Timo Gottschalk (born August 28, 1974 in

Neuruppin Neuruppin (; North Brandenburgisch: ''Reppin'') is a town in Brandenburg, Germany, the administrative seat of Ostprignitz-Ruppin district. It is the birthplace of the novelist Theodor Fontane (1819–1898) and therefore also referred to as ''Fon ...

) is a German

rally Rally or rallye may refer to: Gatherings * Demonstration (political), a political rally, a political demonstration of support or protest, march, or parade * Pep rally, an event held at a United States school or college sporting event Spor ...

co-driver A co-driver is the navigator of a rally car in the sport of rallying, who sits in the front passenger seat. The co-driver's job is to navigate, commonly by reading off a set of pacenotes to the driver (what lies ahead, where to turn, the severity ...

, most notable for being on the winning team of the

2011 Dakar Rally The 2011 Dakar Rally was the 33rd running of the event. It was held in Argentina and Chile for the third successive time, and ran from 1 to 16 January. The Amaury Sport Organisation and the governments of Argentina and Chile agreed to a return to ...

alongside

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 was ...

Career

Gottschalk made his debut in the Dakar Rally as navigator to compatriot Dieter Depping in the truck category in

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto ...

, the pair finishing 26th. The following year's event was cancelled, but Depping and Gottschalk managed to finish a creditable third place overall in the car category of the replacement

2008 Central Europe Rally The Central Europe Rally was a rally raid endurance race held in Romania and Hungary, and served as the relocated 2008 edition of the Dakar Rally, the 30th running of the event.Central Europe Rally 2008: 2008 Edition > The Route The Amaury Spor ...

, driving a factory

Volkswagen Touareg The Volkswagen Touareg (German pronunciation: ) is a car produced by German automaker Volkswagen Group since 2002 at the Volkswagen Bratislava Plant. A five-seater mid-size luxury crossover SUV, the vehicle was named after the nomadic Tuareg p ...

. Depping and Gottschalk continued with the factory Volkswagen team for the Dakar Rally's inaugural visit to South America in

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

finished sixth overall, albeit almost nine hours down on their victorious teammates

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 A ...

and

Dirk von Zitzewitz Dirk von Zitzewitz (born 14 October 1968, in Eutin) is a German professional racing driver and motorcyclist, most notable for being on the winning team of the 2009 Dakar Rally alongside Giniel de Villiers. Career Von Zitzewitz started his car ...

. Gottschalk then teamed up with

for the 2010 event, the pair winning four stages together en route to finishing runners-up to Volkswagen teammates Carlos Sainz and

Lucas Cruz Lucas Cruz Senra (born 26 December 1974 in Barcelona) is a Spanish computer engineer, mostly known as a rally racing co-driver and experienced navigator. Career He started to race on 1994, when he race on the Catalonia Rally Championship. On 20 ...

, just over two minutes down on the winning time. Gottschalk and Al-Attiyah returned in 2011, assuming the lead of the rally after victory in the eighth stage. Problems for Sainz and Cruz in the eleventh stage handed Gottschalk and Al-Attiyah a lead of over 50 minutes that they would maintain until the end of the rally. Gottschalk chose not to return to the Dakar to defend his crown in 2012, instead becoming co-driver to young German rally driver

Sepp Wiegand Sepp Wiegand (born January 9, 1991, in Zwönitz) is a German rally driver. He competed in most events of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge The Intercontinental Rally Challenge was an FIA-sanctioned rallying series organised by SRW Events ...

in the

Intercontinental Rally Challenge The Intercontinental Rally Challenge was an FIA-sanctioned rallying series organised by SRW Events and Eurosport Events, and aimed to "give new opportunities to young or amateur rally drivers competing in recognised regional and international ra ...

. In the past, he has also partnered Andreas Aigner in the

World Rally Championship The World Rally Championship (abbreviated as WRC) is the highest level of global competition in the motorsport discipline of rallying, owned and governed by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, FIA. There are separate championships ...

and Armin Kremer in the

Asia-Pacific Rally Championship The Asia-Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) is an international Rallying, rally championship organized by the FIA encompassing rounds in Asia and Oceania. Group N cars dominated the championship for many years but in recent years cars built to Gr ...

. Gottschalk returned to Dakar 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 ...

as a partner to Carlos Sainz in the new

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it ...

Red Bull Red Bull is a brand of energy drinks of Austrian company Red Bull GmbH. With 38% market share, it is the most popular energy drink brand as of 2019. Since its launch in 1987, more than 100 billion cans of Red Bull have been sold worldwide, inc ...

team, winning the opening stage of the rally, but the pair failed to finish after engine problems on the sixth stage halted their progress. In 2018, he won the

Silk Way Rally The Silk Way Rally ( rus, Шёлковый путь) is an annual rally raid type of off-road race. The first Silk Way Rally was raced in 2009 from Kazan, Russia to Ashgabat, Turkmenistan. From 2010 to 2013, the race has taken place in Russia. ...

e alongside driver Yazeed Al-Rajhi.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gottschalk, Timo 1974 births Living people German rally co-drivers Dakar Rally co-drivers World Rally Championship co-drivers People from Neuruppin