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Somber victory for Volkswagen and Giniel de Villiers in Morocco
In the Morocco Rally Volkswagen scored the second consecutive victory of the season – clinched by Giniel de Villiers and his co-driver Dirk von Zitzewitz – in the FIA Cross-Country Rally World Cup. On the sixth and final day the rally in the eastern part of Morocco was overshadowed by a tragic accident in which the Frenchman Henri Magne, co-driver of Mitsubishi driver Nani Roma (Spain), sustained fatal injuries. After the incident Mitsubishi withdrew the vehicles of Stéphane Peterhansel (France) and Hiroshi Masuoka (Japan) from the competition.
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After winning two legs, 34-year-old Giniel de Villiers in the Volkswagen Race Touareg 2 had started to the seventh and final day of the Morocco Rally as the leader. Team-mate Carlos Sainz (Spain) with co-driver Michel Périn (France) in the second Race Touareg did not compete on the final day due to a hand injury. Carlos Sousa finished his first rally in the Volkswagen Race Touareg 2 of Team Lagos, entered by the Volkswagen semi-works team Phoenix Sport, in third place overall.
Kris Nissen (Volkswagen Motorsport Director): "We express our condolences to Henri Magne’s family and the entire Mitsubishi team. Our victory in this sad rally steps back in the face of this tragedy."
#201 – Giniel de Villiers (RSA), 2nd place (leg) / 1st place overall: "This is a very sad victory for me. I knew Henri Magne as a very nice person, a professional co-driver and fair competitor. I have relegated the sporting aspects of this rally completely to the back of my mind."
#203 – Carlos Sainz (E): "My sympathy goes to Henri Magne’s bereaved family. I left the team on Monday morning and am on my way to a hospital in Spain. When hitting a rock yesterday I dislocated my left thumb, which is very painful. In the hospital in Morocco the thumb was bandaged and my hand an lower arm were immobilised. Now I’m going to continue having the injury treated at home in Spain."
Tentative final result, Morocco Rally (MA), 31 May –05 Jun 2006
Pos., Team, Vehicle, SS 9, Total time
1. Giniel de Villiers/Dirk von Zitzewitz (RSA/D); Volkswagen Race Touareg 2; 3:11.04 hrs (2.); 15:02.31 hrs
2. Jean-L. Schlesser/François Borsotto (F/F); Schlesser-Ford; 3:15.42 hrs (4.) + 19.04 min
3. Carlos Sousa/Andreas Schulz (P/D); Volkswagen Race Touareg 2; 3:05.47 hrs (1.) + 41.09 min
4. Sergey Shmakov/Konstantin Meshcheryakov (RU/RU); Buggy Zil; 3:21.31 hrs (5.) + 2:06.04 hrs
5. Paulo Nobre/Luis Palu (BR/BR); BMW X5; 3:24.27 hrs (6.) + 2:16.53 hrs
6. Philippe Vandromme/Jean Brucy (F/F); Buggy SMG; 3:32.20 hrs (11.) + 2:30.38 hrs
7. Joost van Cauwenberge/Marc Devos (B/B); Toyota Landcruiser; 3:27.51 hrs (9.) + 3:00.24 hrs
8. Gerard Benielli/Jean-Bruno Lomelet (F/F); Buggy Renault; 3:26.33 hrs (8.) + 3:01.27 hrs
9. Christian Lavieille/Arnaud Debron (F/F); Nissan Pathfinder; 3:33.24 hrs (12.) + 3:37.30 hrs
10. Thomas Loussier/Frédéric Vivier (F/F); Nissan Pathfinder; 3:28.42 hrs (10.) + 3:55.16 hrs
PaddockTalk Perspective
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