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Next chapter in the cross-country rallying thriller: with their fourth leg win, Carlos Sainz/Michel Périn (E/F) have taken the lead in the Central Europe Rally. In the penultimate of the seven legs, the Volkswagen works drivers successfully continued their chase by securing their third consecutive leg win. In the past days, the pairing gained more than eight minutes on their opponent Stéphane Peterhansel (Mitsubishi). With six of the seven legs contested, Sainz/Périn, the overall 2007 FIA Cross Country Rally World Cup winners have taken the lead but lie just 18 seconds ahead of the second placed car. At the same time, another success story also was continued in the leg held around Veszprem (Hungary): having prevailed six times in the six legs contested to date, the Volkswagen Race Touareg 2 remains undefeated, in the Central Europe Rally.

Just like their fellow Volkswagen drivers, Dieter Depping/Timo Gottschalk (D/D) also gained a position in the overall standings and hold third place, now. Despite having suffered a puncture in the first of the day's two special stages, the German pairing displaced Luc Alphand (Mitsubishi). And the battle for third position is just as close as the one for the lead. Prior to the final day, the lead of Depping/Gottschalk over their fourth-placed rival amounts to just seven seconds. Carlos Sousa/Andreas Schulz (P/D) also gained a position in the overall rankings and will start into tomorrow's final leg from fifth position. So, all the three Volkswagen Race Touareg 2 still involved in the rally hold top-five positions.

With its distance of 210 kilometres, the penultimate leg of the Central Europe Rally, starting and ending in Veszprem (Hungary), represented the longest section of the event. The gravel roads and fast woody sections were extremely demanding for both drivers and cars. In addition, the final 155-kilometre leg held on Saturday – from Veszprem to Balatonfüred on Lake Balaton – features a similar characteristic.

Kris Nissen : (Volkswagen Motorsport Director)
"This is the arguably most thrilling rally we ever have been involved in. I'm proud of the Race Touareg having won all the six stages contested to date. This is a proof of both the car's competitiveness and the great job done by the entire team. While the fact that Carlos Sainz and Dieter Depping have gained time again today, thus giving Volkswagen the lead, demonstrates that we also were did a good job when it comes to our driver choice.”