Dirk von Zitzewitz (born 14 October 1968, in

Eutin Eutin () is the district capital of Eastern Holstein county located in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein. As of 2020, the town had some 17,000 inhabitants. History The name Eutin (originally Utin) is of Slavic origin. Its meaning i ...

) is a German professional racing driver and motorcyclist, most notable for being on the winning team of the

2009 Dakar Rally The 2009 Dakar Rally was the 31st running of the Dakar Rally. In addition to motorcycle, automobile, and truck categories, a separate quad (all-terrain vehicle) class was added for the first time. The race began on 3 January 2009, and took place a ...

alongside

Giniel de Villiers Giniel de Villiers (born 25 March 1972 in Barrydale, South Africa) is a South African racing and rally driver, best known for winning the 2009 Dakar Rally. Biography De Villiers began his career in circuit racing, winning the domestic South Af ...

Career

Von Zitzewitz started his career age 14, and after considerable success in domestic and world

enduro Enduro is a form of motorcycle sport run on extended cross-country, off-road courses. Enduro consists of many different obstacles and challenges. The main type of enduro event, and the format to which the World Enduro Championship is run, is ...

competition he began to participate in the

Dakar Rally The Dakar Rally (or simply "The Dakar"; formerly known as the "Paris–Dakar Rally") is an annual rally raid organised by the Amaury Sport Organisation. Most events since the inception in 1978 were staged from Paris, France, to Dakar, Senegal ...

, making his debut in

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

. He finished fifth overall aboard at

KTM KTM AG (Kraftfahrzeug Trunkenpolz Mattighofen, formerly KTM Sportmotorcycle AG) is an Austrian motorcycle, bicycle and sports car manufacturer owned by Pierer Mobility AG and the Indian manufacturer Bajaj Auto. It was formed in 1992 but traces ...

, and was classified seventh the following year. Von Zitzewitz then took his maiden stage victories in the 1999 event, although he failed to finish the rally. Von Zitzewitz turned his hand to navigation, partnering American Mark Miller during the Dakar in 2002. In 2005, he joined the works

Volkswagen Volkswagen (),English: , . abbreviated as VW (), is a German motor vehicle manufacturer headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1937 by the German Labour Front under the Nazi Party and revived into a global brand post-W ...

team as co-driver to

Robby Gordon Robert Wesley Gordon (born January 2, 1969) is an American auto racing driver. He has raced in NASCAR, CART, the IndyCar Series, the Trans-Am Series, IMSA, IROC and the Dakar Rally. He is active in top-tier off road motorsports such as BITD, N ...

, finishing in twelfth, and re-joined Miller in 2006 to finish fifth in the overall classification. Von Zitzewitz took his first Dakar stage wins as co-driver to

in 2007, but turbo failure meant the pair would only finish eleventh overall. When the event resumed in South America in 2009, von Zitzewitz and de Villiers won four stages en route to an overall victory, albeit aided by retirement for long-time leader and Volkswagen teammate

Carlos Sainz Carlos Sainz may refer to: People * Carlos Sainz Sr. (born 1962), Spanish rally driver world champion, father of Jr. * Carlos Sainz Jr. (born 1994), Spanish Formula One driver, son of Sr. Other uses * '' Carlos Sainz: World Rally Championship'', 1 ...

. The pair were unable to defend their title in 2010 due to a severe engine problem during the third stage of the rally, but then finished in a strong runner-up place to

Nasser Al-Attiyah Nasser Salih Nasser Abdullah Al-Attiyah ( ar, ناصر صالح ناصر عبدالله العطية : nāṣir ṣāliḥ nāṣir ʿabdullāh al-ʿaṭṭīyah; born 21 December 1970 in Doha) is a Qatari rally driver and sport shooter. He wa ...

, also at the wheel of a works Volkswagen, in the 2011 event. With Volkswagen withdrawing their participation in

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...

, von Zitzewitz and de Villiers joined the South African Imperial Toyota team and finished in third place driving a

Toyota Hilux The , stylized as HiLux and historically as Hi-Lux, is a series of pickup trucks produced and marketed by the Japanese automobile manufacturer Toyota. The majority of these vehicles are sold as pickup truck or cab chassis variants, although the ...

. They repeated their success with overall second place in

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

, fourth in

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, and posted second place again in the

2015 Dakar Rally The 2015 Dakar Rally was the 37th running of the event and the seventh successive year that the event was held in South America. The event started in Buenos Aires, Argentina on January 4, then ran through Argentina, Chile and Bolivia, before retur ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zitzewitz, Dirk von 1968 births Living people German rally co-drivers Dakar Rally co-drivers People from Eutin Sportspeople from Schleswig-Holstein