On Wednesday, Volkswagen Group has distributed first photo-teaser of the new racing SUV Touareg, which is prepared to participate in the next rally-raid “Dakar”. As declared in the official statement, the car will receive a new body design (it will be set in accordance with the appearance of the new generation serial Touareg) and an upgraded aerodynamics. The suspension, chassis and 2.5-liter 300-horsepower diesel engine of the vehicle won’t undergo any changes.

Test drives of the Volkswagen Touareg 3 new racing SUV prototypes will take place in the deserts of Morocco. They will include imitations of several rally special stages and should be completed in late July. The premiere of the car will be in August. The new SUV will compete at the “Silk Road 2010″ rally-raid in autumn, which will start in St. Petersburg on September 11th and finish on September 18th in Sochi. After that Touareg 3 will appear only at the “Dakar” event.

The “Dakar” rally-raid will be held in South America through the Argentina and Chile territories in January 2011. Volkswagen team has won the marathon for the past two years, and intends to defend their title. Marathon “Dakar” has been moved to South America in 2009 because of the inability to ensure the safety of racers and stuff along the route.