| Volkswagen Race Touareg 2 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Overview | |
| Manufacturer | Volkswagen |
| Production | 2009-2011 |
| Body and chassis | |
| Class | Rally raid |
| Layout | 4-wheel drive |
| Chronology | |
| Successor | Volkswagen Race Touareg 3 |
The Volkswagen Race Touareg 2 is an off-road competition car specially designed to take part in the rally raids with the main objective of winning the Dakar Rally. [1]
| Year | Driver | Co-driver |
|---|---|---|
| 2008 (CE) |  Carlos Sainz |  Michel Périn |
| 2009 |  Giniel de Villiers |  Dirk von Zitzewitz |
| 2010 | Carlos Sainz | Lucas Cruz |
NOTE: Because of the 2007 killing of French tourists in Mauritania, the ASO postponed and relocated the Dakar Rally in 2008, and the race became the 2008 Central Europe Rally. The ASO deferred all Dakar entries to that event, which is technically part of the Dakar lineage.
The Dakar Rally or simply "The Dakar", formerly known as the "Paris–Dakar Rally", is an annual rally raid organised by the Amaury Sport Organisation. Most events since the inception in 1978 were staged from Paris, France, to Dakar, Senegal; due to security threats in Mauritania, which led to the cancellation of the 2008 rally, events from 2009 to 2019 were held in South America. Since 2020, the rally has been held in Saudi Arabia. The event is open to amateur and professional entries, professionals typically making up about eighty percent of the participants.
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.
The Volkswagen Touareg is a car produced by German automaker Volkswagen Group since 2002 at the Volkswagen Bratislava Plant. Being a five-seater crossover SUV, the vehicle was named after the nomadic Tuareg people, inhabitants of the Saharan interior in North Africa. As of its first generation, the Touareg was developed together with the Porsche Cayenne and the Audi Q7, and as of October 2020, the Touareg was developed together with the Audi Q8, the Bentley Bentayga and the Lamborghini Urus. The vehicles were designed as unibody SUVs with independent suspensions. The first generation (2002–2010) offered five, six, eight, ten and twelve-cylinder engine choices.
The Amaury Sport Organisation is a private company, founded in 1992, that is part of the privately-owned French media group Éditions Philippe Amaury (EPA). ASO organises the Tour de France and other cycling races, as well as golf, running, sailing and off-road motorsport events over 250 days of competition per year, with 90 events in 30 countries. The president of ASO is Jean-Etienne Amaury, the son of Philippe Amaury and Marie-Odile Amaury, and grandson of EPA founder, Émilien Amaury.
Hubert Auriol was a French professional off-road motorcyclist and auto racer competing in rally raid events. After retiring as a competitor, he served as the director of The Paris-Dakar rally. Auriol is notable for being the first competitor to win the Dakar rally on motorcycles and in automobiles. In 2012, Auriol was named an FIM Legend for his motorcycling achievements.
Nasser Salih Nasser Abdullah Al-Attiyah is a Qatari rally driver and sport shooter. He was the 2006 Production World Rally Champion, 2014 and 2015 WRC-2 champion, a 16 time Middle East Rally Champion, five times winner of the FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies, and a five times Dakar Rally winner. His five victories in the Dakar Rally make him the only Middle Easterner and West Asian to win the competition more than once.
The 2008 Dakar Rally would have been the 30th running of the annual off-road race. The rally was to start in Lisbon, Portugal on 5 January 2008, running through Europe and Africa until the finish in Dakar, Senegal on 20 January. The event was cancelled one day before the intended start date, due to concerns over a possible terrorist attack aimed at the competitors.
Rally raid, also known as cross-country rallying, is a form of long distance off-road racing that takes place over several days. The length of the event can be as short as 2–3 days for a cross-country baja to as long as 15 days with marathon rallies like the Dakar Rally; with other cross-country rally events lasting 4–5 days. With skill in navigation being key, the driving skill and endurance of riders, drivers, co-drivers, and machines are put to the test. The total distance covered can be anywhere between 600 km to over 5,000 km with terrain ranging from sandy dunes, forest roads, mountain roads, and dry river beds; among others.
Mark Miller is an American professional off-road racer, competing in both cars and on motorcycles.
The Central Europe Rally was a rally raid endurance race held in Romania and Hungary, and served as the relocated 2008 edition of the Dakar Rally, the 30th running of the event.
The 2009 Dakar Rally was the 31st running of the Dakar Rally. In addition to motorcycle, automobile, and truck categories, a separate quad class was added for the first time. The race began on 3 January 2009, and took place across Argentina and Chile. The rally was for the first time to take place outside of Europe and Africa as the location was changed by organizers due to concerns about possible terrorist attacks that resulted in the moving of the 2008 edition from the traditional route to Senegal to Hungary and Romania in the spring.
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.
Lucas Cruz Senra is a Spanish computer engineer, mostly known as a rally racing co-driver and experienced navigator.
Michel Périn is a French rally navigator.
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.
Laia Sanz Pla-Giribert, also known as Laia Sanz, is a Spanish sportswoman. She is a fourteen-time Women's Trial World Champion and ten-time Women's Trial European Champion in outdoor motorcycle trials.
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 2016 Dakar Rally was the 38th edition of the event and the eighth successive year that the event was held in South America. The event started in Buenos Aires, Argentina on January 2, then ran through Argentina and Bolivia.
The Volkswagen Race Touareg 3 was an off-road competition car specially designed to take part in the rally raids with the main objective of winning the Dakar Rally.
The 2023 Dakar Rally is a rally raid event held in Saudi Arabia and the 45th edition of the Dakar Rally organized by Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO). The event takes place between 31 December 2022 and 15 January 2023. This is the fourth time Saudi Arabia has hosted the event. For the second year running, the event is also the first round of the 2023 World Rally-Raid Championship.