Dakar

Portugal: Volkswagen stage three summary

Stage victory and lead for Volkswagen driver Sainz in Portugal Wolfsburg (12 September 2008). By clinching its first stage victory on the third leg of the second round of the Dakar Series in Portugal the Volkswagen factory duo Carlos Sainz/Michel ...

Published: Sep 13, 2008, 5:38 PM

Copy link

Share on Viber

Add as a preferred source

Stage victory and lead for Volkswagen driver Sainz in Portugal

Wolfsburg (12 September 2008). By clinching its first stage victory on the third leg of the second round of the Dakar Series in Portugal the Volkswagen factory duo Carlos Sainz/Michel Perin (E/F) took the exclusive overall lead. Their team-mates Giniel de Villiers/Dirk von Zitzewitz (RSA/D) improved to third overall in another Volkswagen Race Touareg 2 thanks to setting the third-best time of the day. Despite Volkswagen's advantage the decision in the fight for victory is still full of suspense: Before the two remaining legs Sainz/Perin, who had won the first round of the Dakar Series, are lying 2.21 minutes ahead of Stephane Peterhansel/Jean-Paul Cottret (Mitsubishi). Another 58 seconds behind them Villiers/von Zitzewitz and Luc Alphand/Gilles Picard (Mitsubishi) are sharing position three with the same time result.

For Dieter Depping/Timo Gottschalk, the second round of the Dakar Series in Portugal ended prematurely. The German Volkswagen factory duo retired after an accident which occurred shortly after the start of the first special stage. The driver and co-driver sustained no injuries in the accident. Dieter Depping, who finished the Central Europe Rally in April on third position, was taken to a hospital for a precautionary medical check.

The third day of the competition again offered the teams quick gravel sections with many jumps. The leg with two identical special stages of 90 kilometres each from Benavente to Alcochete led through partially wooded areas. On Saturday the teams will cover a leg from Alcochete to Portimão, with 159 timed kilometres.

Kris Nissen (Volkswagen Motorsport Director)

"Today we've got some good and some not-so-good news. The not-so-good news is that we've got one Race Touareg less running in the rally. Dieter Depping and Timo Gottschalk made a small driving mistake and retired. At such a tough rally, where the driving is at the limit every second, such things can happen. Good news number one, though, is that both drivers are okay. Good news number two is that Carlos Sainz and Giniel de Villiers showed a strong performance today. Stage victory and places one and three overall are the reward for this."

#200 - Carlos Sainz (E), 1st place leg / 1st place overall

"Today the sections were quicker than yesterday but still extremely narrow. You had to constantly be on guard not to make a mistake. Things were going really well for us and we finally had that bit of luck you need. Like all top drivers we didn't suffer any punctures on this leg. So were' very satisfied, having put a bit of a distance between ourselves and our rivals in the overall standings."

#202 - Dieter Depping (D), accident

"Unfortunately, today came to a much too early end. In a long right-hand bend, which tapered a bit, we got too far onto the loose gravel on the edge of the track. We slid off the track with all four wheels. We avoided a first tree but then hit a second one head-on. Fortunately, Volkswagen attaches a lot of importance to safety, so my co-driver Timo and I are okay. The Race Touareg absorbed a lot of energy. But the end of the rally for us is more than frustrating. We'd have much rather brought a success home to our mechanics - instead of a lot of work."

#204 - Giniel de Villiers (RSA), 3rd place leg / 3rd place overall

"Particularly on the second special stage things were going really well for us. My co-driver Dirk von Zitzewitz made some notes on the first special, which then helped us when we passed these places the second time. It was very easy today to hit a tree and lose it all. But in view of the overall standings we needed to attack as well. To find the right balance was a demanding task."

-credit: 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 Volkswagen interview with Christopher Zeller

Next article Portugal: Volkswagen stage four summary

Top Comments

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

View More & Comment

Latest news

Diogo Moreira: “From what we saw in the Austria test, Honda could fight for MotoGP title next year”

MotoGP

MGP MotoGP 31 min

Diogo Moreira: “From what we saw in the Austria test, Honda could fight for MotoGP title next year”

Lando Norris' LN4 Fusion granted entry to F2 for 2027

FIA F2

F2 FIA F2 1 h

Lando Norris' LN4 Fusion granted entry to F2 for 2027

Alex Marquez: MotoGP hurting future of young riders with punishing format

MotoGP

MGP MotoGP

Australian GP

1 h

Alex Marquez: MotoGP hurting future of young riders with punishing format

Why Aston Martin and Red Bull were asked about an unlikely F1 engine partnership

Formula 1

F1 Formula 1

United States GP

1 h

Why Aston Martin and Red Bull were asked about an unlikely F1 engine partnership

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