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Dirk von Zitzewitz (born 14 October 1968, in Eutin) is a German professional racing driver and motorcyclist, most notable for being on the winning team of the 2009 Dakar Rally alongside Giniel de Villiers.
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Dirk von Zitzewitz (born 14 October 1968, in Eutin) is a German professional racing driver and motorcyclist, most notable for being on the winning team of the 2009 Dakar Rally alongside Giniel de Villiers.
Von Zitzewitz started his career age 14, and after considerable success in domestic and world enduro competition he began to participate in the Dakar Rally, making his debut in 1997. He finished fifth overall aboard at KTM, and was classified seventh the following year. Von Zitzewitz then took his maiden stage victories in the 1999 event, although he failed to finish the rally.
Von Zitzewitz turned his hand to navigation, partnering American Mark Miller during the Dakar in 2002. In 2005, he joined the works Volkswagen team as co-driver to Robby Gordon, finishing in twelfth, and re-joined Miller in 2006 to finish fifth in the overall classification.
Von Zitzewitz took his first Dakar stage wins as co-driver to Giniel de Villiers in 2007, but turbo failure meant the pair would only finish eleventh overall. [1] When the event resumed in South America in 2009, von Zitzewitz and de Villiers won four stages en route to an overall victory, albeit aided by retirement for long-time leader and Volkswagen teammate Carlos Sainz. The pair were unable to defend their title in 2010 due to a severe engine problem during the third stage of the rally, [2] but then finished in a strong runner-up place to Nasser Al-Attiyah, also at the wheel of a works Volkswagen, in the 2011 event.
With Volkswagen withdrawing their participation in 2012, von Zitzewitz and de Villiers joined the South African Imperial Toyota team and finished in third place driving a Toyota Hilux. They repeated their success with overall second place in 2013, fourth in 2014, and posted second place again in the 2015 Dakar Rally.
Carlos Sainz Cenamor is a Spanish rally driver. He won the World Rally Championship drivers' title with Toyota in 1990 and 1992, and finished runner-up four times. Constructors' world champions to have benefited from Sainz are Subaru (1995), Toyota (1999) and Citroën. In the 2018 season he was one of the official drivers of the Team Peugeot Total. He received the Princess of Asturias Sports Award in 2020. Sainz is currently competing in Extreme E for the Acciona | Sainz XE Team alongside teammate Laia Sanz.
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The 2010 Dakar Rally was the 32nd running of the event. It was held in South America for the second successive time, and ran from 1 to 16 January. The Amaury Sport Organisation and the governments of Argentina and Chile agreed to a return to South America for the event in February 2009.
Giniel de Villiers is a South African racing and rally driver, best known for winning the Dakar 2009.
The 2006 Dakar Rally, also known as the 2006 Paris-Dakar Rally, was the 28th running of the Dakar Rally event. The 2006 event ran from 31 December 2005 to 15 January 2006. It started from Lisbon, Portugal, and passed through Spain, Morocco, Mali, Mauritania, Guinea, before finishing in Senegal. The format included speed restrictions on motorcycles and trucks and reduced use of global positioning systems. Competitors included double world rally champion, Carlos Sainz.
Michel Périn is a French rally navigator.
The 2012 Dakar Rally was the 34th running of the event. It was held in South America for the fourth successive time.
Thierry Jean Neuville is a Belgian rally driver who is competing in the World Rally Championship for Hyundai Motorsport. During his career, he has finished as runner-up in the drivers' championship five times. He helped Hyundai win their first manufacturers' title in 2019, as well as repeating the feat in 2020. His current co-driver is compatriot Martijn Wydaeghe.
The Volkswagen Motorsport was a works rally team of the German car manufacturer Volkswagen, who competed in the World Rally Championship (WRC) and Dakar Rally.
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The 2014 Dakar Rally was the 36th running of the event and the sixth successive year that the event was held in South America. The event started in Rosario, Argentina on January 5 and finished in Valparaíso, Chile on January 18 after 13 stages of competition. Marc Coma won his fourth title in the motorcycle category riding a KTM; Ignacio Casale took his maiden title in the quad category on a Yamaha; Nani Roma clinched victory in the car category for the first time, ten years after his sole motorcycle title, driving a Mini; and Andrey Karginov took his first truck category title for Kamaz.
Timo Gottschalk is a German rally co-driver, most notable for being on the winning team of the 2011 Dakar Rally alongside Nasser Al-Attiyah.
The 2015 Dakar Rally was the 37th running of the event and the seventh successive year that the event was held in South America. The event started in Buenos Aires, Argentina on January 4, then ran through Argentina, Chile and Bolivia, before returning to Buenos Aires on January 17 after 13 stages of competition, for a total distance of 9,000 km (5,600 mi). For the first time, organizers reserved separate rest days for different categories so that at least two classes raced on each day.
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