLKSWAGEN RACE TOUAREG	T1.2	12:59:18	+11:33
4	Stephane PETERHANSEL Jean-Paul COTTRET	F F	MITSUBISHI RACING LANCER	T1.2	13:03:26	+15:41
5	Joan ROMA Lucas CRUZ	E E	MITSUBISHI RACING LANCER	T1.2	13:07:45	+20:00
6	Mark MILLER Ralph PITCHFORD	USA AFS	VOLKSWAGEN RACE TOUAREG	T1.2	13:07:50	+20:05
7	Orlando TERRANOVA Alain GUEHENNEC	RA F	BMW X3 CC	T1.2	13:12:15	+24:30
8	Luc ALPHAND Gilles PICARD	F F	MITSUBISHI RACING LANCER	T1.2	13:28:56	+41:11
9	Robby GORDON Andy GRIDER	USA USA	HUMMER H3	OP1	13:34:30	+46:45
10	Krzysztof HOLOWCZYC Jean-Marc FORTIN	POL B	NISSAN NAVARA	T1.1	13:35:24	+47:39
11	Guilherme SPINELLI Marcelo VIVOLO	BRA BRA	MITSUBISHI PAJERO	T1.1	13:56:05	+1:08:20
12	Peter VAN MERKSTEIJN Eddy CHEVAILLIER	NL B	BMW X3 CC	T1.2	13:57:10	+1:09:25
13	Dieter DEPPING Timo GOTTSCHALK	D D	VOLKSWAGEN RACE TOUAREG	T1.2	14:11:16	+1:23:31
14	Christian LAVIEILLE Jean-Paul FORTHOMME	F B	NISSAN PROTO	T1.1	14:12:54	+1:25:09
15	Ivar Erik TOLLEFSEN Quin EVANS	N GB	NISSAN NAVARA	T1.1	14:34:28	+1:46:43
16	Laszlo PALIK Gabor DARAZSI	HON HON	NISSAN NAVARA	T1.1	14:34:31	+1:46:46
17	Rene KUIPERS Filipe PALMEIRO	NL P	BMW X3 CC	T1.2	14:41:28	+1:53:43
18	Miroslav ZAPLETAL Tomas OUREDNICEK	CZ CZ	MITSUBISHI L200	T1.1	14:47:26	+1:59:41
19	Thierry MAGNALDI Guy LENEVEU	F F	SMG PORSCHE BUGGY	T1.3	14:48:23	+2:00:38
20	Tonnie VAN DEIJNE Wouter ROSEGAAR	NL NL	MITSUBISHI L200	T1.1	14:51:43	+2:03:58

Hi-light Images - Stage 4 : Jacobacci - Neuquen

[Source : DAKAR Rallye, VOLKSWAGEN Motorsport, MITSUBISHI Ralliart]