Audi Teaser Dakar 2022.
Audi Motorsport
The Dakar Rally is one of the most challenging and controversial events on the automotive racing calendar. It’s a grueling long-distance event that’s been held most years since 1978 in Europe, Central Asia, South America or Africa. In 2022, Audi is going to compete in the rally – which is now held in Saudi Arabia – with a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle that will pair a high-voltage battery with a highly efficient TFSI engine. Precise technical details on this prototype EV will be revealed later, but today Audi is teasing the tough-looking off-road machine with a dark, shrouded image.
Of course, automakers getting into racing endeavors is a great way for them to test out new technologies, and Audi’s new Batmobile-like, knobby-wheeled Dakar entry is no different. Audi says the Dakar Rally is supposed to “permanently improve the performance of the electric drivetrain and the battery in the years to come. The experience gained in this process should then be incorporated into the further development of future electrified production models.” Again, no details were provided, but the kick-off is still over a year away, so we have time to wait.
The Dakar Rally represents a shift for Audi’s racing engineers. With today’s Dakar announcement, Audi says that the rally will replace Formula E on Audi’s racing event competition list after the 2021 season. Audi has participated in Formula E since 2014, first with partner ABT Sportsline and then with its own company team. Over six years, Audi’s Formula E racers managed 43 podium finishes (including 12 victories) as well as the drivers’ title in 2017 and the teams’ title in the first season on a factory level in 2018. All things must pass, though, and the company said in a statement that, “cross-country rallying will be the spearhead of the factory motorsport commitment in the future.” Managing director of Audi Sport GmbH, Julius Seebach, said Audi is “evaluating other possible fields of activity for us in international motorsport” and Audi will still participate in the new sports prototype category LMDh at the Daytona 24 Hours and Le Mans 24 Hours races.
“We want to continue demonstrating the brand’s slogan ‘Vorsprung durch Technik’ in international top-level motorsport in the future and develop innovative technologies for our road cars,” said Markus Duesmann, chairman of Audi AG’s board of management, said in a statement. “The toughest rally in the world is the perfect stage for this.”
Despite the Covid-19 pandemic, the next Dakar Rally will be held in early January 2021. The route will cover 4,750 miles (7,646 kilometers) starting and ending in Jeddah. Race organizers say that 321 vehicles are expected to take part: 108 motorbikes, 21 quads, 124 cars and SSVs, 42 trucks and 26 “classic” vehicles (i.e., those built before 2000).
