Puro Offroad

On the third leg of the Rally dos Sertões in Brazil Volkswagen further extended its one-two lead. The South African Giniel de Villiers and his German co-driver Dirk von Zitzewitz in the Race Touareg clinched victory on the rally’s third leg as well. The American Mark Miller and his South African co-driver Ralph Pitchford in the second Race Touareg finished the 415-kilometre stage from Aruanã to Niquelandia in the north of the country in second place. Since the spectators stage on Tuesday, de Villiers/von Zitzewitz have had the overall lead, twelve minutes ahead of their team-mates Miller/Pitchford. The third-placed Mitsubishi driver Reinaldo Varela is already running behind them with a 45-minute gap.

The third leg featured picturesque passages through remote regions of the state of Goias. For the first time in the history of the Rally dos Sertões, the contenders crossed this part of Brazil. In addition to flat and fast sections, the route also went through hilly areas. With the numerous jumps on the stony, rough terrain, a perfect suspension setup was the key to success. Read the rest of this entry »

René Metge, three-time winner of the Dakar Rally and icon of French motor sports, has created a totally new endurance race for motor sports enthusiasts: the Transorientale Rally. The rally raid, hailed as the biggest car race in the world, will start on June 12, 2008 from St. Petersburg in Russia and end on July 28 in Beijing at the foot of the Great Wall.

Five types of road vehicles, including cars, motorcycles, four-wheelers and trucks are allowed to take part in the race which will for the first time also feature a relay category that allows several people to take turns driving one vehicle.

The basic principle of the marathon rally raid is simple: to drive the 10,000-km journey between St. Petersburg and Beijing, via Kazakhstan, Read the rest of this entry »

Argentina and Chile will host the 2009 Dakar Rally between January 3-18 with Buenos Aires as the start and finish city, organizers said Monday. The move comes after the 2008 edition of the event was canceled for the first time since its inception in 1979 due to security concerns after four French tourists were murdered in Mauritania on December 24. The 2009 rally will feature 6,000km of special stages over a 9,000km-long course, details of which are set to be unveiled in Buenos Aires on Tuesday. Read the rest of this entry »