Around the tracks 21 January 2011

VOLKSWAGEN has won its third straight Dakar Rally with another treble. Victor was Qatar skeet shooting gold medallist Nasser al-Attiyah, followed by 2009 victor South African Giniel De Villiers and last year's winner, Carols Sainz of Spain sidelined by broken suspension. American Mark Miller gave the VW Touareg four top 10 finishes in the South American rally. BMW was next best with three X3s. Australian Bruce Garland pulled out in the first week with a bad back after a heavy crash landing in his Isuzu D-Max ute. The bike section was won by Spain's Marc Coma on a KTM, the first to win back-to-back titles since 2002. The quad section was won by Agentinian Alejandro Patronelli on a Yamaha and the truck winner was Russian Vladimir Chagin in a Kamaz.

SYDNEY racer Daniel Erickson, 23, has been invited to drive in the iconic Daytona 24-hour sports car race next week. He will co-drive a Primus Racing Crawford-Chevrolet in the 49th January 29-30 Florida classic race alongside current NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson, Indy 500 champion Buddy Rice, IndyCar drivers Ryan Briscoe and Ryan Hunter-Reay, former F1 drivers Martin Brundle, Mark Blundell and Ricardo Zonta, and US all-rounder Scott Pruett. Erickson is the 2008 Australian Formula Ford champion and 2010 American F2000 Championship Series Rookie of the Year.

WORLD, American and Australian supercross champion Chad Reed has scored his first win as an independent rider. His TwoTwo Motorsports team won a heat race in Phoenix last weekend and finished fourth in the main event to be fifth in the AMA Supercross standings after two rounds with 15 to go. The series is led by Ryan Villopoto. The third round is in LA this Saturday. (JANUARY 22).

TWO young Australian women are set to debut in the World Rally Championship in March. Molly Taylor, 22, of Sydney, won her place through the Pirelli Star Driver Shootout in Spain last year along with Victorian Brendan Reeves. Taylor's co-driver will be Queenslander Rebecca Smart, 24, who was second outright last year in the Australian Rally Championship, as co-driver to her brother Ryan. The all-female team will compete in six WRC rounds and selected rounds of the British and European rally series.

V8 Supercars champion James Courtney and personal sponsor Jeld-Wen Australia have donated $25,000 to Queensland flood victims. The new Toll Holden Racing Team driver also donated a driving suit for a raffle and HRT donated two V8 Supercar "hot lap" passenger rides with either Courtney or team-mate Garth Tander.

TOP female drag racer Debbie Reed, 51, of Brisbane, is recovering at home after a high-speed crash during qualifying for the Top Alcohol category at Willowbank Raceway's New Year Series. The incident after Reed crossed the line in her first qualifying pass in a time of 5.980 seconds at about 360km/h. Her Top Alcohol dragster then hit the barrier wall, bounced into the opposite barrier and flipped several times.