Sainz sends out his biggest warning ahead of Dakar 2023.

at the beginning of September, Carlos Sainz and the rest of the Audi team in Dakar unveiled the second generation of their car For the toughest tests in the world, Audi RS Q eTron E2Carlos carried out some key tests with this car in Zaragoza, but he focused on two key moments: Extensive test program Audi had planned in Morocco and the car’s subsequent participation in the Morocco Rallybefore testing the car at race pace Dakar 2023Audi arrived at the final Dakar without a previous race and paid the price with some mechanical setbacks, such as suspension, rather than engine systems and software. Similarly, the German prototype was very fast and won stages with all pilots. 200 extra kg he competed on the regulatory minimum. Finally, after much work,They created a car with very sophisticated aerodynamics and reduced the weight by 80 kg. But in that presentation, Carlos Sainz and the rest of the team talked small talk about their goal of winning.

There was “Of course I’m going to win, but…”. The weight of the car is still high, above all, The concern lay in the power limits the FIA ​​applies to the electric Audi“We are at a disadvantage,” they noted. Nevertheless, After 9 days of testing in Morocco, with three days of filming for each driver and a total of 4,218 kilometers traveled over all types of terrain. especially, After the great rally in Moroccothe real litmus test ahead of the Dakar, concerns that Carlos Sainz might have next January have changed.

“Good rally! It was an important test for Dakar. All three cars were fine. “, highlighted Carlos Sainz this Thursday. joy, pride and contentment distilled from his words. Audi can look its rivals in the eye and go for victory at Dakar 2023 with far more confidence than it did that day in September. The best evidence is what happened in Morocco.

“It was an important test for Dakar and we had no problems with the three cars. I’m happy with the results.”

Carlos Sainz

Morocco rally fastest

of Rally of Morocco was confirmation of Sainz and Lucas Cruz’s new beastHe doesn’t have any problems. Al-Attiyah’s Toyota Hilux and Sebastien Loeb’s BRX, The main opponents to win Dakar 2023. The Audi RS Q e-Tron E2 was the fastest of the entire rally.

Carlos Sainz, along with co-driver Lucas Cruz and team-mates Stéphane Peterhansel and Matthias Ekström, stepped outside the FIA ​​entry list without the added pressure of fighting for the World Rally Raid Championship. I participated. But that doesn’t hide Audi’s great results. Sainz was the fastest car at the end of the event, with a final time of 14h 45m 43s, a 1m 36s advantage over second classified Guillerin Sichelli (BRX, FIA test winner). And he had more than half an hour to spare compared to Al-Attiyah, who suffered three punctures on the second day and lost time.

It will be difficult to win the 2023 Dakar. It will continue to be a challenge for Carlos Sainz, Lucas Cruz and Audi. But arguably, after a successful test, you will have much more confidence to do it. did.