Date:         Wed, 19 Jan 2005 06:11:39 -0700
Reply-To:     jimt <camper@TACTICAL-BUS.INFO>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         jimt <camper@TACTICAL-BUS.INFO>
Subject:      Diesel vw takes a dakar third
Content-type: text/plain; charset="ISO-8859-1"

From the news
    
A diesel powered Race-Touareg in action during the Dakar Rally
    
VW diesel on Dakar podium (19.01.2005)

A quarter of a century after becoming the first German manufacturer to win
the Dakar Rally, Volkswagen has claimed the event's first podium finish by a
diesel-powered car, a Race-Touareg.

German driver Jutta Kleinschmidt and her Italian co-driver Fabrizia Pons
crossed the finish line in the Senegalese capital in third place overall
after 9000 km of African desert hardship. A sister Race-Touareg driven by
Bruno Saby took fifth place, and a third Volkswagen, driven by American
Robby Gordon, was 12th.

Kleinschmidt was delighted with her result, 'It's a very special podium
place for me,' said Jutta. 'I think that Volkswagen really deserved this
success; we made a good impression and had good results from the beginning.
First Robby led, then Bruno, then Fabrizia and I finished on the podium. A
podium finish was our goal and it's absolutely fantastic that it all worked
out.'

'The Dakar Rally was a huge success for Volkswagen,' said Volkswagen
Motorsport Director Kris Nissen. 'All team members worked extremely well and
we made a huge step forward on the engineering side. We will work very hard
over the next 11 months to make the next stepŠ'

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jimt
Planned insanity is best.
Remember that sanity is optional.
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