Starting on New Year’s Eve, Mattias Ekström/Emil Bergkvist, Stéphane Peterhansel/Edouard Boulanger and Carlos Sainz/Lucas Cruz find themselves against the competition in a prologue and 14 subsequent stages. Seventy per cent of the route in Saudi Arabia is new to the Teams for this season of Dakar.
Dakar Rally Gets More Challenging
The ASO organisers have significantly increased the sporting demands this time around. At 350 to 500 kilometres, the stages between the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf are much longer and more difficult than last year. The Empty Quarter with its towering dunes is particularly demanding as critics say. To counter all of this, Audi believes their car is now very reliable. The improvements compared to the first- the generation RS Q e-tron is significant. Audi claimed that their processes are much more well-rehearsed as well. The carmaker is fully determined for a podium position.
Improved And Updated Audi RS Q e-tron
All three driver squads will be competing with a significantly improved second evolution of the Audi RS Q e-tron. Homologated under the T1-U category, this has been paving the way to a low-emission future in cross-country rallying since 2022. The front and rear axle drive is now electrically driven.
Electric engines get their energy from high-voltage batteries. There’s also a revised control system that optimises the energy balance of various systems. Furthermore, there’s also a highly efficient energy converter consisting of a four-cylinder turbocharged engine. In addition to this, we have an additional motor-generator unit (MGU), which runs in the optimum operating window and charges the battery. It also processes reFuels for the first time. During extended tests and a rally in October, the second generation of the RS Q e-tron put on great reliability and performance.
Audi’s Official Reporting From Dakar 2023 Live
Audi confirmed that it will report from the 2023 Dakar Rally on its Audi Official and Audi Sport social media channels. It will also continue its successful video format – the “Inside Dakar” show – on Facebook and Audi MediaTV in the new year.
Also Read: Hero MotoSports team gears up for their 7th Dakar Rally.
