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Giniel de Villiers, winner of the 2009 Dakar Rally in Argentina and Chile in a factory Volkswagen Race Touareg, is the 2009 Bridgestone/Guild of Motoring Journalists Motor Sportsman of the Year.
Competing in his seventh Dakar, the 27-year-old professional motor sportsman from Stellenbosch improved on the second place he achieved in the 2006 Dakar in Africa in his first year with the VW team, winning three stages and beating team-mate Mark Miller of the United States by nearly nine minutes.
He is the first South African to win this iconic event, arguably the world's toughest motor race, and he gave VW its first victory in the diesel Touareg.
There were six other nominations for the prestigious award, which was first won in 1964 and has been sponsored by Bridgestone for the past 17 years.
