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Volkswagen cautious despite lead

Volkswagen motorsport director Kris Nissen remains cautious about the German car maker's chances of victory in this year's Dakar rally

Spaniard Carlos Sainz is leading the rally at the halfway point, with teammates Giniel de Villiers and Mark Miller in second and third in the overall standings.

Rivals Mitsubishi's challenge is now down to just one car, that of Joan Roma, after the retirement of the three other works cars. Roma, meanwhile, is in fourth, but half an hour behind Sainz.

Although Volkswagen look on course to score their first Dakar victory - and the first for a diesel car - Nissen insists there is still a long way to go.

"At the halfway point of the Dakar, we can look back on a successful first week of rallying," said Nissen. "The whole team has done an excellent job and the Race Touareg has demonstrated that it is a fast and reliable vehicle.

"There were three or four very demanding days in the first week, but the next seven stages will be even tougher.

"We are on course for success, but we nevertheless need to remain focused and not make any mistakes if we want to achieve our objective of winning the Dakar.

"And to do that, we need to overcome the rally itself first, as it is and will continue to be our toughest adversary. We can already safely say that this is the hardest Dakar Rally ever."

Sainz echoed Nissen's thoughts about the difficulty of the rally, which moved from Africa to South America for this year's edition.

"Even before we have tackled the more demanding half of the Dakar Rally coming up next week, it's safe to say that this Dakar is really very tough," Sainz said.

"At the end of the first extremely challenging week, there is next to nothing between me and my team colleague Giniel de Villiers.

"But the most important thing is that Volkswagen is in a great position ahead of the remaining seven legs. We now have to make sure that we remain cautious and focused, because, as I have said before, the next legs are bound to be tougher than the legs so far.

"I predicted there would be a lot of enthusiasm for the Dakar in South America before we got here, but to see the huge numbers of excited fans here is absolutely fantastic."

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