Nasser Al-Attiyah wants to win the Dakar Rally for the third time in a row: Rivals from Audi’s works team won’t scare him in the process
Two days before the start of the 2024 Dakar Rally, defending champion Nasser Al-Attiyah has taken a verbal swipe at his Audi rivals. While the driver from Qatar, who has switched to Prodrive, is aiming for his third Dakar triumph in a row, he assumes that the brand with the four rings will also fail in its third start at the Dakar Rally.
“Audi? I’ll only give them three days, then they’ll go home. You saw that in Morocco and Aragon after a hundred kilometers.”
The Audi RS Q e-tron proved to be a fast car in its first two appearances at the Dakar Rally, but the complex drivetrain with a total of three electric motors and one combustion engine proved to be prone to faults. Although Audi has revised the vehicle, Al-Attiyah does not believe that this has solved the problems.
That is why the defending champion is not bothered by the additional power that the Audi has been granted by the FIA. “It’s not my decision, we have to accept it because the FIA has a different vision,” he says.
The five-time Dakar Rally winner and reigning World Rally Raid Champion switched from Toyota to Prodrive, where he is now team-mate to Sebastien Loeb. Al-Attiyah cited his future involvement with Dacia as the reason for his switch. “I have a contract with Dacia for next year and will work with the team for three years, so at least we have feedback and I know the people.”
Reliability will once again be crucial at the Dakar Rally this year – a factor where the Hunter developed by Prodrive has not been able to shine so far. However, Al-Attiayh believes that it is not only the technology but also the driving style that has a major influence.
“If you look at the history of Toyota, we’ve had more than 15 cars every season and they’ve all had setbacks, except mine,” he says. “That’s my secret, I can’t reveal it, because it’s very important to treat your car well, have a good position and be fast, otherwise you will break it. “
