OREANDA-NEWS. On 19 March 2009 was announced, that the Volkswagen factory racing team will take part in the Silk Road international rally which was officially presented in Moscow on 11 March. The Dakar Series rally will run through the territories of Russia, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan coming autumn. The rally will start in Kazan on 5 September and finish in Ashgabat on 13 September.

"This rally, which can be rightly called a small Dakar, is a new challenge for us, Auto-sport.ru website quotes Volkswagen's autosport unit boss Kris Nissen as saying. The route of the rally should meet the Dakar level. Some parts of the route with different relieves and scenes promise to be very interesting."

It should be recalled that the Friendship of peoples - 2008 rally finished in Ashgabat last June. It was organized by Volkswagen auto concern, Kazakhstan's Automercur company and "Za Rulem" Russian Auto Magazine. The rally started in Almaty and went through the Central Asian countries. The racers drove Volkswagen-Toureg and Volkswagen-Tiguan Jeeps.