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9000 kilometres across some really rough terrain – that’s the challenge facing the rally drivers taking part in the “Dakar Rally” in January. Two weeks of stress and strain. The head of motor racing in charge of the teams is under enormous pressure too, but in his case it’s not confined to that single fortnight. All year long he has to put together a car drawing on a given budget; a car that will pose a genuine threat to the competition. At the same time he must organise and supervise: the safety of the entire team, the fitness of the drivers and co-drivers, the transportation of the equipment, and so on and so forth. Mhoch4 has accompanied Volkswagen’s head of motor racing Kris Nissen and seen the extent of the demands made on him on the eve of the Dakar Rally.

The vehicles can only be described using superlatives. And the same is pretty much true of the terrain in which they will eventually be deployed – in what is quite simply considered the toughest rally in the world. The 2011 Dakar Rally will be the ultimate acid test for a team that has twice in succession dominated the mother of all rallies and taught its competitors a lesson or two. The opponents of Volkswagen’s Race Touareg have no desire to let the team surrounding Carlos Sainz and Kris Nissen dominate the classic rally for a third year running. This is why the Volkswagen team must prepare more meticulously than ever. A faultless performance may be necessary to secure a third victory in South America.

With only two weeks to the start of the Dakar 2011, gruelling challenges await the drivers and their vehicles. The Volkswagen team around Kris Nissen and Carlos Sianz seem strangely cheerful despite being about to face intense and grindingly painful special stages. Pointing the way to the first stage, the ‘Race Touareg 3’ travels from Europe to South America. This is very special freight indeed. The journey begins at Amsterdam airport.