The Dakar Rally, which will be held between 1-14 January, is the scene of the beginning of a new era. Bringing quattro, TFSI, ultra, e-tron and many more new technologies to the world of motor sports, Audi takes part in Dakar, one of the most challenging rally organizations in the world, with its RS Q e-tron model.
The Dakar Rally, which is considered one of the most challenging motor sports organizations in the world, starts on 1 January. The fight, which will be held for the 44th time this year and will take place in Saudi Arabia for the third time, will last for two weeks. In the rally, which will start with a 19 km entrance stage between Jeddah and Hail, the competitors will pass 4 stages on a route of more than 8 thousand km, approximately 12 thousand km of which will be special stages, as in the previous two races.
The Dakar Rally will take place in five different categories: motorcycle, ATV, light vehicle, automobile and truck. Audi Sport, which will compete with three RS Q e-tron vehicles against 91 competitors in the automobile category, is starting a new era for both this organization and motor sports.
Stating that the Dakar Rally is a truly challenging test ground for the high-voltage battery, high-efficiency energy converter and innovative electric driving, Audi Sport GmbH Director Julius Seebach said: “Never before have we launched such a complex vehicle in such a short time. Our first endurance test under competitive conditions is currently the longest and toughest rally in the world. We have great respect for the Dakar Rally and we are completely focused on this race.” said.
Dakar Rally; Since 1981, WRC has participated in events such as touring (Trans-Am, IMSA GTO, DTM, STW, TCR), prototype racing (LMP), GT racing (GT3, GT2, GT4), rallycross (WRX) and Formula E. It is the seventh motorsport discipline in the history of Audi Sport.
Being the first manufacturer to win the 2012 Hours of Le Mans with electric driving in 24 and the first German manufacturer to win the championship team title in Formula E in 2017/2018, Audi aims to carry this success to the desert. In the T1 Ultimate category, he wants to prove how efficient and competitive an electric powertrain is, with his three teams taking part in three Audi RS Q e-trons.
The battle in the desert is also impressive with the careers of the pilots and co-pilots who will take the seats of the RS Q e-trons:
Mattias Ekström, who has won two DTM and one World Rallycross titles in his nearly 30-year motorsport career, and Swedish Emil Bergkvist, a young world rally champion before taking the co-driver seat…
Stéphane Peterhansel, the legendary name of the Dakar Rally and the leader of this race 14 times, and Edouard Boulanger, who was co-driver in the championship in 2021…
Carlos Sainz, who won the Dakar Rally three times and won the WRC twice, where he fought for more than 20 years, and Lucas Cruz, who was his co-driver in all three victories.
All three Audi RS Q e-trons, which will compete under the name Team Audi Sport, were developed in collaboration with Audi and Q Motorsport. Sven Quandt's team has more than a quarter of a century of experience in rallycross, including six Dakar victories. A total of 80 people from Audi and Q Motorsport, from rally drivers to technology and logistics officer, from team doctor to physiotherapists, will be with the team for two weeks in Saudi Arabia.
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