When Volkswagen starts to the 2011 Dakar Rally with four new Race Touareg 3 vehicles, in addition to the 310-hp cross-country rally prototypes, the accompanying support crew will be perfectly prepared as well.
On the tour through Argentina and Chile – from the Atlantic to the Pacific oceans and back – nine service trucks, among others, will be travelling along the route to support Carlos Sainz, Giniel de Villiers and company. Here’s an overview of a "Dakar” day.
Well-adjusted choreography: the roads the Volkswagen squad travels on the stages
The daily bivouac is the common destination of the entire Volkswagen squad but the roads each support vehicle travels to get there are based on a plan that is synchronised in every detail. It varies from day to day, depending on the particular leg. Whereas the crews of the Race Touareg 3 and the race trucks on the liaison to the special stages initially follow the service and then the timed route the service crew always travels the so-called assistance route.
The time schedule varies, depending on the task. Along the assistance route, just before the rally route branches off, one of the MAN service trucks is used to provide service at the start and later, when the two routes merge again, at the finish. One Volkswagen Multivan each, with engineers and mechanics on board, follows the Race Touareg before and after the special stages while the remainder of the service vehicles wait for the rally vehicles to arrive at the bivouac. All other service trucks and support vehicles directly tackle the prescribed assistance route in order to have finished setting up the bivouac in time for the rally vehicles’ arrival. Clearly, this follows the principle of leaving nothing to chance during the daily course of events.
