After previously clinching four stage wins at the new rally run by the Dakar Rally's organisers, the Volkswagen factory pairing of Carlos Sainz/Michel Périn won the last of the seven specials as well, relegating Stéphane Peterhansel (Mitsubishi) to second place overall by 2.01 minutes. A third-place finish was the overall rally début result claimed by Dieter Depping/Timo Gottschalk in the Volkswagen Race Touareg 2, powered by an innovative TDI diesel. The German duo set the day's second-best time on the final stage from Veszprem (Hungary) to Balatonfüred (Hungary), thus capturing a podium place in the duel with Luc Alphand (Mitsubishi).
At the Central Europe Rally, whose special stages cover over 1,000 kilometres and a total distance of about 2,600 kilometres, the rally resembled the first legs of the Dakar Rally in recent years. Volkswagen won all seven stages, thus remaining undefeated in Hungary and Romania. The final leg saw the unfolding of a real thriller, with Carlos Sainz and Stéphane Peterhansel fighting as on previous stages for overall victory with merely seconds separating them. The race for third overall was rather untypical for cross-country rally events and was about mere seconds as well. Dieter Depping, stage winner on the second day, kept the upper hand on the final, 155-kilometre special stage, with a 54-second lead over Luc Alphand.
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