Unikadeco Blog

pA spiky stone buried in deep sand or a huge stoneboulder lying on the path are the trigger ndash; during the 2010 Dakar Rally replacing tyres numbers among the usualnbsp; challenges facing Volkswagen factory drivers Carlos Sainz, Giniel de Villiers, Nasser Al-Attiyah, Mark Miller and Mauriacute;cio Neves. nbsp;Statistically it affects every team between 3 and 4 times throughout the approximate 9,000 kilometre cross country rally through Argentina and Chile. nbsp;During the stages the drivers and co-drivers must manage without their experienced service crew and instead handle the problem on their ownbr / nbsp;br / lsquo;Thanks to the long-standing JV with BFGoodrich the Race Touareg is fitted with a first class tyre: The emAll Terrain/em offers excellent grip on various surfaces and is also highly resistant. Punctures yet happen ndash; hidden stones or small errors are unavoidable thought the Dakar,rsquo; explains VW Motorsport Director and a href=http://www.vansales.com/ target=_blankvan leasing/a expert Kris Nissen. lsquo;As ~ Since ~ Because} the timer continues during a tyre stop the proficiency is to waste as little time as likely . It is all the more important to be completely ready : During the driversrsquo; extensive training, but also as a result of sophisticated tools and well-thought out installations and devices on the Volkswagen Race Touareg.rsquo;/p
pnbsp;br / Replacing the near 40-kilogram wheel and tyre is made as per an strict choreography. nbsp;lsquo;Every movement is defined and practiced,rsquo; explains Dirk von Zitzewitz 2009 Dakar winner, and co-driver to the South African Giniel de Villiers. nbsp;/p
pThe first step is to get organized for the task: lsquo;Even as we are still searching for flat ground to park , I put on gloves as the wheels can be red-hot,rsquo; explains Timo Gottschalk co-pilot of Volkswagen works driver Nasser Al-Attiyah. nbsp;lsquo;In the episode of a puncture to the right-rear tyre I give the heavy duty battery-operated wrench to Nasser. nbsp;We swap the tasks if the puncture is on the left.rsquo;nbsp; Drives are also trained on a href=http://www.vansales.com/van_types/dropsides/6/dropside.htmlDropside Vans/a and a href=http://www.vansales.com/van_types/17_seater_minibuses/12/17_seater_minibus.html17 Seater Minibus/a/p
p Things happen very fast the moment the carcomes to complete stop . nbsp;Gottschalk gets rid of the seat belts, hops out of the automobile , runs around to the back cover, loosens one of the 2 to 4 spare wheels and brings it to the right-hand rear corner of the vehicle . Meanwhile Al-Attiyah has lifted up the rally automobile with the built-in hydraulic car jack, removed the five wheel nuts and taken off the flat tyre. nbsp;While the co-driver loads the punctured tyre and clears away the tools, the driver bolts the new wheel on. lsquo;The most hard thing is to nbsp;lift the wheel and to mount it onto the five wheel-studs without jamming it,rsquo; explains Al-Attiyah. Both jump back into the cockpit and the race can then continue./p
plsquo;1 minute 16 seconds is our best time, it is of course including loading the wheel and belting up,rsquo; explains Timo Gottschalk. lsquo;It is vital to stay under two minutes to avoid having to drive in the dust cloud kicked-up by the next car and losing time.rsquo;nbsp;/p
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