2006 Dakar Rally

Tags: motorsport 2006 Dakar Rally

ER RACHIDIA - OUARZAZATE
Liaison : 56km - SS : 386km - Liaison : 197km
Total : 639km

Works driver Carlos Sainz won the 639 kilometre section from Er Rachidia to Ouarzazate in Morocco in the Volkswagen Race Touareg 2 and, in the process, reclaimed the overall lead that he had already held after the first two stages. Bruno Saby in second overall and Jutta Kleinschmidt in third complete the trio of 275 hp TDI diesel Volkswagen prototypes at the head of the field. Giniel de Villiers jumped from twelfth to fifth position by setting the fourth fastest stage time. Mark Miller completes the Volkswagen quintet as eighth in the top-ten.

Carlos Sainz (E), 1st place (leg) / 1st position overall
"I'm surprised to be at the front again. We started twelfth, followed Luc Alphand for ages and drove at a normal pace. We didn't have the feeling that we were particularly fast. It was a significant advantage from the navigational point of view to start where we did."

Bruno Saby (F), 5th place (leg) / 2nd position overall
"We've picked up another position! A great result after such a challenging day. My co-driver Michel Périn mastered the difficult navigation perfectly. We had to change a front right tyre somewhere in the middle of the stage.”

Jutta Kleinschmidt (D), 6th place (leg) / 3rd position overall
"Before the first check point we had to tighten bolts on the steering wheel which had vibrated loose. A tyre failure cost us additional time. We thought that the day was already over after this. It's great that we moved up a position in spite of these problems.”

Standings after stage 4, Er Rachidia (MA) – Ouarzazate (MA); 386/639 km stage 4/total

Pos., Team, Vehicle, Stage 4, Total time
1. Carlos Sainz/Andreas Schulz (E/D), Volkswagen Race Touareg 2; 3:52:48 hrs. (1.) 9:21.18 hrs.
2. Bruno Saby/Michel Pйrin (F/F), Volkswagen Race Touareg 2; 3:57:41 hrs. (5.) + 4.51 min.
3. Jutta Kleinschmidt/Fabrizia Pons (D/I), Volkswagen Race Touareg 2; 3:57:56 hrs. (6.) + 5.09 min.
4. Luc Alphand/Gilles Picard (F/F), Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution; 3:55:58 hrs. (3.) + 6.39 min.
5. Giniel de Villiers/Tina Thцrner (RSA/S), Volkswagen Race Touareg 2; 3:56:04 hrs. (4.) + 6.53 min.
6. Jean-L. Schlesser/Franзois Borsotto (F/F), Schlesser-Ford; 3:58:20 hrs. (8.) + 9.02 min.
7. Nasser Al Attiyah/Alain Guehennec (QT/F), BMW X3; 3:58:19 hrs. (7.) + 9.05 min.
8. Mark Miller/Dirk von Zitzewitz (USA/D), Volkswagen Race Touareg 2; 4:00:29 hrs. (10.) + 10.03 min.
9. Nani Roma/Henri Magne (E/F), Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution; 4:04:08 hrs. (11.) + 10.24 min.
10. Thierry Magnaldi/Arnaud Debron (F/F), Schlesser-Ford; 3:54:48 hrs. (2.) + 13.24 min.