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Calor extremo, as mais duras pistas e alturas de criar muitas vertigens:  O Rali Dakar, disputado de 3 a 18 de Janiero, na Argentina e no Chile pela primeira vez, irá exigir a máxima performance a cada um dos participantes.  Com temperaturas mais altas do que em África, a próxima edição do "Dakar" aguarda assim pelas equipas dos Race Touareg 2 durante o verão Sul Americano.  Além disso, os pilotos serão expostos ao ar rarefeito dos Andes nas duas passagens que terão que efectuar, terão também que atravessar o Deserto Atacama que é uma das regiões mais secas do Planeta e irão enfrentar alguma das mais duras pistas de todo terreno.    Quem quer que seja que deseje vencer este desafio, terá que estar na sua melhor forma física. Por esta razão a equipa Volkswagen preparou-se para este desafio de forma profissional e meticulosa obedecendo a um treino muito variado.

" O Rali Dakar não terá nada a ver com o que conhecemos da condução habitual", clarifica a Kris Nissen, director da Volkswagen Motorsport. " Isto será desporto profissional ao mais alto nível".   Um breve olhar para o monitor de pulsação confirma isto: Durante a longa exposição ao esforço constante, os batimentos cardíacos dos pilotos no cockpit podem atingir 140 a 160 batimentos por minuto - comparável aos valores de um futebolista profissional. Por esta razão, cada piloto cumpriu um treino pessoal que durou até 5 horas por dia.  Além do treino de resistência, também foi realizado um treino com pesos, de forma a por exemplo os pilotos estarem aptos a lidarem facilmente com as rodas suplentes que pesam cerca de 30kgs, e que terão que ser movimentadas na eventualidade de surgirem furos. (...)

Press Volkswagen Motorsport

Hotter than Africa: The "Dakar" as professional sport 
 

Wolfsburg (23 December 2008). Extreme heat, the toughest tracks and dizzying heights: The Dakar Rally, held between the 3 and 18 January in Argentina and Chile for the first time, demands maximum performance from every participant. Even higher temperatures than in Africa, the former venue of the "Dakar”, await the Volkswagen Race Touareg 2 teams during the South American summer. Furthermore, the drivers are exposed to the thinnest air as they cross the towering Andes twice, drive through the Atacama Desert one of the world’s driest regions and must stomach the hardest knocks on the cross-country tracks. Whoever wants to master this challenge must be in peak physical form. For this reason, the Volkswagen team prepared itself just as professionally as meticulously and varied for the marathon.
 
"The Dakar Rally has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with normal driving,” clarifies Volkswagen Motorsport Director Kris Nissen. "It is professional sport at the highest level.” A mere glimpse at the pulse monitor confirms this: During the long exposure to constant strain in the cockpit pulse rates of 140 to 160 beats per minute appear – comparable with the values seen by professional footballers. For this reason each driver’s personal fitness training lasts up to five hours daily! In addition to stamina, intensive weight training is targeted in order, for example, to be able to manhandle the 30 kilogram spare wheel quickly in the event of a puncture. 

 
Healthcare is important factor in South America
 
While the four Volkswagen Race Touareg teams prepared at a special training camp in the Swiss Alps for the extremely low air-pressure and the correspondingly low oxygen content encountered at altitudes of up to 4,700 metres above sea level, there is hardly any effective prescription for the stress generated by temperatures way above the 40 degree Celsius mark

. "To stay highly concentrated in these high temperatures and with this physical effort for up to eight hours a day requires impeccable fitness,” says Volkswagen team physician Dr Markus Preuth. However, the physician also knows: "Our rally drivers are tough cookies. If need be they grit their teeth to reach their objectives.”
 
Following the intense physical preparation over the previous months the healthcare in South America also ensures that the drivers always balance their fluid intake and eat correctly. For this reason the Volkswagen team also has a cook who tends to the drivers and co-drivers special needs. A unique personal catering service is available to quell the drivers hunger and thirst during the stages: The co-drivers "feed” their chauffeurs during the stage at race pace with energy bars, power gels and similar nutritional resources.