Audi made headlines around the world with its first Dakar victory. Team Audi Sport's analysis and plenty of background information reveal this unique victory. Here is the behind the scenes of the victory...
Audi celebrated its first victory in the Dakar Rally on January 19, 2024, and Carlos Sainz/Lucas Cruz celebrated their fourth victory, each with a different brand. Audi has made its name in motorsport history with many victories since 1980. Diversity in the list; World Rally Championship, Pikes Peak Climb, 24 Hours of Le Mans, American Le Mans Series, European Le Mans Series and FIA World Endurance Championship WEC, DTM touring car categories, super touring cars, Trans-Am, Formula E and GT2, GT3, GT4 and extends to TCR racing. With the victory in the desert, another link was added to the brand's motorsport success list.
The winning Audi RS Q e-tron was chassis number 110 and was completed by Audi Sport on July 6, 2023. This prototype successfully completed tests such as Baja España Aragón in Zaragoza, Morocco Rally and Château de Lastours in Morocco. During this time, the racing car had covered 5.880 km. Then it was time for the 2024 Dakar Rally, where the vehicle covered another 8.054 kilometers. Thus, the racing car with door number 110 has completed 13.934 kilometers to date.
Dr. Leonardo Pascali has been responsible for the development of the Dakar project as Technical Director since 2023. The engineering doctor has extensive experience from the automotive industry and the racing disciplines of Formula 1 and Le Mans sports prototypes, but has never worked in off-road rallying before. In his own words, having the opportunity to work on this project and then winning the Dakar Rally was the best experience of his life.
In contrast, vehicle engineer Joan Navarro has gained extensive experience in desert rallies since 2013, when she joined Sven Quandt's team. As race engineer, Nani led Roma to victory at the 2014 Dakar Rally, Carlos Sainz to his first victory in 2020, and Stéphane Peterhansel a year later. His pride in his fourth victory as Carlos Sainz's engineer is immense. Even two weeks after the race ended, Joan Navarro has not yet taken off her wristband, which provides access to all team members during the rally.
During the challenging stages of the Dakar Rally, the Audi RS Q e-tron faced challenging and extreme loads. The hardest landing after a jump briefly subjected the vehicle to 16 g of force in the vertical direction. This happened in the third stage. For comparison, a passenger plane is flown with passengers subjected to accelerations not exceeding 1,5 g. Astronauts are exposed to a force of around 3 to 4 g during takeoff. Or the roller coaster can produce 6 g of force for a short time.
Despite the high loads, Audi did not change the basic components of the car that took victory during the rally. Important structural elements such as the front and rear motor-generator units (MGU), inverters for the axle drive, the high-voltage battery and the fuel tank of the energy converter remain unchanged. Even the suspension carriers, subjected to extreme forces, held up throughout the entire race.
In the fourth stage, on January 9, the organizer's official route description included a note of "very fast track" for the transition between the 66th and 95th kilometers of the route. Audi engineers read the data in the evening. The data showed that the victorious Audi RS Q e-tron reached the maximum permitted speed of 170 km/h for 260 consecutive seconds (i.e. 4 minutes 20 seconds). For pure off-road tracks this is a remarkable value. Such values are unthinkable on a classic racetrack. Driving at this speed alone requires 12,28 kilometers of straight, not including accelerating.
The sixth stage in “Empty Space” was in stark contrast to this. Mountain-like dunes reduced the average speed significantly. Carlos Sainz and Lucas Cruz reached an average speed of just 400 to 40 km/h across nearly 50 kilometers of dunes. What seems like a comfortable pace in the city is actually torture for the electric drive system, two gearboxes, four drive shafts and cooling systems. Energy consumption has also increased rapidly in this area.
The flawless and quality navigation of co-pilot Lucas Cruz can be expressed not only with praise, but also with numbers. Until the penultimate leg, Carlos Sainz and Lucas Cruz completed the shortest distances of the three Audi teams. Their efficiency in choosing the most efficient route and minimizing navigation errors was amazing. The team, and especially race engineer Joan Navarro, observed a change in their driver's driving style. While Sainz usually uses the gas or brake pedal at full load, this time the Spaniard adjusted the pedals better and drove less aggressively.
Of course, one of the secrets of success was the strategy put forward by the team and the pilot. Audi Motorsport President Rolf Michl and QMS Team Manager Sven Quandt held regular meetings on race strategy following detailed stage analyses. In order to avoid any problems in the difficult sixth stage, we planned to take five minutes in the fifth stage. zamThe decision to lose the moment was a brave step... Compared to the competitors, this decision was absolutely justified. Audi took first and second place after the sixth leg. Carlos Sainz/Lucas Cruz never relinquished the lead after that.
Carlos Sainz read the terrain so cleverly that he zamEven though he had a moment, he still left a margin of safety. The Spaniard took a more cautious approach between the third and sixth stages. Being in the top five was enough for him. When Sébastien Loeb started to apply pressure in the second half of the rally, Sainz increased the pace by reducing the safety margin, but never risked a possible accident. On the contrary, important competitors stopped the rally due to accidents. zamThey had to leave before the moment or zamThey suffered momentary damage. Sainz won the Dakar Rally without taking a stage victory.
Carlos Sainz Jr., a successful Formula 1 driver, announced after the victory that he consulted closely with his father on the Dakar Rally strategy. The young pilot advised the 61-year-old Audi factory pilot not to push his limits every day due to the long distance of the race. Respected by many fans as 'El Matador' since his early days in the World Rally Championship, experienced pilot Sainz is famous for his desire to attack at every kilometer.
The Audi RS Q e-tron's electric powertrain with high-voltage battery and fuel-driven energy converter is extremely efficient. The system intelligently recovers a significant part of the required energy. During braking, motor-generator units (MGU) convert kinetic energy into electrical energy. This recovery met an average of 14 percent of daily energy needs during the race. Again, this reduces the wear of brake discs compared to conventional rally cars. Technicians replaced the front pair only once and the rear pair twice.
Audi pilots used the additional tire given to them by their teammates Mattias Ekström/Emil Bergkvist in the tenth stage, in addition to 2024 tires, on the approximately 8 thousand kilometer course of the 54 Dakar Rally. Carlos Sainz/Lucas Cruz suffered a total of 55 punctures out of 11 on the mostly sharp-edged surface. Seven of them exploded completely, while four were a small hole. The team also had to replace two damaged rims.
Carlos Sainz and Lucas Cruz had to overcome many obstacles on their way to victory. Apart from the difficult route, they also faced the smaller obstacles of daily life in the desert. For example, on the first day of the race, the hot water system in their caravan did not work and two Spaniards had to take cold showers. During the 48-hour Chrono stage of the sixth leg, the racers had to spend the night in the wilderness without their teams and prepare their own meals. Carlos Sainz said: "Okay, once it wasn't a big deal, but it wouldn't be a problem a second time." He commented with his words. He then took advantage of the gentleman athletes' gesture. Toyota driver Yazeed Al-Rajhi allowed the Spaniard to use his luxury caravan on other nights. Sainz took the lead after the Saudi Arabian pilot rolled over and retired in the sixth stage.
While normal rally days mean a lot of work for the entire team, there were also two marathon stages with more unusual conditions. Only minimal maintenance was allowed on the first of these two special stages. In the second one, maintenance on racing cars was not allowed. For these employees, taking time off meant rest. Team Audi Sport, zamHe knew the sporty way to spend the moment. The team brought the popular football table from Germany.
Carlos Sainz sent greetings to his homeland, Spain, with his country's flag. She wore the large scarf as a striking cape at the stage finish on the last day of the rally. As he and co-driver Lucas Cruz headed toward the finish of the stage, Spanish-speaking team members signed and chanted the name of the flag in their language, “La Rojigualda.” Phrases such as “Estamos muy orgullosos de ti- We are so proud of you” were an emotional expression of pride in the achievement.
Carlos Sainz knew that his wife Reyes and daughter Ana would arrive at the finish of the Dakar Rally. However, what he did not expect was that his son Carlos Jr. soon decided to go to Yanbu with his partner Rebecca Donaldson. The surprise of meeting them was overwhelming and clearly visible on the proud father's face.
Technical Director Dr. Leonardo Pascali was relieved and full of pride on January 19. The Italian pilot not only attacked the team but also the same team during the rally. zamAt the moment, he was also focusing on the development of his ambitious son. On the same day that Team Audi Sport won the Dakar Rally, Antonio Pascali won the under-6 “Young Men” category at the ILCA 19 Junior and Men World Championship in the sailing race held in Mar del Plata, Argentina.