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First victory for Electric Audi, heavy blow for Leb in the Dakar Rally

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First victory for Electric Audi, heavy blow for Leb in the Dakar Rally

Carlos Saint made history in the Dakar Rally by celebrating his first victory in a special electric car race, the Audi RS Q e-tron, when Sebastian Leb left champion Nassel Al Attiyah half an hour behind due to a mechanical problem.

The special stage from Al Artaviya to Al Qaisuma in Saudi Arabia, the third test of this year’s Dakar Rally, was shortened to 255 kilometers after the storm on Sunday.

Carlos Sainte won his 40th victory in a special race with a difference of 38 seconds against Hank Lategan from Toyota and 1:41 minutes ahead of Stefan Petrancell, with the other Audi, which, as we recall, is powered by three electric motors and only one gasoline engine to charge the battery that powers the electric motors.

Race champion Nassel Al Atiya, the works Toyota Gazoo Racing with the Hilux T1 +, was just eight years old – followed by Lategan most of the time.

Nevertheless, the driver from Qatar extended his lead at the front of the race to 37 minutes and 40 seconds before the second Sebastian Leb and, after the big problems, already seems to be the favorite for the fourth victory of his career in Dakar, the Frenchman and they left him with the 22nd year of the day.

Sebastian Leb at the Dakar Rally 2022


The nine-time WRC champion ran out of two-wheelers on the Buggy Hunter prepared by Prodrive and he lost more time with two bumps. So he has to hope with the problems of Al Attiya to get his coveted first victory in Dakar. Even Sainth has no hope, because after the navigation error on the first day he is in 26th place of the general, 2:19:21 behind Al Atiya.

Overdrive Toyota’s Lucio Alvarez climbed to third overall after Gaziel’s Ziniel de Viger imposed a 5-minute penalty for beating Chilean motorcyclist Cesar Zoumaran on the special stage and he kept checking to see if he was hurt.

In fact, the South African is under investigation for a second incident: While crossing a hill, he unexpectedly ran into a driver who was trying to lift his motorcycle. The driver managed to escape, but De Viger did not press the accelerator and the crashed motorcycle overturned, causing great damage. He didn’t stop this time either. De Viger is unlikely to be nominated for this year’s Fellowship or Humanity Prize.

As every year, there is an exciting duel on the motorcycles: After today’s 3rd qualifying at the front of the race, GasGas’ Sam Sunderland and Yamaha’s Adrien van Beveren split by just 4 seconds (!) – because the Briton only turned 17 today Lose 7:30 minutes.

Dakar Rally: First victory of the electric Audi, heavy blow for Leb


Also in the fight are KTM 2018 winners Matthias Walkner and Husqvarna Slayer House, who finished 1:30 and place respectively.

Saunders could even have cut this difference in half if he hadn’t lost 4 minutes on the final 35 kilometers of the special stage. The Australian from GasGas was responsible until the very last moment and enabled the Portuguese factory hero Joaquim Rodr .guez to achieve both his own and the Indian company’s first Dakar-specific victory.

The two-time works winner Toby Price from the works KTM scored points in the second year one minute behind Rodrεςguez, but with his bad start in the previous days he is in 14th place of the general, 26 minutes behind Sunderland. 2020 race winner Honda Ricky Brabek is even further down, in 20th place, 50 minutes away.

The impressive rookie Mason Klein, the only 20-year-old BAS KTM rider, who today reached the third year of the day with a difference of 11 seconds to Price, has eleven seconds ahead of Price in general.

Source: sport24

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Red Bull finally decides on Verstappen’s team

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Red Bull finally decides on Verstappen’s team

After several significant personnel changes in the team, Max Verstappen has finally learned who he will be working with in the Red Bull pits for the new season.

At the end of last year, it became known that three key members of the four-time world champion’s headquarters had left. According to De Telegraaf, Jeff Ayton replaced Verstappen’s vehicle control engineer Michael Manning, who left the team after the 2025 season. He has previously worked with other Red Bull drivers and worked temporarily with Verstappen in Manning’s absence last year.

Verstappen’s former engine mechanic David Mart has moved to Audi and his replacement at Red Bull has not yet been determined. Performance engineer Tom Hart is also leaving the team; He will join Williams but will continue to work with the Milton Keynes-based team for a while.

Changes also occurred among mechanics. After Matt Culler moved to the position of Audi’s chief mechanic, Verstappen was replaced as his first mechanic by his twin brother John Culler. He is well known to Max, who has previously held a similar position on the other side of the Red Bull pits, working alongside Sergio Perez, Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda.

Despite rumors about the winter break, Gianpiero Lambiase will remain Verstappen’s race engineer for another season.

Source: Sport UA

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Ferrari will have a red-white livery. Images of the Scuderia jersey have been revealed

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Ferrari will have a red-white livery. Images of the Scuderia jersey have been revealed

Photos of the allegedly leaked Ferrari F1 team jerseys for the 2026 season have appeared on the internet.

The published photos show a red T-shirt with white inserts.

Ferrari will officially announce its color on January 23. At the same time, some sources reported that the design of the 2026 car should be “pleasantly surprising”.

Given that Ferrari and other teams have used darker shades of their primary colors (red in the Scuderia’s case) in recent years, the introduction of red and white team uniforms could signal a move towards a lighter color scheme.

The same idea is put forward in a video published on the Scuderia’s official account.

Source: Sport UA

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F1 champion: “We may see a complete surprise in the championship fight this year”

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F1 champion: “We may see a complete surprise in the championship fight this year”

Former Formula 1 champion Damon Hill has warned fans that the winner of the 2026 season could be a real surprise.

The current large-scale changes to the regulations are among the biggest in the history of the sport. They are expected to change the balance of power in the starting grid for a long time.

Hill is confident that the pundits have no idea who will start the new season with the best cars because the cars will be completely different, even in terms of handling.

Particular attention of the expert is drawn to Aston Martin, which was able to make a leap from the middle of the table after signing Adrian Newey from Red Bull.

Hill noted the following about Lando Norris’ chances of defending his title:

“All bets are off for this year. We don’t know who will be in uniform. You can’t automatically assume that pilots who performed well under previous regulations can now do it again.”

The cars are completely different. “50% of engine power is now provided by the electric battery, and this affects the way cars are controlled, their aerodynamics and their design.”

Hill added that the season could be a complete surprise:

“Yes, you can [ожидать смену эпохи в Ф1 в этом году]. We may see a complete surprise. It’s like Jenson Button beating Brown; Everyone was surprised because they understood the rules better.

“And the master of understanding the rules is Adrian Newey, who went to Aston Martin. He left Red Bull and Max Verstappen, Christian Horner also left that team. But he went to Aston Martin.”

“So we’re waiting for him to wave his magic wand over Aston Martin. And it could happen.”

Source: Sport UA

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