Image 10 of 26 from Dakar Rally (Day 4): VW takes the lead

January 4, 2006 The Dakar Rally, from Lisbon to Dakar (Senegal), began on Saturday 31 December 2005 with a 370 kilometre stage from Lisbon to Portimao, followed on New Year’s Day with a further 567 kilometres to Malaga, Then followed a seven hour ferry crossing to Morocco for the entire rally contingent before racing got underway in Africa. There have been no surprises to date with Mitsubishi (questing for its sixth consecutive win) and the massive Volkswagen factory Touareg effort alternately holding the lead. In the bikes, the winning marque is already a foregone conclusion with KTM machinery holding the first six places. Yesterday Volkswagen hit back strongly with multiple WRC champion Carlos Sainz skipping out to a five minute lead and Volkswagen taking the first three places overall. Last year our extensive coverage of the Dakar Rally dubbed it the “Most Dangerous Sporting Event in the World” and compared it with the famous road races of 100 years ago. This year our coverage will be written separately for motorcycles and cars.