The Volkswagen Works Touareg Turbo Diesel (TDI) Race Team have won the Rallye d'Orient, giving them an unassailable lead in the FIA Cross Country Rally World Cup. This is the team’s third victory out of four races in the Cross Country Rally World Cup six race series.

Thanks to the most recent success, the Touareg TDI, which has only been in competition since the 2004 Dakar Rally, has added a further chapter to its already impressive resumé: three overall victories since March 2005 including a one-two and a ‘podium lockout’, a total of ten podium positions in nine starts since January 2004, and on top of all this, 21 stage victories and 21 days leading the field distinguishes the TDI powered Touareg.

By winning the championship early for Volkswagen, driver Bruno Saby has sealed the most important title of his long career. His co-driver Michel Périn remains one of the most successful co-drivers of all time: With no less than 23 individual wins in Cross Country Rallying, he has won the Cross Country Rallying World Cup title as co-driver for the fifth time since 1993 and for the first time with Volkswagen.

Director of Volkswagen Motorsport, Kris Nissen said “The whole team has worked long and hard for this success. A big thank you goes to all the Volkswagen employees and the people back at the factory that helped us. The Touaregs are very reliable; there wasn’t a single retirement due to a technical problem during the entire season. We knew that the team and drivers had made a huge step forward since the 2005 Dakar Rally. We dominated the Cross Country Rally World Cup this season and clinched the title with two rallies to spare, which is quite something when you think that our programme is still in its infancy. We will continue to work hard in the forthcoming five months. I don’t see any reason why we shouldn’t improve even more before the 2006 Dakar Rally.”