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Touareg adventurer sets off on new world record tour

23,000 kilometres from Melbourne to St. Petersburg

Wolfsburg, 27 July 2012 - Rainer Zietlow and his team have set off on a new record-breaking trip: the long-distance adventurer is aiming to do 23,000 kilometres from Melbourne to St. Petersburg in a Touareg powered by the standard engine. Zietlow plans to cover the route from the earth's southernmost city of over a million inhabitants to its northernmost counterpart in less than three weeks.

Armed with additional equipment, such as a roll-cage and an extra fuel tank, Zietlow began his journey with the Touareg yesterday, Thursday, in Melbourne. During the course of his tour the adventurer will cross many climatic and vegetation zones and have to withstand extreme heat, torrential rain, sandstorms and differences in altitude. The Touareg is set to prove its qualities and durability in all the challenging conditions along the way. Efficiency will also play a major role on this extraordinary trip: however, with the environmentally friendly 3-litre V6 TDI Clean Diesel engine (165 kW / 225 PS in the US version) Rainer Zietlow's team is very well equipped. Compared, for example, to other vehicles of this category with petrol engines the all-terrain Volkswagen consumes 30 per cent less fuel and emits up to 25 per cent less CO₂.

In the style of former dispatch riders, Rainer Zietlow is aiming to deliver a letter from the Mayor of Melbourne to the top city official of St. Petersburg. Melbourne is celebrating the 175^th anniversary of its naming this year and has been twinned with St. Petersburg since 1989.

Thanks to a modern GPS system that reliably records the team's position every 30 minutes, everyone interested in following the record journey can do so in real time at www.touareg-russtralia.com.

The off-road enthusiast and his team have already set one record. Last year, driving a Volkswagen Touareg V6 TDI they set the fastest time for driving the famous Pan-American highway from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego: just 11 days, 17 hours and 22 minutes.