Tubus Racing

The Isuzu Rally team is sitting in 61^st and 65^th outright after a demanding run on Day Two of the Dakar Rally.

The second stage was from Santa Rosa to Puerto Madryn and covered a total of 837km with 237km of that being the competitive special stage.

Pelle Wallentheim and Olle Ohlsson had a more consistent run, although the official website had them as low as 102^nd before they finished the day in 64^th. However, results from the two days put the Swedes in 61^st outright and the Aussies in 65^th.

At the top of the field, Volkswagen has taken first and second positions overall with dual world rally champion Carlos Sainz (and Michel Périn) ahead of teammates Giniel de Villiers and Dirk von Zitzewitz.

The Spanish-French duo staged a thrilling fight for victory with the Mitsubishi pair of Stéphane Peterhansel/Jean-Paul Cottret (F/F) and won, leaving nine-time Dakar champ Peterhansel second for the day and third outright.

The overall sentiment from all drivers suggests that Day Two was significantly harder than Day One, both on the stage itself and then the long transport section to Puerto Madryn. Many of the car drivers found themselves avoiding motorcyclists as well as battling navigation issues (many lost their way) and dusty, hot track conditions.

But despite the intense afternoon heat, hundreds of people lined the narrow streets and promenades of scenic Puerto Madryn to welcome the Dakar caravan.

Tomorrow (Monday, Argentine time), the teams leave Puerto Madryn in a westerly direction and cross the barren Patagonian wastelands to the overnight halt at Jacobacci, situated to the east of the popular tourist centre and former start of the Por Las Pampas Rally at San Carlos de Bariloche.

The day's timetable begins with a 70km liaison section before teams tackle a winding 616km special ─ the longest of the event so far ─ on classic flowing terrain, starting at Sierra Chuta and passing the Sierra Negra and Sierra Apas. The special stage then winds its way through the Pampa de Talagape towards a second passage control near El Cain, before an 8km liaison guides teams into the overnight halt at Jacobacci, 872 metres above sea level.

Originally known as the Paris-Dakar, the Dakar Rally has been staged in Africa since 1978, but last year's event was cancelled on the eve of the start after terrorists killed seven people in the area and made direct threats to the organisers of the rally, hence the move to South America.

The new event will take competitors 9500km (including 5600km of special stages) from Buenos Aires to Valparaiso in Chile and back (January 3-17), via the Andes Mountains and the Atacama Desert, said to be the driest place on earth. The event will travel to a height of 4700m, the highest in the rally's 31-year history.

Garland/Suzuki and Wallentheim/Ohlsson are driving two Isuzu D-Max utes, hand-built in Garland's Sydney workshop. They put out 160kW of power (up 33 per cent on the standard vehicle) and 500Nm of torque (@2000rpm; up 39 per cent).