Mark and Dirks comments on Rest-Day
# 309 – Mark Miller (USA)
„IÂm a little disappointed since our two rolls on the seventh stage have effectively robbed us of the chance of winning. I must now do my best to move up the overall leader board from day to day and to make no mistakes.
IÂm happy that IÂm just as quick as the others. This should help me in the future. ItÂs great to drive for such a professional team – the Volkswagen team works fantastically. I want to help Jutta and Giniel get on the podium – hopefully on the top step.Â
# 309 – Dirk von Zitzewitz (D)
„ItÂs shocking just how close good and evil sit at the ÂDakarÂ. We were in a good position after the sixth stage, and thought that we had thrown everything away by rolling twice on the following day. We were lucky that in spite of our bad luck we are still in the top 10. However, it hurts to see just how close we were to a big prize. Plenty can happen on a ÂDakarÂ. We have another tough day in front of us after the rest day. You can never be sure of a good position here. The rally only finishes at Lac Rose.Â
Stage 8
#309 – Mark Miller (USA), 3rd place (leg) / 8th position overall „The second best time is incredible, particularly as we drove seven kilometers in the wrong direction together with Giniel! At the start we saw Carlos stationary in a river bed, but the ground was too soft to help him. Later Jutta waved us by, as she had only just freed herself. The final kilometers were great fun.Â
Stage 7
Phone Call-in by Dirk von Zitzewitz (German)
Summary of the phonecall as Dirk describes the adventures Stage 7 for the team. It was lots of luck during a streak of mishaps. The day started well, Dirk and Mark where excited about the previous success. At around km 310 they jumped over a dune at a high rate of speed and rolled the car. Luckily the car landed on its side and with the aid of shovels did they manage to get the car back on its wheels. It took one hour but they where able to continue under their own power. Then 2 km later they perfected the roll in the dunes but landed back on their wheels. Unfortunaly they damaged the radiator. They continued the race but encountered overheating. They moved at a medium speed to watch the temperatures of the engine but where able to gain full speed later in the stage. It was crazy to finish 14th after all their problems in this stage. They actually called it the end of their race. Now they still have a shot at a top5 finish. Things look good.
