Top Dakar drivers fight war of words over Audi power boost

Despite being in control of the Dakar Rally once again, Nasser Al-Attiyah is not happy after the event organisers’ decision to increase the power output of the Audi Sport cars ahead of Stage 5, which has erupted a war of words between the top contenders.

The FIA World Rally Raid Championship committee implemented an immediate change to the balance of performance to give cars using renewable energies – including the Audi RS Q e-tron E2  – an extra 8kW, which is believed to be around 11 horsepower.

The committee released a statement explaining the decision to increase the maximum power of the cars.

“Following the data analysis of the vehicles entered in the T1.U and T1+ categories on the first three stages of the Dakar Rally 2023, the W2RC Committee has decided, in accordance with Article V1 13.3 of the regulations, to increase the maximum power of the T1.U cars,” read the statement.

The FIA WRRC committee’s decision to change the balance of performance is believed to give the Team Audi Sport cars an extra 11 horsepower for the remainder of the Dakar Rally. Image: Marcelo Maragni / Red Bull Content Pool

“After having analysed the data of the vehicles in the T1.U and T1+ categories on the first three stages of the Dakar Rally 2023, the W2RC Committee has decided, in accordance with Article V1 13.3 of the regulations, to increase the maximum power of the T1.U cars.” 

Team Audi Sport is one of the top contenders at the 2023 Dakar Rally, with two cars driven by Stephane Peterhansel and Carlos Sainz in the top four, while its biggest rival Toyota Gazoo Racing, which fields Al-Attiyah, is not impressed.

Despite extending his advantage at the front of the Dakar Rally in Stage 4, Al-Attiyah did not welcome the directive and took to social media to express his displeasure.

‘What a surprise to give our main rival 11 HP more!!,” the Toyota driver said.

“Thank you for killing the race early.”

Nasser Al-Attiyah did not enjoy hearing the news. Image: DPPI / Red Bull Content Pool

Al-Attiyah’s navigator Mathieu Baumel echoed the comments.

“Clearly this decision is to give the advantage to Audi and allow them to come back,” he told AutoHebdo.

“We are in the lead ,but they will come back to us. It does not go in the direction of fairness as it is marked on paper in any case.”

In response to Baumel’s social media post, Audi driver Mattias Ekstrom hit back as a public argument between the rivals kicked off.

“I didn’t expect you to do politics and write this kind of stuff,” wrote the Swede.

“Perhaps we should all follow the agreements and calculation methods the teams made with the FIA before the race and trust them before making such statements. 

“Let us race and let the FIA do its job. May the best team win.”

Team Audi Sport’s Mattias Ekstrom was not afraid to offer a cheeky response to the Toyota driver’s frustrations. Image: DPPI / Red Bull Content Pool

Experienced Audi driver Carlos Sainz chose to speak to the media rather than comment on Instagram and welcomed the officials’ call, believing it creates a more level playing field.

“They can measure it and see it. And so much that the Audi was running (with an advantage), it turns out it wasn’t running so much,” he told Autosport.

“They have all the data to measure what accelerates one car and another, and I imagine that if they give us 8kW, which is 11 horsepower, then they will have seen that we are missing something.

“I have always said that I don’t want to carry more power, what I want is for the cars to be equal – the power and the weight.”

The rivals at the front of the Dakar Rally leaderboard will now have to do their talking behind the wheel when Stage 5 kicks off tonight.

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