Zoom Carlos Sainz.

Overall victory for Carlos Sainz, a podium position for Dieter Depping as well – and seven of seven stage wins: Volkswagen started to a new era of cross-country rally sport at the Central Europe Rally through Hungary and Romania with a great exploit. After previously clinching four stage wins at the new rally run by the Dakar Rally's organisers, the Volkswagen factory pairing of Carlos Sainz / Michel Périn won the last of the total of seven specials as well, relegating Stéphane Peterhansel (Mitsubishi) to second place overall by 2.01 minutes. A third-place finish was the overall rally début result claimed by Dieter Depping / Timo Gottschalk in the Volkswagen Race Touareg 2 powered by an innovative TDI diesel. The German duo set the day's second-best time on the final stage from Veszprem (Hungary) to Balatonfüred (Hungary), thus capturing a podium place in the duel with Luc Alphand (Mitsubishi).

At the Central Europe Rally, whose special stages covering over 1,000 kilometres and a total distance of about 2,600 kilometres resembled the first legs of the Dakar Rally in recent years, Volkswagen won all seven stages, thus remaining undefeated in Hungary and Romania. The final leg saw the unfolding of a real thriller, with Carlos Sainz and Stéphane Peterhansel fighting – as on previous stages – for overall victory with merely seconds separating them. The race for third overall – rather untypical for cross-country rally events – was about seconds as well: Dieter Depping, stage winner on the second day, kept the upper hand on the final, 155-kilometre special stage, with a 54-second lead over Luc Alphand.

The third Race Touareg that was still in the race captured a top position too: Carlos Sousa / Andreas Schulz finished fifth overall in the vehicle fielded by the Lagos customer team. However, for the two factory duos Mark Miller / Ralph Pitchford and Giniel de Villiers / Dirk von Zitzewitz, the Central Europe Rally, ended prematurely after roll-over accidents on the first and fifth leg, respectively.

For the Race Touareg powered by a 280-hp, 2.5-litre TDI diesel engine, this marked the eighth overall victory in 22 cross-country rally events since 2004. In addition, the vehicle has a tally of 68 stage wins and 55 days of being the lead vehicle in the field.

Kris Nissen - Volkswagen Motorsport Director :
« The Central Europe Rally was the toughest and most thrilling rally we've ever contested. It was great advertisement for this sport and a good start to a new era. With overall results in first, third and fifth place against extremely fierce competition, we're more than happy. They show the potential of the Volkswagen Race Touareg as well as the fact that we were perfectly prepared for the 2008 Dakar Rally as a serious contender for victory. »