Volkswagen celebrates hat-trick victory in Dakar Rally
 

Filed under: Motorsports, Volkswagen, South America, Off-Road

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Volkswagen has plenty to celebrate this year in the deserts of South America. The German team claimed its second consecutive podium lock-out and its third consecutive overall victory in the brutal Dakar Rally. But if you think it was business as usual, take a look at who took the winner's trophy - Qatari national Nasser Al-Attiyah is the first Arab to win the desert rally in its 33-year history.

All four of teams of the new Race Touareg 3 not only finished the race - which is more than could be said of the new X-Raid Mini Countryman - but they took four out of the top six spots, with American driver Mark Miller coming in sixth behind two of X-Raid's BMW X3s. The Star-Spangled Banner was held just as high, though, by the team of Sue Mead and Darren Skilton who took the OP class trophy north to the United States behind the wheel of their Ford F-150 SVT Raptor.

Unfortunately, this year's rally wasn't all fun and games, and sadly claimed a life in the process: according to reports, an Argentinean Toyota team struck the vehicle of non-competing motorist, killing the victim and prompting local officials to conduct an inquiry to establish the circumstances. For the full press release on this year's Dakar events, follow the jump.


Gallery: Volkswagen wins 2011 Dakar Rally

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[Source: Volkswagen]Continue reading Volkswagen celebrates hat-trick victory in Dakar Rally

Volkswagen celebrates hat-trick victory in Dakar Rally originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 18 Jan 2011 10:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.



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