Dakar Rally 2011 - Final result: German double victory

D he duo was after more than 9,500 kilometers through Argentina and Chile on Saturday (January 15th) in Buenos Aires 49:41 minutes behind the winners. Last year's Spanish winner Carlos Sainz, slowed down by technical problems in the final phase, completed the VW podium just like last year with a gap of 1:20:38 hours.

Record winner Peterhansel missed the podium

'We did it. I'm so happy,' said Gottschalk. 'This is the greatest moment in my sporting career. It was a dream to win the Dakar.' The 36-year-old is the fourth victorious German co-driver after Gerd Löffelmann (1980), Andreas Schulz (2001 and 2003) and von Zitzewitz (2009).

Nasser Al-Attiyah praised the performance of the entire team at the finish : 'My first Dakar victory. I am overjoyed to be the first Arab to have won the toughest desert rally in the world. These feelings are incredibly difficult to put into words. I am happy for the whole team, the three weeks around the clock worked for the success. With Timo Gottschalk I have an outstanding co-driver by my side, who has an immensely large part in the victory. '

Dirk von Zitzewitz in second place in the Dakar Rally

Volkswagen achieved the targeted hat trick at the third South American edition of the Dakar Rally. In second place, Dirk von Zitzewitz and his driver Giniel de Villiers ensured the German one-two at this year's Dakar Rally. The second-placed German was marked by the exertion: 'An incredibly strenuous Dakar, because the days were extremely long. You had to get up early in the morning, and we didn't reach the bivouac until late in the afternoon. There were many changes to the road book, including us co-drivers It was a lot of work for the night. The stages were also physically demanding. My highlight was the Fiambalá stage, which we won by far thanks to faultless navigation. '

Carlos Sainz and his Co Lucas Cruz completed this Volkswagen trio. The Spaniard had dominated the Dakar in the beginning, but then fell back due to technical problems and driving errors. 'All in all, I am more than satisfied with the 2011 Dakar Rally. I think that my co-driver Lucas Cruz and I did a good job and therefore rightly fought for victory for a long time. Unfortunately we have two bad days and ownMistakes ruined the chance of overall victory. But that's the Dakar Rally: You always have to be on your guard, 'says the two-time rally world champion Sainz.

As in the previous year, the Frenchman Stéphane Peterhansel had to fight fourth after technical problems and tire damage on the BMW X3 The French record winner was 1:43:48 hours behind.

Buggy driver Matthias Kahle with top result

The seven-time German rally champion Matthias Kahle from Cologne and his Hamburg co-driver Thomas Schünemann achieved their best result in the toughest rally in the world with tenth place in the SMG buggy, the best two-wheel drive car. As in the previous year, the German duo again secured class victory in the buggies. Kahle made the last one Stage once again really exciting. Two punctured tires braked the HS rally team's buggy. In the end, however, the time advantage over Eric van Loon from the Netherlands was enough for tenth place overall I've never changed a tire so quickly. Everything went well up to half-time. We started before Eric van Loon and have not yet seen him in the rearview mirror. So we knew everything was fine. Then we had first one puncture, then the second. Fortunately, we didn't have to change the second tire as well. Now we are overjoyed. Tenth place is a dream. '

Stephan Schott /Holm Schmidt (Heusenstamm /Leipzig) also achieved their best result to date in the BMW X3 with 13th place.

Among the motorcycle pilots Marc Coma from Spain entered the list of winners for the third time after 2006 and 2009. The 34-year-old Catalan finished his ninth with a lead of 15:04 minutes on his KTM colleague and previous year's winner Cyril Despres from France, who was leading in the first half Dakar. Third place went to the Portuguese Yamaha rider Helder Rodrigues.