Amarok

The Dakar Rally crosses the finish line after 9,000 kilometres 

The new Amarok with automatic transmission and the new Crafter 4MOTION faced the toughest challenges successfully

Hanover / Lima, January 15, 2012: the Dakar Rally has reached its destination in Lima, the capital of Peru. On January 1 some 400 entrants in cars, on motorcycles and quads and in race trucks set off from Mar del Plata on the Atlantic coast of Argentina to tackle the 9,000-kilometre rally route. The service fleet from Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles in Hanover also completed this marathon distance successfully.

The rally was won by the top favourite, Stéphane Peterhansel. The French driver has now won the ‘Dakar’ ten times in all, with six victories on a motorcycle and four in a car.

Also safely across the finishing line in Lima: the fleet of Amarok, Panamericana Multivan and Crafter 4MOTION models made available to the rally organisers by Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles as ‘official supplier’ of the rally. The 30 Amaroks – among which the new versions with automatic transmission and with a single-cab body - as well as eight Panamericana Multivans and a Crafter 4MOTION with all-wheel drive from Achleitner were used to assist the timekeepers, stage marshals and safety personnel. 

Covering approximately 9,000 kilometres from Argentina across the Andes to Chile and then on to Peru was naturally a tough challenge for the Amaroks, Panamericana Multivans and Crafter 4MOTION. This was summed up by Carsten Otto, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles’ Operations Manager: “The Dakar Rally is a fearsome trial of strength, especially for the Amaroks that were mostly driven off-road. But we had no problems that we were unable to solve on the spot.” During the 15-day rally the service team changed almost 50 air filters and an equal number of pollen filters. They also replaced two windscreens shattered by flying stones, fitted more than two dozen new tyres and installed two new sets of shock absorbers on the Amaroks that were used off-road.

The daily stages in the second half of the rally took the entrants from the Chilean mining town of Copiapo to their final destination in Lima. Once again the utmost was demanded from the Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles fleet. On the rough, gravel tracks in the foothills of the Andes, the Crafter 4MOTION’s Achleitner all-wheel drive again proved its worth. With its three driver-engaged differential locks, Volkswagen’s large transporter even overcame the notorious ‘fech fech’, the fine, powdery sand, often knee-deep, encountered in the Atacama desert. Some of the daily stages were monotonous – the worst being a straight road more than 52 kilometres long in Peru – and the speed limits of 100 km/h in Chile and 90 km/h in Peru were strictly enforced. In these situations the eight-speed automatic transmission of the new Amarok Automatic helped greatly to reduce the driver’s workload. Ex-Formula 1 driver Jacky Ickx tested this new version of the amarok during the rest day in Copiapo and was impressed: “I liked the Amarok Automatic a lot, especially the optional manual-shift mode. In the Amarok Automatic I reached places off-road which I would hardly have believed possible.”

Jacky Ickx, Rudolf Schenker and Dariusz Michalczewski welcomed to Chile by Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles 

Hanover / Copiapo, January 9, 2012. Mountain passes in the Andes, deep ravines, sand dunes many metres high in the Atacama desert: all these challenges were faced by entrants during the first half of the Dakar Rally, which is being run this year from Argentina to Peru. During their rest day the drivers were joined by several prominent visitors to the camp. On the Sunday legendary Formula 1 star Jacky Ickx provided safety hints for ‘Scorpions’ rocker Rudolf Schenker and boxing world champion Dariusz ‘The Tiger’ Michalczewski during an offroad run in the Amarok Automatic. 

“It’s unbelievable how easy the Amarok is to drive off-road – better than a knockout victory in the first round!” said ‘The Tiger’, who travelled from Poland, his home country, to see the rally and test the new vehicle for Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles. Volkswagen Brand Ambassador Jacky Ickx was also impressed by the Amarok Automatic’s off-road capabilities: “With its low drive-off gear ratio and permanent all-wheel drive, the Amarok Automatic can climb steep gradients with ease, but is still notable for its low fuel consumption”, declared the past Formula 1 driver. 

This was guitarist Rudolf Schenker’s second brief visit to a ‘Dakar’ camp. The musician from Hanover expressed his feelings: “Rocking the track in the Amarok is even more of a thrill.” Together with Michalczewski, Schenker sang a few bars of the Scorpions’ hit ‘Rock You Like A Hurricane’. He had already caused a sensation two years before when he sang this number unexpectedly with electric guitar and amplifier from the load area of an Amarok. 

Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles is official supplier for the third time to the Dakar Rally, and has made 30 Amaroks, eight PanAmericana Multivans and a Crafter 4MOTION with all-wheel drive from Achleitner available to the Amaury Sport Organisation (A.S.O.) team for this year’s event. 

Among the prominent guests welcomed on the rest day in Chile on Sunday were three leading surfers: Björn Dunkerbeck, Klaas Voget and Robby Swift took the Volkswagen Crafter 4MOTION out into the Atacama Desert to sample its off-road capabilities and sandboard over the dunes. By January 15 the Dakar Rally participants, coming from around the world, will have covered about 9,000 kilometres through Argentina, Chile and Peru. This year the event started in Mar del Plata, Argentina and will finish in Lima. In the previous three years the event, considered to be the world’s toughest marathon rally, started from Buenos Aires. 

This year the Amaroks, the Multivans and the Crafter 4MOTION with all-wheel drive from Achleitner are again facing a tough test: as the organiser’s official vehicles they must be able to withstand all the severe loads incurred on the demanding rally route – from the Atlantic to the Pacific, through the Atacama Desert, across the Andes, through canyons and a series of different climatic zones. 

Björn Dunkerbeck, Klaas Voget and Robby Swift as test drivers for Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles

 Hannover / Copiapo, January 9, 2012. Having completed the first half of the marathon rally route, the ‘Dakar’ entrants enjoyed a rest day in the camp near Copiapo in Chile. This was an opportunity for Klaas Voget (31), Björn Dunkerbeck (41) and Robby Swift (27) to meet up in Chile at the invitation of Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles and put a new model through its paces: the Crafter 4MOTION with all-wheel drive by Achleitner. The three sportsmen took this all-terrain vehicle out into the desert on Sunday for a sandboard surfing session in the dunes. 

They chose the Cerro Medanoso region, more than 1,600 metres above sea level, as their destination. The highest sand dunes in Chile are located there. Medanoso is about 80 km north-east of Copiapo, near Diego de Almagro. World Windsurfing Champion Björn Dunkerbeck explains their plan: “We simply packed all our equipment into the back of the Crafter and set off in the direction of the desert. When we caught sight of the towering sand dunes, we thought: ‘We’ll never climb those, no vehicle would ever get that far, it’s impossible!’” But the three sportsmen were pleasantly surprised: this new commercial vehicle model with all-wheel drive from the specialist Achleitner company tackled sand and uneven surfaces effortlessly, and brought them safely to their target – on the highest dune of all. 

“I still can’t believe it all went so easily!” declared Klaas Voget. For the third time, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles is official supplier to the Dakar Rally, and has made 30 Amaroks, eight PanAmericana Multivans and a Crafter 4MOTION with all-wheel drive from Achleitner available to the Amaury Sport Organisation (A.S.O.) team for this year’s event. 

At the same time as the surfers, three other prominent personalities also made their way to Chile: legendary Formula 1 driver Jacky Ickx provided safety hints for ‘Scorpions’ rock musician Rudolf Schenker and boxing world champion Dariusz ‘The Tiger’ Michalczewski during an offroad run in the Amarok Automatic. With its 8-speed automatic transmission, low drive-off gear ratio and permanent all-wheel drive, this Amarok model can climb steep gradients with ease, but still has notably low fuel consumption. By January 15, Dakar Rally entrants from all over the world will have completed the 9,000-kilometre route through Argentina, Chile and Peru. This year’s event started in Mar del Plata, Argentina and will finish in Lima. 

This year the Amaroks, the Multivans and the Crafter 4MOTION with all-wheel drive from Achleitner are facing another tough test: as the organiser’s official vehicles they must stand up to all the loads incurred on the arduous rally route – from the Atlantic to the Pacific, through the Atacama Desert, across the Andes and through canyons and a series of different climatic zones.