Sand. Hills. Stones. Extreme temperatures. High speeds. Abuse. This is "job as usual" for those who undergo the... suffering of participating in the Dakar Rally. For the Audi Sport team, participating in the all-electric race car and all of the above are the big challenges. Aiming to climb to the top of the Dakar Rally in January 2022, the German team is subjecting the RS Q e-tron to exhaustive testing from... now, so as not to be caught by any surprises.
Audi Sport tested its new race car a few months before its debut at the prestigious rally in Morocco. These two-week tests followed those in Germany and Spain, only now the environment - desert, sand dunes and large temperature differences - simulated the extreme conditions Audi will face in Saudi Arabia in January.
All three crews present: Dakar's multiple Dakar winner Stéphane Peterhansel, rally legend Carlos Sainz and DTM champion Mattias Ekström. With them, of course, were their co-drivers Edouard Boulanger, Lucas Cruz and Emil Bergkvist, as a lot of time was spent setting up the cars, the ideal coexistence of driver and co-driver in the very tight cockpit and communication between them.
Hot weather and sandstorms!
Crews and engineers encountered temperatures well above 40 degrees Celsius while sandstorms pushed the electric drive system and the transmission system to their limits. The tests were also crucial to the behaviour of the high-voltage battery, as heat management is an important factor in its performance. Equally valuable was the experience gained by Audi Sport engineers for the other components of the prototype.
The Audi RS Q e-tron is equipped on both the front and rear axles with a Formula E-proven motor/generator unit (MGU), with only minor modifications specifically for the Dakar Rally. A third MGU, of the same design, is part of the energy converter and, in combination with a TFSI petrol engine, serves to recharge the high-voltage battery during driving. In addition, energy is also recovered during braking. The battery weighs around 370 kg, with an energy capacity of around 50 kWh.
Alongside the testing of the prototype in Morocco, Audi Sport in Neuburg an der Donau has already started building the first car intended for racing, with chassis number 104. This first car, in turn, will be a testing and improvement field, with the aim that the three cars built for the Dakar Rally and their experienced crews will be perfect from a construction and engineering point of view.
