Dakar

Dakar: Volkswagen stage 12 report

Both Volkswagens again in top ten. Impressive fight back by Volkswagen in the Rallye TelefÃ³nica Dakar: After Jutta Kleinschmidt and Fabrizia Pons had slipped from fourth to eleventh place the day before the rest day, they now hold a top ...

Published: Jan 16, 2003, 2:37 PM

Copy link

Share on Viber

Add as a preferred source

Stéphane Henrard and Bobby Willis

Both Volkswagens again in top ten.

Impressive fight back by Volkswagen in the Rallye Telef?nica Dakar: After Jutta Kleinschmidt and Fabrizia Pons had slipped from fourth to eleventh place the day before the rest day, they now hold a top ten position again after today's stage starting and finishing in Siwa. The twelfth stage ran according to plan for the German-Italian duo: Starting as 66th vehicle, the Tarek crossed the finish line as 24th team. As a result, Jutta Kleinschmidt overtook 42 competitors just in the car classification. Well worth the effort: The day's ninth quickest time and consequently ninth place in the provisional overall classification. St?phane Henrard and co pilot Bobby Willis completed the satisfying result with the tenth best stage time and moved up to seventh spot in the overall classification. As a result, Volkswagen has again captured the lead, as was the case between stages six and ten, in the classification for two wheel driven vehicles.

St?phane Henrard and Bobby Willis.

Photo by Volkswagen Racing.

"I am absolutely satisfied with today's result", explained Jutta Kleinschmidt. "My co-pilot Fabrizia kept a check list. If we include the trucks, we overtook a total of 63 vehicles. On the one hand, the track was very wide, but on the other, already extremely soft and rutted. The traction was therefore, not as good as it had been for the leading vehicles on the circuit. Furthermore, we had to avoid several competitors who were stranded in the sand dunes. The ninth best time is therefore completely okay."

Rudolf-Helmut Strozyk, director of Volkswagen Racing, was very happy with the day's result of both his teams: "We are more than satisfied, we never expected, on the first day after our setback, to be back in the top ten with both cars. Jutta and St?phane produce constantly good performances. Should we retain these positions and finish in the top ten in Sharm El Sheikh on Sunday with both Tareks then we have exceeded our original expectations."

-vw-

We want your opinion!

What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?

Take our 5 minute survey.

- The Motorsport.com Team

Read and post comments

Share Or Save This Story

Copy link

Share on Viber

Previous article Dakar: Nissan spotlights their No. 428 Truck

Next article Dakar: South Africa drivers stage 12 report

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

View More & Comment

Latest news

Barcelona set to host IndyCar race in 2027 under multi-year deal

IndyCar

Indy IndyCar 10 h

Barcelona set to host IndyCar race in 2027 under multi-year deal

Winners and losers from a Chase-altering NASCAR Cup race at Phoenix

NASCAR Cup

NAS NASCAR Cup

Phoenix II

12 h

Winners and losers from a Chase-altering NASCAR Cup race at Phoenix

Heart of Racing rules Valkyrie GTP step next year ‘too soon’ for IMSA standout Barrichello

IMSA

IMSA IMSA 12 h

Heart of Racing rules Valkyrie GTP step next year ‘too soon’ for IMSA standout Barrichello

Sergio Perez: Debut Cadillac season "without a doubt one of my best years"

Formula 1

F1 Formula 1

United States GP

12 h

Sergio Perez: Debut Cadillac season "without a doubt one of my best years"

Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.

From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.

You have 2 options:

Become a subscriber.
Disable your adblocker.

Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here

Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page

Manage Alerts