Pressure test

There’s no better preparation for the pressures of competition than… competition. Nowhere is this  more true than in the cauldron of motorsport, a fact well known to Audi Sport and partner Q Motorsport and the motivation for the three-car trial in the Morocco Rally.

Over six gruelling days, the three Audi Sport teams battling sand, dust, extreme temperatures and harsh terrain in an event that has many similarities to the Dakar and represents perhaps the best possible preparation for the epic race.

Although the three Audi E2s already comply with the 2023 regulations for the Dakar Rally and started in Morocco outside the regular classification in the Open class, from start to finish, the rally was treated as ‘live or die competition’, yielding tremendous insights into how this new RS Q e-tron will perform under maximum attack conditions come January.

“The race was very important for us to verify the results from our previous test,” says Sven Quandt, Managing Director and Team Principal of Q Motorsport. “We saw that we still have to improve some points, which we will work off until the Dakar. Overall, though, I’m very positive that we’ll have a well-prepared car in January.” 

While the three vehicles performed faultlessly, some navigational issues will need to be addressed ahead of the 2023 running of the Dakar Rally as well as some fine-tuning to how punctures are dealt with more efficiently – a fact highlighted by the rocky stretches of the race.

“Even though we didn’t appear in the classification, every kilometre and every single day of the rally was as valuable for us as it was for the regular participants,” says Head of Audi Motorsport Rolf Michl. “On demanding stages and varied terrain we were able to test the abilities of the driver teams and the cars in every situation. For us, the rally with its extreme dunes and stony landscapes was an essential element in the preparation for the Dakar Rally.” 

“Since it wasn’t about sporting goals, we set ourselves very specific, different daily tasks,” said Uwe Breuling, Head of Vehicle Operations Audi Sport. “For example, we learned a lot about the battery’s state of charge under extreme stress. Likewise, on the fourth stage the team imposed on itself those conditions that apply on a cross-country stage during the Dakar Rally. This meant that the drivers and co-drivers had to maintain the RS Q e-tron on their own that evening for the next day without the team’s help. We also collected a lot of data and are sorting out final details, such as with the software.”

While the outing was invaluable to the race engineers and technicians supporting the Audi Sport team, at the ‘pointy end’ of the competition, all three drivers were enthusiastic about the way the E2 handled the tough conditions.

The most successful participant in Dakar history, Stéphane Peterhansel, was enthusiastic about the handling of the new vehicle when pushed in competition.

“Our previous work from the tests in Europe and Africa is paying off in full here. The stages in Morocco are quite similar to the Dakar Rally. The balance and handling of the car are exactly as I would like them to be.” 

His Swedish teammate, Mattias Ekström was likewise very pleased with way things are shaping up ahead of the start of the next Dakar at the beginning of the new year.

“The tyre failures and a few navigation errors kept reminding us of the difficulties in the competition. But our engineers did a good job because I’m really very happy with the set-up of the car,” enthused Ekström. “A race is and remains the best race preparation.”

The data and insights gained from the Morocco hit-out will now be implemented over the next few weeks and all three E2s will be dismantled and thoroughly checked over before being rebuilt ahead of final testing in November.

From there the vehicles and all supporting team equipment will be shipped to Saudi Arabia in readiness for the start of the 2023 Dakar on December 31st.