The 31st running of the legendary Dakar Rally took place in the South American countries of Argentina and Chile. A new continent for what is arguably one of the toughest motorsport events in the world but one which offered the same level of difficulty as found in Africa, saw the Volkswagen team take a historic victory with the first Diesel powered car to win the event outright. Previously the best placed Diesel vehicle was in 2006 when Volkswagen finished in second place.

If winning was all that Volkswagen had realised that in itself would have been a fantastic achievement, but the team scored an amazing 1st, 2nd and 6th position – all with Diesel powered cars utilising Xtrac gearboxes and differentials. Additionally, Volkswagen secured 10 stage victories from a possible 13, again proving the utter dominance and reliability of the Volkswagen Touareg.

Xtrac have worked with the Volkswagen Audi Group for over 10 years developing ground breaking Diesel transmissions and the greatest endurance races in the world such as Dakar, the Le Mans 24 hours and the Sebring 12 hour events have only ever seen Diesel powered victories by cars using Xtrac transmissions.

Xtrac would like to congratulate all of their customers for their performances in this most gruelling of events, especially the 6 who finished in the top 10 of the car class.