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Thrilling battle for seconds on leg five of the Central Europe Rally: in the fight for the overall win, Volkswagen works drivers Carlos Sainz/Michel Périn (E/F) made a major step forward by leaping up from fifth to second position.

On the way to their third leg win – the fifth for the Race Touareg 2 in this rally and its 66th altogether – Sainz/Périn reduced the lead of current leader Stéphane Peterhansel (Mitsubishi) by more than three and a half minutes. Prior to the final two legs, the Volkswagen pairing lies just 22 seconds behind the leading Frenchman Stéphane Peterhansel (Mitsubishi).

By finishing fifth in today's loop starting and finishing in Veszprem, Hungary, Dieter Depping/Timo Gottschalk (D/D) also kept their great chances alive – despite having suffered a tyre puncture. The German pairing holds fourth position, about three minutes behind the front-runner. Meanwhile Carlos Sousa/Andreas Schulz (P/D) in the Race Touareg entered by customer team Lagos gained three positions to now hold sixth place in the overall rankings, with five days of the rally contested.

At the same time, Giniel de Villiers/Dirk von Zitzewitz (RSA/D) encountered cruel luck on the fast 210-kilometre leg – the longest of the Central Europe Rally to date. On a deep bump that wasn't noted in the road-book, the rear of the car got airborne and the Volkswagen Race Touareg 2 of the previously second placed pairing somersaulted, with driver and co-driver surviving the crash unharmed. However, the incident put an end to the rally for the South African-German duo. On Friday, the drivers will have to contest another two special stages with a total distance of about 200 kilometres and on Saturday, this new event on the Cross Country Rally calendar will end with its seventh leg in Balatonfüred.

Kris Nissen : (Volkswagen Motorsport Director)
" The most important news for Volkswagen: Giniel de Villiers und Dirk von Zitzewitz are in good health, following their massive accident. A fact demonstrating that the drivers also can fully rely on the safety features of the Race Touareg. In terms of the sporting action, we can be delighted with the leg win of Carlos Sainz as he succeeded in reducing the lead of Stéphane Peterhansel considerably. Now, he is just seconds behind and I'm confident that we will be able to keep on battling it out for the win.”

#201 – Carlos Sainz : 2nd place overall