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From November 28 till December 8, 2002, Volkswagen is presenting an extensive involvement in motorsport at the Essen Motor Show fair. Both at top-level and club-level, the brand’s programme from now on is covering various areas. The 2003 Dakar Rally marks Volkswagen’s debut in international top-level motorsport. Former Dakar-winner Jutta Kleinschmidt, Stéphane Henrard and Dieter Depping will be driving three prototypes with Volkswagen TDI® diesel technology, conceived as buggies. For Volkswagen, this first competitive outing in cross country rallying allows to prepare for a future involvement in this discipline with a competition version derived from the top-class off-road car Touareg.

At the same time, Volkswagen will also continue its well-established series in circuit racing. The popular ADAC Volkswagen Lupo Cup, a joint initiative by the ADAC and Volkswagen Racing, will be entering its sixth season in 2003. The series, that is part of the support package of the prestigious DTM, has proven to be an excellent stepping stone for young talents in touring car racing from the very beginning. Above the 125 hp strong Lupo, the 204 hp strong race cars in the Volkswagen New Beetle Cup will continue to round off the factory’s involvement in touring cars. Just like the Volkswagen New Beetle Cup, the Formula Volkswagen supported by ZF Sachs will be a part of the BERU Top 10 event package in 2003. For two years, the single seater series has been continuing the success story of the Formula Vee and Formula Super Vee from the 1960s and 1970s. The state-of-the-art race car, that meets the high crash-test standards of the FIA for Formula 3 cars, is being powered by a 187 hp strong Volkswagen two-litre engine.

“Thus, Volkswagen is extending its involvement in motorsport from successful club sport to top sport”, says Rudolf-Helmut Strozyk, head of Volkswagen Racing. “While the one-make series remain significant for providing a sound basis for the sport, the cross country programme will now be the spearhead of technological development and Volkswagen’s international presence in competition.”

Volkswagen to compete in jubilee edition of Dakar Rally 2003

At the 25th anniversary of the Dakar Rally, Volkswagen will be making its debut in cross country rallying. Marking the start of an involvement in the leading off-road discipline in international motorsport, there will be three Volkswagen prototypes at the start of the endurance classic across Africa. With Jutta Kleinschmidt and her Italian co-driver Fabrizia Pons, Belgian Stéphane Henrard and Bobby Willis, as well as German pairing Dieter Depping and Walter Bachhuber, Volkswagen has an experienced and effective driver line-up.

The three cars, run by German specialist, Erwin Weber, have been conceived as buggies, according to the T2 regulations of the motorsport governing body FIA. “The selection of vehicle concept and event mirror our ambitions at this terrain that is new to us”, explains Rudolf-Helmut Strozyk, head of Volkswagen Racing. “As a light tubular construction, a buggy provides us with the chance to gain initial experiences at the world’s toughest cross country rally with a rigid and reliable concept. Moreover, it is the first opportunity for the entire crew to get to know the geographical conditions in cross country rallying. Also, we want to get used to competition conditions as soon as possible. At the Dakar Rally, we will be facing the elite of those adversaries we want to compete with in the next years.”

During a maiden test in Château-Lastours in the south of France and a further test in Morocco in November, Volkswagen has acquired experiences with a first prototype of the buggy over several thousands of kilometres. In the process, the model, powered by a 160 kW (218 hp) strong 1.9 litre four cylinder TDI® engine proved to be reliable and competitive right away. Development of chassis and bodywork was carried out together with the renowned Italdesign-Giugiaro-group from Italy. The Volkswagen TDI® engine is based on the Diesel direct injection unit that has been tested in endurance circuit races. The further development has been achieved at the factory in Wolfsburg.

For the Dakar Rally, starting in Marseille in the south of France, January 1 and running through Spain, Tunisia and Libya to Sharm El Sheikh on the Red Sea in Egypt, Rudolf-Helmut Strozyk has set ambitious goals for the team: “Given the top class and also quantitatively impressive line-up of our opponents, we do not aim at a fixed position in the overall classification. Instead, we want to complete our first outing as seamless as possible. We have a lot to learn, organisationally, technically and competitively. I am certain that, with such a strong team, we can reach the finish at our debut.”

Volkswagen relies on three strong driver-teams

More than in hardly any other type of motorsport, cross country rallying allows drivers to bring in their experience as a decisive factor for success. Judgement of the condition of the terrain, profound navigation skills, a wide range of driving techniques for varying surfaces, even knowledge of the weather and experience in sand storms can often decide about victory or defeat. The selection of Volkswagen’s three driver teams represent a balanced mixture of experience and dynamic spirit.

Since 1987, Jutta Kleinschmidt has been competing in cross country rallies all over the world. In Egypt at the end of 1987, the Volkswagen driver competed in a cross country rally for the first time. For many years, the physicist competed as a motorcycle racer, before changing into the cockpit of a car. Initially, the versatile talent was a co-driver, but soon enough, she got behind the wheel herself. In 1997, she became the first woman to win a leg of the Dakar Rally. In 2001, the German, who is a Monaco resident, achieved her greatest success: outright victory in the Dakar Rally. The biography of co-driver Fabrizia Pons shows striking similarity: the Italian started her career in motorsport as a teen-ager in the 1970s, also on two wheels. Then, Fabrizia Pons was initially successful as a rally driver before becoming a co-driver. Alongside French lady driver Michèle Mouton, she finished runner-up in the 1982 world rally championship with three victories, the biggest success of her career. As a co-driver to Ari Vatanen, the mother of two children got her first experience in cross country rallying in 1995, scoring two overall wins.

Stéphane Henrard is the only driver of the trio to have valuable experience with the running of diesel cars, thus adding to the comprehensive knowledge of the ladies’ team. In 2000, the Belgian competed with a single-seater buggy at the Dakar Rally for the first time. His own construction, powered by a Volkswagen TDI® engine, helped the driver from Brussels finish third in the privateers’ classification and 35th overall. In Tunisia a few months later, he finished fourth as the best-placed driver with a diesel-powered car. The economist ended the 2001 Dakar Rally with a surprise: his buggy with Volkswagen TDI® engine reached the finish in seventh place overall. Henrard will be co-driven by Bobby Willis who has a long-standing career in rallying, too. The 48-year-old Irishman is involved in motorsport since 1973 and has clocked up countless miles in desert rallying in the World Cup for Cross Country Rallies and in the Dakar Rally.

Many testing miles, three German rally championship titles and an involvement of many years as a test- and rally driver at Volkswagen are predestining Dieter Depping as a further driver for the project. The Northern-German, living in Wedemark near Hannover, will make his cross country debut at the Dakar Rally, following a long tradition of sprint rally drivers who have been successful after changing to the cross country scene. Co-driver and motocycle expert Walter Bachhuber has gathered valuable experience as a navigator in the Dakar Rally, including all the required navigation skills.

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