The Volkswagen duos Nasser Al-Attiyah/Timo Gottschalk (Q/D) as well as Carlos Sainz/Lucas Cruz Senra (E/E) continue fighting for overall victory at the Rallye dos Sertões, with gaps of just a few minutes between them. On the seventh leg of the cross-country rally through Brazil Al-Attiyah/Gottschalk clinched their fifth stage win and took the lead again in the interim standings in front of their team-mates Sainz/Cruz Senra. The 548-kilometre stage between Barra and Petrolina again took the three factory prepared Race Touareg vehicles across narrow trails with deep, soft sand and put the drivers and co-drivers as well as the material to the test. The third Volkswagen duo Maurício Neves/Eduardo Bampi (BR/BR) lost several minutes due to a navigation error but still improved to seventh position overall.
Kris Nissen (Volkswagen Motorsport Director)
"We can be very happy with the way the rally has gone so far. The drivers and the team are doing an outstanding job. It comes as no surprise to me that we’re running in the top two positions – after all, we’ve got powerful and reliable cars. But these types of rallies make maximum demands on man and material and are a good way to prepare for the Dakar Rally.”
#301 – Carlos Sainz (E), 2nd place leg / 2nd place overall
"Another extremely tough day – also for the material. Today in particular it was no advantage having to open the course as the stage winner of the previous day. We not only had to be the first to find the way but also had to stop several times to clean the radiator that was clogged by leaves because the engine temperature was rising repeatedly.”
#302 – Nasser Al-Attiyah (Q), 1st place leg / 1st place overall
"Again it was a positive day for us. The ‘Sertões’ displayed a completely different character today than it did the days before because we had to drive through deep sections of sand. I’m happy about having decided this leg in my favour and taken the lead again, and I’m even more pleased about the fact that the teamwork between Timo Gottschalk and me is getting increasingly better.”
#309 – Maurício Neves (BR), 5th place leg / 7th place overall
"It’s incredible how well the Race Touareg works on sand. That really impressed me a lot today. Unfortunately, we made a few mistakes on the marathon leg we covered during the past two days which cost us a lot of time.”
Number of the day Each of the three service trucks in Brazil carries a tool set on board – consisting, among other things, of 27 different pairs of pliers, 58 wrenches, 48 screwdrivers, but just nine special tools. In addition, every mechanic carries a case containing the most essential tools for his job on the Race Touareg 2.
Interim standings after Leg 07, Barra (BA) – Petrolina (PE)
240 km/548 km SS 07/total
Pos. Team Vehicle Leg 07 Total time
1 Nasser Al-Attiyah/Timo Gottschalk (Q/D), Volkswagen Race Touareg 2, 2h 37m 16.3s (1), 24h 21m 02.5s
2 Carlos Sainz/Lucas Cruz Senra (E/E), Volkswagen Race Touareg 2, 2h 44m 05.8s (2), + 1m 41.2s
3 Jean Azevedo/Youssef Haddad (BR/BR), Mitsubishi L200, 3h 06m 15.2s (3), + 2h 45m 18.7s
4 Roberto Reijers/Marcos Almeida (BR/BR), Ford Ranger, 3h 40m 47.9s (8), + 4h 29m 20.0s
5 Felipe Bibas/Emerson Cavassi (BR/BR), Mitsubishi L200, 3h 07m 54.9s (4), + 5h 02m 34.8s
6 Luiz Facco/Silvio Deusdará (BR/BR), Mitsubishi L200, 3h 30m 53.9s (6), + 5h 12m 07.8s
7 Maurício Neves/Eduardo Bampi (BR/BR), Volkswagen Race Touareg 2 3h 27m 39.5s (5) + 5h 49m 15.5s
8 Jarbas de Castro/W. von Schmidt (BR/BR), Sherpa 3h 48m 46.3s (11), + 6h 43m 53.3s
9 Richard Vaders/A. Spacassassi (BR/BR) Sherpa, 3h 46m 49.9s (9), + 6h 47m 34.6s
10 Elsinho Cascao/Elson Menezes (BR/BR), Sherpa, 4h 13m 55.1s (13), + 8h 45m 55.2s
