Audi showed the speed of the new RS Q e-tron at the Dakar Rally despite being overweight – The competition is concerned and calls for adjustment of the Balance of Performance
Prodrive and Toyota express concern about the performance of the new Audi RS Q e-tron in the Dakar Rally. Both top teams expect the FIA to adjust the Balance of Performance (BoP) between the regulations.
2022 was the first Dakar with the rules for T1+ (internal combustion) and T1 Ultimate (for alternative drive concepts). Uncertainty reigned before the rally, as the three prototypes had never competed against each other before.
At the bivouac, all eyes were on the new Audi as it was the first prototype to showcase the future of rally raid racing. In the run-up to the test drives, there had still been teething problems with the complex interaction of the drive components.
The three Audi cars then ran for the most part without any problems during the Dakar. There were defects in conventional mechanical components. Damage to the dampers occurred in the first week, while the drive concept was convincing.
Audi won four of the twelve stages. The cars were also regularly to be found in the top 3 of the daily rankings. Looking at the second Dakar week only, Audi could have made it onto the podium in the overall result as well.
The Audi RS Q e-tron for the 2022 Dakar Rally
Due to problems with Stephane Peterhansel and Carlos Sainz in the first week, in the end only Mattias Ekström was in the top 10 in ninth place. The potential of the Audi was clearly visible. That’s why Prodrive and Toyota are calling for an adjustment of the BoP.
Two different regulations
In each car there is a data logger from the FIA that records various parameters. According to the regulations, the Balance of Performance can be adjusted after each event of the new World Rally Raid Championship
The vehicles according to T1+ and T1U rules are prototypes with four-wheel drive. They may be a maximum of 2.3 metres wide. The suspension travel is 350 millimetres and the tyres are 37 inches. The minimum weight is 2,000 kilograms. These parameters are the same for T1+ and T1U.
The maximum power in both categories is around 400 hp. The Audi is 200 kilograms heavier than the minimum weight. And that is exactly why the competition is worried, because despite the extra weight, the Audi was fully competitive in terms of speed.
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Prodrive and Toyota demand FIA adjustment
“I think,” says Prodrive boss David Richards in an interview with the Spanish edition of “that we have to find a good balance now. Audi is faster than all the other cars. It is by far the fastest car.”
“Therefore, a balance has to be found so that everyone has chances in the competition. That is the job of the FIA. Otherwise Audi would kill the sport. That’s why it has to be regulated. With the new technologies, it’s difficult for the FIA to control that at the moment. ”
“We have to give them time to analyse the data and rebalance. I think between us and Toyota it seems fair. I have spoken to Seb [Loeb] and Nasser [Al-Attiyah]. They all think it’s even between the two of us.”
“But clearly the Audi’s performance is on a different level. They are 200 kilos too heavy and yet they are much faster than our cars. If they had been reliable, they would have easily won by an hour,” Richards believes.
Toyota team boss Glyn Hall agrees that in the weeks following the Dakar the situation must be analysed in detail. “Our problem is that Audi did a fantastic job and showed how fast they are,” said Hall.
“We have to look at the details because they are 200 kilograms overweight and still win a lot of stages. Fortunately, the Dakar worked out for us. And we managed to build a winning car for the new T1+ rules. ”
Sven Quandt speaks of rally not being perfect
Audi’s Dakar team boss Sven Quandt was pleased with the four stage wins. However, he didn’t want to overrate it, because they were still miles away from the overall victory. “Our goal was to make it to the finish and, if possible, to win a stage.”
“After we had already done that in stage three, it was clear that we could do more,” says Quandt. “That was a relief. But the problems at the beginning of the rally slowed us down. Yes, we did better in the second week. ”
“But there is always a first week where things happen. You can’t afford to make mistakes. We didn’t manage to do everything right in this Dakar. If we had raced before then that would have helped us.”
“But that was not possible because we were still preparing the cars. We were still working on the last things on 31 December so they were ready in time for the morning of 1 January.”
What adjustments there will be to the Balance of Performance remains to be seen. Audi will devote itself to further development. It has not yet been decided when the e-tron will contest the next rally, as the German brand has not signed up for the full WRC season.
Therefore, the WRC season will be a duel between Toyota and Prodrive. In the Dakar Rally, WRC points were awarded after each stage. Al-Attiyah has 50 points on his account and Loeb 40. The second rally, the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, will take place at the beginning of March.
