Volkswagen's rally cry

Volkswagen Racing will make its Dakar Cross Country Rally debut next month with three specialist prototype buggies, called the Tarek.

The tubular steel and carbon fibre Tarek was developed jointly by VW and the renowned Italdesign-Giugiaro Group from Italy.

It is powered by a 1.9-litre 160kW (218bhp) turbo-diesel engine driving the rear wheels through a special five-speed racing gearbox.

VW Racing has been testing the Tarek in the south of France and Morocco, where it has proved to be fast and reliable.

But even so, VW Racing chief Rudolf-Helmut Strozyk is not expecting an easy baptism in perhaps the world's most gruelling motorsport event.

"Given the top class and impressive lineup of our opponents, we do not aim for a fixed position in the overall classification. Instead we want to finish our first outing as seamlessly as possible," Strozyk said.

"We've a lot to learn organisationally, technically and competitively. I'm certain that, with such a strong team, we can reach the finish on debut."

The three-car team will be run by German specialist Erwin Weber.

Leading the driver lineup is German Jutta Kleinschmidt, the only female driver to win a leg of the 10,000km torture test.

Her co-driver is Italian Fabrizia Pons, who has partnered World Rally greats Ari Vatanen and Michele Motuon. Other drivers will be Belgian Stephane Henrard and German Dieter Depping.

The Dakar Rally starts in Marseille, France, on January 1 and runs through Spain, Tunisia and Libya to Sharm El Sheikh on the Red Sea.