Talking about favorites in a Dakar in which the figure of Audi appears with a hybrid 4×4 and in which Prodrive and Toyota launch vehicles under T1 + regulations seems completely impossible. Nevertheless, If there is anyone who can draw the scene of the Dakar 2022 in detail, it is’ Monsieur ‘Dakar’. Frenchman Stéphane Peterhansel is not only the reigning champion of the toughest rally-raid in the world, but the most successful driver with 14 wins. His experience is the best endorsement of his analysis and more ‘throws stones’ against his own roof. In fact, Stéphane Peterhansel believes that the Audi RS Q e-tron is not there to compete for the Dakar this year.
Peterhansel, always without mincing words, has had no problem recognizing the situation in which he sees the Audi Sport project: “Finishing this enormous challenge after completing thousands of kilometers without any major setback is the first step of the project. we achieved, the truth is that I would be happy with a place in the top five. We will not compete in any race before the Dakar to focus on our test program. Although the previous objective was to compete in more than one race before traveling to the Dakar , the plans have changed and we have to work on developing the car. “
In spite of everything, Stéphane Peterhansel is calm: “Audi knows how to develop racing cars, you don’t have to teach them anything. We drivers know the demands of a Dakar and our advice has been that reliability matters much more than the last tenths of a second. in terms of speed. No combustion car has this level of power and torque at all times. There are no gears to change and that allows you to focus even more on driving. The sound does not match the throttle, but it is something to what we will get used to. I expect a very desert edition of the Dakar. “