Volkswagen wins 2,600 kilometer Central Europe Rally

After previously clinching four stage wins at the new rally run by the Dakar Rally's organisers, the Volkswagen factory pairing of Carlos Sainz/Michel Périn won the last of the seven specials as well, relegating Stéphane Peterhansel (Mitsubishi) to second place overall by 2.01 minutes. A third-place finish was the overall rally début result claimed by Dieter Depping/Timo Gottschalk in the Volkswagen Race Touareg 2, powered by an innovative TDI diesel. The German duo set the day's second-best time on the final stage from Veszprem (Hungary) to Balatonfüred (Hungary), thus capturing a podium place in the duel with Luc Alphand (Mitsubishi).

At the Central Europe Rally, whose special stages cover over 1,000 kilometres and a total distance of about 2,600 kilometres, the rally resembled the first legs of the Dakar Rally in recent years. Volkswagen won all seven stages, thus remaining undefeated in Hungary and Romania. The final leg saw the unfolding of a real thriller, with Carlos Sainz and Stéphane Peterhansel fighting as on previous stages for overall victory with merely seconds separating them. The race for third overall was rather untypical for cross-country rally events and was about mere seconds as well. Dieter Depping, stage winner on the second day, kept the upper hand on the final, 155-kilometre special stage, with a 54-second lead over Luc Alphand.
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abcd - 4/28/2008 4:09:42 PM

+1 Boost

TurboSpyder:
Volkswagen poor reliability isn`t myth and it isn`t truth also . Golf is view as reliable car in europe and passat also (not only view but they are really reliable) . but on the other hand there were VWs like polo , sharan(this one especially) , touran ... that weren`t reliable .

chewy - 4/27/2008 7:06:25 PM

-1 Boost

Not the same as the Dakar, but better than nothing.

abcd - 4/28/2008 4:59:37 AM

+1 Boost

1. Carlos Sainz/Michel Périn (E/F), Volkswagen Race Touareg 2, 11h18m08s
2. Stéphane Peterhansel/Jean-Paul Cottret (F/F), Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution, + 2.01m
3. Dieter Depping/Timo Gottschalk (D/D), Volkswagen Race Touareg 2, + 6.34m
4. Luc Alphand/Gilles Picard (F/F), Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution, + 7.28m

really small time differences in first fourth . I`m intersted how mitsubishi will do next year when they change to diesel like VW becouse diesels may have advantage in rallying to petrol like they have in le mans with today`s prescriptions(maybe) and fuel - GTL( gas to liquid ) - synthetic diesel:
"GTL is known to be cleaner burning than regular diesel, and has a higher cetane rating, **equivalent to the octane rating for petrol**. Pure GTL is rated at 75 cetane, compared to 51 in regular diesel."
http://www.channel4.com/4car/news/news-story.jsp?news_id=15506