The similarities are inescapable. In the 1980s Audi completely changed the face of world rally with its quattro all-wheel drive system, although many laughed at the proposition at the time. ‘This was a system for arduous off-road work’ they said. It’s application in the fast-paced world of the World Rally Championship was not immediately evident, but Audi engineers saw merit in the system for unrivalled traction in this hotly contested area of motorsport – and soon the rest of the world saw it too.

Fast forward 40 years and the brand is again challenging convention with its Dakar assault using electric drive. This year, the inaugural run in what is acknowledged as the world’s toughest motorsport event saw the Audi RSQ e-tron exceed all expectation, winning an extraordinary four stages on debut and again silencing critics who felt that the harsh conditions of the Saudi Arabian desert was no place for electric drive.

As Audi prepares for the next Dakar Rally which gets underway on December 31st, the expectation is high, with the second-generation RSQ e-tron – the E2 – promising to take the brand’s initial success to new heights. Not unlike the way quattro went from being almost a novelty amongst the competition to a household name worldwide.

Of course the vehicles couldn’t be more different, but the principle is effectively the same. The people involved in the campaigns too share undeniable similarities – from the great Stig Blomqvist who was one of the team who drove the quattro cars to victory in the 1980s, to Stéphane Peterhansel who is part of the current crop of outstanding drivers leading the Audi Sport charge.

Both possess extraordinary talent as drivers and have an insatiable drive to succeed. They also recognise that they are at the forefront of something very special. For Blomqvist that feeling was well and truly born out and it seems that the same is true in the modern age for Peterhansel and the rest of the Audi Sport team.