The trials of Dakar

Any seasoned racer will tell you that motorsport can be the most exhilarating and rewarding pursuit or the most soul destroying. For the Audi Sport team the weekend proved to be more of the latter than the former – the early lead replaced with a narrow escape from serious injury for Stephane Peterhansel and Edouard Boulanger and significant suspension damage to all three Audi RS Q e-trons.

Racing in conditions that have been described amongst the toughest of any Dakar, competitors were faced with continuing rain and flash flooding which saw the cancellation of a whole stage for the motorcycles and quad bikes – an almost unheard of event at Dakar.

For the cars and trucks, the harder packed sand from the rain continued to extract a price, and with the extreme pace, just a simple mistake could quickly develop serious repercussions.

Such was the case for Stephane Peterhansel as he launched off a 15 metre dune, landing with a massive impact that caused significant damage and stunned both occupants of the RS Q e-tron. That he and his co-driver were not seriously injured was testament to the safety cell of the Audi.

But the impact was severe enough that the driver pairing nevertheless were taken by helicopter to hospital where pain in Boulanger’s back was deemed serious enough to have him flown out to Germany for further treatment. Although his prognosis for a full recovery is good, the incident spelt the end of the road for the Peterhansel/Boulanger duo in this year’s event, with the Head of Audi Motorsport Rolf Michl, wishing him a speedy recovery.

Unfortunately the dune also claimed Carlos and Sainz and Lucas Cruz following close behind. They too found themselves suddenly airborne off the back of the high dune and although they were not injured on landing, their Audi too suffered massive suspension damage which put an end to their competitive chances in the stage, forcing them to wait for backup to complete repairs and then completing the remainder of the stage in the dark.

Mattias Ekström and Emil Bergkvist also suffered significant suspension damage in a separate incident, which again added to their woes in the rally, although they remain the highest placed of the remaining two Audis.

A massive all-night effort by the Audi Sport crews to get to the Sainz RS Q e-tron back in the race sees the Spanish pairing still in the race albeit with their former lead now a thing of the past. Ever upbeat, Rolf Michl is taking the remainder of the rally one stage at a time.

“A year ago, we experienced a difficult first week at the Dakar Rally. Still, it’s possible for Mattias Ekström and Emil Bergkvist to compete all the way to the finish for the podium result that we’re aiming for. And if Carlos and Lucas can continue after the repairs, they are good for stage wins at any time.”

As if on cue, with the extensive repairs completed, Sainz was on fire in Stage 8 on Sunday, setting the fastest time at every checkpoint and finishing more than a minute ahead of second placed Sebastien Loeb. A five minute penalty for speeding (speed limits exist in some parts of the rally) dropped him back to third for the stage, but it was nevertheless a strong statement after the trials and tribulations of the weekend and is Audi’s ninth podium of this year’s Dakar so far.

Catch all the highlights of Stage 8 here.