Historic victory for Audi at the Dakar Rally
Neuburg a. d. Donau – WEBWIRE – Friday, January 19, 2024
- Audi RS Q e-tron wins toughest desert rally with innovative drive system
- Carlos Sainz/Lucas Cruz achieve fourth personal victory
- Gernot Dllner: Audi has once again set a milestone
Audi makes history: for the first time, a low-emission prototype with an electric drive, high-voltage battery and energy converter wins the worlds toughest desert rally with the Audi RS Q e-tron. The Spaniards Carlos Sainz/Lucas Cruz secured Audis first victory in the Dakar Rally after around 7,900 kilometers with a lead of 1h 20min. Mattias Ekstrm/Emil Bergkvist also crossed the finish line.
Congratulations to Team Audi Sport on winning the Dakar Rally, said Gernot Dllner, Chairman of the Board of Management of AUDI AG. Audi has once again set a milestone in motorsport. Winning the worlds toughest desert rally with an electrified drive is a visible Vorsprung durch Technik and points the way to our electric future. The Audi RS Q e-tron has electric all-wheel drive. The energy supply is ensured by a high-voltage battery and an energy converter that runs on residual fuel-based reFuel, thus saving 60 percent of CO2emissions compared to conventional fuels.
With our revolutionary electrified drive, we have overcome one of the biggest challenges in motorsport after just three years. We are thus continuing a long series of pioneering achievements that have always characterized Audi in four decades of motorsport. I would like to thank the entire team for this outstanding performance in a particularly tough edition of the Dakar Rally, says Oliver Hoffmann, Member of the Board of Management of AUDI AG, Technical Development. At the Dakar Rally, Audi was up against the two brands Toyota and Ford as well as the experienced opponents from Prodrive, who proved to be tough challengers.
Carlos Sainz/Lucas Cruz secured their big lead after having been in the lead without interruption since the sixth stage. For the two Spaniards, who finished first in 2010, 2018 and 2020, this is their fourth success with a different brand, including the second from the Volkswagen Group. However, two-time World Rally Champion Sainz and his experienced co-driver could not be sure until shortly before the end. With Sbastien Loeb/Fabian Lurquin from Team BRX, they had strong pursuers who continued to close the gap until their car suffered damage on the penultimate day. That was an overwhelming team performance, said Head of Audi Motorsport Rolf Michl. Everyone pulled together to make this historic result possible for Audi. A big thank you to this wonderful team. Today we have written a new chapter for Audi, but also in the history of the Dakar Rally.
Daily stages of often more than 400 kilometers, two marathon stages with limited or even no service, as well as 4,600 timed kilometers and 7,883 kilometers in total characterized the 2024 Dakar Rally. Sharp scree and gravel roads, but also towering chains of dunes in the Empty Quarter of the Arabian Peninsula and often difficult navigation demanded everything from the teams. Carlos Sainz, who at 61 looks back on a rally career spanning around four decades, recorded a total of eight days in the lead with Lucas Cruz on the twelve stages.
The two other Audi crews had also put in a strong performance early on. The Swedes Mattias Ekstrm/Emil Bergkvist won the prologue at the beginning and improved to second place behind Sainz/Cruz by the rest day after six stages. However, a defect on the rear axle on the seventh stage cost them all their chances. Stphane Peterhansel, record holder with 14 Dakar victories, was in sixth place shortly before the halfway point after his 50th stage win in the car and his 83rd overall. A defect in the hydraulic system threw him and his French compatriot Edouard Boulanger back to 22nd place on the sixth stage.
Both teams then put themselves at the service of Team Audi Sport. Head of Audi Motorsport Rolf Michl and Sven Quandt, Team Principal of the entry partner Q Motorsport, implemented a perfect strategy in a demanding 46th edition of the rally. Whether it was tactically dropping back before the second marathon stage to avoid having to open the route or supporting the leaders Carlos Sainz/Lucas Cruz, the management was able to rely on its strong driver crews at all times. The team personnel also worked tirelessly and reliably during the physically demanding, long and tough rally.Ekstrm/Bergkvist finished the event in the top 50.
Audi Sport has let the highly efficient Audi RS Q e-tron mature so that it is capable of winning within just three years. Under the technical direction of Dr. Leonardo Pascali, Audi Sport set the next historic milestone with the innovative drive: after the quattro all-wheel drive changed rallying forever in the 1980s and subsequently clinched victories and titles galore on the circuit, Audi demonstrated great innovative strength at Le Mans. The efficient TFSI drive, the electrified e-tron quattro all-wheel drive and individual technologies such as the LED matrix light and the Audi laser light stand for a high level of innovative strength and Vorsprung durch Technik. Audis first all-electric racing car then made its debut in Formula E, before the brand took on the extreme challenges of the Dakar Rally and successfully completed it as the first manufacturer with an electric drive.
Note to editors:The quotes of all drivers and co-drivers as well as the responsible persons will follow in another MediaInfo.
Additional content:
Press kit including gallery and videos:2024 Dakar Rally
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Sebastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa delivered a flawless performance in the #8 GR010 HYBRID to earn their second victory of the season, adding to their Le Mans 24 Hours triumph and delivering the team’s eighth win in nine races at Fuji Speedway. World Champions Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Jose Maria Lopez took second place in their #7 GR010 HYBRID, 1min 8.382secs behind, to complete a hard-earned clean sweep in the penultimate round of the 2022 WEC season. Maximum points from its home race brings TOYOTA GAZOO Racing a big step closer to retaining its manufacturers’ World Championship, extending its lead to 26 over Alpine, who finished third at Fuji while the #8 crew are now level on points at the top of the drivers’ standings heading into the final race. Another enthusiastic crowd packed the Fuji Speedway grandstands and saw Kamui in the pole position #7 lead the field away on a hot, sunny day. Kamui established a slender gap over Sebastien in the #8 as the GR010 HYBRIDs set the tone for the race by leading the way from the beginning. Just a few seconds separated the two during the first hour, which ended with both pitting for two new tyres and more fuel. Kamui retained the lead in the #7 but Sebastien was gradually closing the gap and moved into the lead on lap 64. As the two-hour mark approached, Kamui handed over the second-placed #7 to Jose. A lap later, Brendon took the wheel of the #8 and resumed with a 6secs lead, with the third-placed Alpine over 50secs behind. Brendon began to build a comfortable margin at the front and extended his advantage over Jose to 10secs at next pit stops, which came at half distance. By the time of the next driver changes, with just under two hours remaining, Brendon had a decisive 30-second lead. Ryo, already a winner at Fuji Speedway this season in Super Formula, took the wheel of the #8 as Mike replaced Jose in the #7 for the final stretch. With a one-lap advantage over the third-placed Alpine, the GR010 HYBRIDs controlled the remainder of the race, taking no unnecessary risks. After 232 laps without safety car or full course yellow, Ryo took the chequered flag to secure TOYOTA GAZOO Racing’s third victory of the season, its 37th from 75 hybrid-powered WEC races since 2012. Mike followed 1min 8.382secs later, completing the team’s second one-two of the season. The fight for both World Championships therefore goes to the final race of the season, when Bahrain International Circuit hosts an eight-hour title decider on 12 November. 6 Hours of Fuji – Result: For more information, visit https://toyotagazooracing.com/wec/release/2022/rd05-race/.
Copyright ©2022 JCN Newswire. All rights reserved. A division of Japan Corporate News Network. TOYOTA GAZOO Racing earned its first win of the 2022 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) season after a dramatic, weather-affected 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps. World Champions Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Jose Maria Lopez, driving the #7 GR010 HYBRID, overcame a strong challenge from Hypercar competitors, as well as the notorious Ardennes weather, to win round two of the 2022 season, the final event before the Le Mans 24 Hours. The team celebrated its sixth consecutive victory at Spa-Francorchamps with the #7 bouncing back from an accident at Sebring to make it seven wins out of eight races since the GR010 HYBRID was introduced at Spa in 2021. Unfortunately, only one GR010 HYBRID reached the chequered flag at Spa. Sebastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa were leading the race in their #8 car when an issue on the hybrid system forced its retirement after 90 minutes. The race had started full of promise for the #8, with Sebastien moving up from fourth on the grid to second on the first lap. Mike was close behind in third, having briefly lost a spot when he was boxed in at the exit of the first corner. On lap 16, the GR010 HYBRIDs hit the front, both overtaking the race-leading Glickenhaus on the same lap. Sebastien therefore led in the #8, but the race changed quickly when rain began to fall around the hour mark, followed by an LMP2 accident which caused a red flag. After a 25-minute delay, the race resumed behind the safety car but the leading #8 stopped on the side of the track. As Sebastien stepped out of the car to retire, the rain got heavier and Mike brought the #7 into the pits for wet tyres, dropping to third. Conditions worsened and caused further interruptions, including two more red flag periods, until the race restarted properly with just over two hours remaining, and Kamui running in second. He wasted little time in overtaking the #31 WRT for the lead as the rain stopped and track conditions started to improve. Inside the last hour-and-a-half, Jose took the wheel of the #7, now on hybrid intermediate tyres, for the final stint. He resumed in the lead of a close battle for victory among the three Hypercar competitors until three full course yellows late in the race disrupted the fight at the front. The team now makes the short journey back to Cologne to prepare for the highlight of the WEC season, the Le Mans 24 Hours on 11-12 June when it will challenge for a fifth consecutive victory. Sebastien Buemi (Driver, car #8): “I am obviously disappointed for our car because I think we had a very good race developing. We started fourth and made it up to first, then managed to save fuel and go a lap longer on our first stint. This is always helpful at tracks like this when you can get lots of full course yellows. But then we had an issue on the car and obviously had to stop. I am really happy for car #7. They have done a great job, and this is the first win of the year for the team so that’s fantastic. We need to understand better what happened on our car so that we can fight for the win at Le Mans next time out.” Brendon Hartley (Driver, car #8): “Clearly it’s disappointing not to score points today. It was looking really good. Seb had a great start in the first stint, then we had the issue. That’s racing sometimes. It’s obviously better that it happens here than at Le Mans but it’s a pity and it hurts our championship chances. On the other hand, I’m very happy for the team to win for the first time this season. Car #7 drove a great race to bring home the victory for the team. Now it’s full focus for the whole team on Le Mans.” Ryo Hirakawa (Driver, car #8): “Today was not our day on the #8 car, unfortunately. Like Brendon, I didn’t get to drive the car in the race. Seb had driven really well and put us in a strong position. But as a team it was a good performance and it’s great to get the first victory of the season. Congratulations to Mike, Kamui, Jose and everyone on the #7 car. Now we are fully dedicated to preparation for Le Mans. I am really looking forward to being part of the team at Le Mans for the first time, and fighting for the win at the big race.” Race:
Copyright ©2022 JCN Newswire. All rights reserved. A division of Japan Corporate News Network.
Election Commission of India had announced General Elections to the Legislative Assemblies of Goa, Manipur, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand on 8th January 2022. Along with the announcement of the elections, Commission also issued Revised Broad Guidelines to regulate various aspects of elections including victory processions during the period of COVID. During the period of elections as the COVID situation improved, Commission gradually relaxed the norms concerning electioneering in consultation with Union Health Ministry and State Governments.
Viewing the current status of COVID-19 in these poll going states, Commission has decided to relax the guidelines on victory processions during and after the counting and has withdrawn the blanket ban on victory processions. However, this relaxation will be subject to existing instructions of SDMA and preventive measures, imposed by concerned district authorities.
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Topic: Press release summaryJapan – One-two home victory for TOYOTA GAZOO Racing
1st #8 TOYOTA GAZOO Racing 232 laps
2nd #7 TOYOTA GAZOO Racing +1min 8.382secs
3rd #36 Alpine Elf Team (Negrao/Lapierre/Vaxiviere) +2 laps
4th #93 Peugeot TotalEnergies (Di Resta/Jensen/Vergne) +7 laps
5th #31 WRT (Galael/Frijns/Vanthoor) +7 laps
6th #38 JOTA (Gonzalez/Da Costa/Stevens) +8 lapsJapan – Spa victory for TOYOTA GAZOO Racing
Jose controlled the final stages of the race as track conditions improved continuously and he crossed the line after six hours to win by 27.473secs from the #36 Alpine.
1st #7 TOYOTA GAZOO Racing 103 laps
2nd #36 Alpine (Negrao/Lapierre/Vaxiviere) +27.473secs
3rd #31 WRT (Gelael/Frijns/Rast) +1min 6.185secs
4th #41 Realteam by WRT (Andrade/Habsburg/Nato) +1min 40.676secs
5th #38 JOTA (Gonzalez/Da Costa/Stevens) +1min 48.571secs
6th #5 Team Penske (Cameron/Collard/Nasr) +1min 57.610secs
DNF #8 TOYOTA GAZOO RacingGuidelines on victory processions regarding
(Release ID: 1804685)
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