There are more than a few similarities between Audi’s ongoing Dakar campaign and the brand’s game-changing time in the World Rally Championship in the 1980s. While on the surface the differences between the fire-breathing five-cylinder powerplants of the Group B rally cars and the electric drive of the RS Q e-tron cars are obvious, it is the pioneering spirit of the two campaigns that are linked and the introduction of all-new technology by Audi that is impossible to overlook. 

Just as quattro all-wheel drive was a complete game-changer in the 1980s, so too Audi is hoping to change the future of off-road rallying with its electric drive technology.

Back in the mid ’80s, Audi refined its hugely successful Audi Sport quattro cars and produced the awe-inspiring Audi Sport S1 E2 Group B – the next generation car that has become synonymous with the halcyon days of world rally. The ‘winged wonder’ as it was often called or the ‘winged monster’ the E2 only saw action for two seasons before the Group B days came to an end, but the impact of the cars still stirs emotions to this day.

With the introduction of the second-generation of the RS Q e-tron, Audi Sport decided to resurrect the E2 designation for the new Dakar challenger as a nod to the brand’s illustrious motorsport past.

The new Dakar challenger will have plenty to live up to as it seeks to improve on the four stage wins the original RS Q e-tron scored this year on debut, but also on its illustrious motorsport ancestor which thrilled crowds in the hands of some of the most revered drivers of the time.

Just as legendary names like Walter Röhrl, Stig Blomqvist and Hannu Mikkola are forever attached to the Audi Sport S1 and the subsequent E2 monsters, so too the RS Q e-tron boasts its own team of celebrated drivers in Carlos Sainz, Mattias Ekström and Stéphane Peterhansel.

Significant changes have been made to the new Dakar race car in terms of its body styling, reducing weight and making access to spare wheels much easier, while the distinctive bodykit of the Audi Sport S1 E2 was designed to give greater traction and also help reduce lift, while also aiding in cooling.

Different vehicles certainly, but spiritually, the RS Q e-tron E2 is another Audi Sport pioneer at the very cutting edge of its sport, and if all goes to plan, it too will change the very fabric of motorsport as we know it.