Historic maiden victory for Audi at the Dakar Rally

It was a history making fortnight in Saudi Arabia for Audi as its team of Carlos Sainz and co-driver Lucas Cruz secured victory in the 46th Dakar Rally.

Driving the purpose built Audi RS Q e-tron, the pair were in the lead without interruption from stage six and completed 7,900 kilometres with a lead of 1 hour 20 minutes - despite not winning any of the 12 stages - over nearest rival Guillaume de Mevius in the Overdrive Toyota. A formidable challenge came in the form of Team BRX duo Sébastien Loeb and Fabian Lurquin, however, their car suffered damage on the penultimate day of the race.

It was the fourth Dakar win for Sainz after previous wins in 2010, 2018 and 2020 and he is now the race’s oldest ever winner, breaking his own record. The father of Scuderia Ferrari F1 driver Carlos Sainz Jr shows no sign of slowing down and is now third on the all time winners list.

For Audi, this was its third, and potentially final, crack at the Dakar Rally having finished ninth and 14th in 2022 and 2023, respectively. With experience taken from this competition and having previous dabbled in Formula E, the German marque is now expected to focus its attention on a potential entry into the world of Formula 1.

“That was an overwhelming team performance,” said Head of Audi Motorsport Rolf Michl. “Everyone pulled together to make this historic result possible for Audi. A big thank you to this wonderful team. Today we have written a new chapter for Audi, but also in the history of the Dakar Rally.”

words: Mike Booth
pictures: Audi