{"id":2277,"date":"2022-10-18T12:51:18","date_gmt":"2022-10-18T10:51:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.audimiddleeast.com\/en\/?p=2277"},"modified":"2023-03-02T15:01:19","modified_gmt":"2023-03-02T13:01:19","slug":"road-to-dakar-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.audimiddleeast.com\/en\/road-to-dakar-2023\/","title":{"rendered":"Road to Dakar 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"[vc_row][vc_column]\r\n<div class=\"sh-text-with-frame\" id=\"text-with-frame-vWOCw40ut7\">\r\n\t<div class=\"sh-text-with-frame-container\">\r\n\t\t\r\n<h2><strong>Road to Dakar 2023: Audi RS Q e-tron E2: lighter, more aerodynamic and even more efficient<\/strong><\/h2>\r\n\t<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n            <style type=\"text\/css\">\r\n                #text-with-frame-vWOCw40ut7 .sh-text-with-frame-container {border-color: rgba(255,255,255,0.07);}#text-with-frame-vWOCw40ut7 .sh-text-with-frame-container p {}            <\/style>\r\n        [vc_column_text el_class=\"article-copy\"]\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li><strong>Winner of four stages at the 2022 Dakar Rally, the Audi RS Q e-tron comes back with a new body and airflow, improved operating strategy and optimised control concept<\/strong><\/li>\r\n \t<li><strong>Second evolution of the rally winner competes for the first time this October<\/strong><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=\"2280\" img_size=\"full\" alignment=\"center\"][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text el_class=\"article-copy\"]<strong>Middle East, October 17, 2022 <\/strong>\u2013 The Audi RS Q e-tron won its first desert rally in Abu Dhabi back in March 2022, after a discipline-defining debut at the 2022 Dakar Rally in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and now the next evolution is ready. The Audi RS Q e-tron E2 presented itself significantly improved for the 2022 Morocco Rally in September, as it gears up its preparations for the 2023 Dakar Rally.\r\n\r\nDuring the 2022 Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia, the season-opening round of the World Rally-Raid Championship, the Audi RS Q e-tron won four stages and clinched a total of 14 podium wins in the daily classification, the only entry to feature the innovative power delivery system. The RS Q e-tron exceeded expectations during its debut Dakar Rally participation and this year, the team is looking to go in even more prepared for what\u2019s to come, with a lighter, more aerodynamic and upgraded energy converter like never before. Following these changes, the RS Q e-tron now bears the abbreviation E2, and is reminiscent of the legendary Audi Sport quattro in its final development stage for Group B rallying in the 1980s.\r\n\r\n\u201cWe\u2019ve managed a good debut at the Dakar with the Audi RS Q e-tron and even our first stage victories in a motorsport discipline that is new to us,\u201d said Rolf Michl, Managing Director of Audi Sport GmbH and responsible for motorsport at Audi. \u201cThe entire team is working well together and, as is usual at such an early stage, the drivers, codrivers and technicians quickly agreed on the next development targets. We have summarised the result in a new evolution package \u2013 the RS Q e-tron E2.\u201d This marks the beginning of the second phase of the development programme, and October will see Team Audi Sport preparing for the 2023 Dakar Rally with the new prototype in Morocco.\r\n\r\nCarsten Bender, Managing Director of Audi Middle East, said, \u201cWe are excited to make history once again with the new Audi RS Q e-tron E2. The team is looking forward to building on our success from our debut run with four stage wins. This time, starting in Morocco and on to Saudi Arabia for the Dakar Rally 2023. Progress has taken on a new shape and we are looking forward to witnessing Audi Sport take over the desert again.\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cThe Audi RS Q e-tron E2 does not take a single body part from its predecessor,\u201d explained Axel L\u00f6ffler, Chief Designer of the RS Q e-tron. The cockpit, which was previously narrowly recessed towards the roof, is now significantly wider and the front and rear hoods have also been redesigned. Given that the first generation of the RS Q e-tron was overweight, it was necessary to save several dozen kilogrammes, as well as lowering the vehicle\u2019s centre of gravity.\r\n\r\nThe aerodynamic concept in the area of the body below the hoods is completely new too. Audi has now dispensed with the part of the fenders that was behind the front wheels and formed the transition to the door. As a result, the designers saved more weight and optimised the airflow. \u201cThe aerodynamic aspect should not be underestimated in desert rallying,\u201d says L\u00f6ffler. It was possible to reduce the overall aerodynamic drag by around 15 percent. The top speed remains limited to 170 km\/h as per the regulations.\r\n\r\nThe electronic control system of the complex electric drivetrain proved its worth in the first rally events, and the Audi and Q Motorsport rally team gained valuable experience. The electric drivetrain of the Audi RS Q e-tron E2 comprises an energy converter consisting of an internal combustion engine and a generator, as well as a high-voltage battery and two electric motors on the front and rear axles.\r\n\r\nThe Audi drivers Mattias Ekstr\u00f6m \/ Emil Bergkvist, St\u00e9phane Peterhansel \/ Edouard Boulanger, and Carlos Sainz \/ Lucas Cruz can look forward to their new workplaces. The displays are still in the driver\u2019s field of view and located in the centre console in the usual style, and the central switch panel with its 24 fields has also been retained. Following initial testing led by Arnau Niub\u00f3 Bosch, Head of Test Engineering, Audi Sport unveiled the RS Q e-tron E2 in Neuburg an der Donau on September 1.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]"},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Winner of four stages at the 2022 Dakar Rally, the Audi RS Q e-tron comes back<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[232,75,153,170,44,231,230],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.audimiddleeast.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2277"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.audimiddleeast.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.audimiddleeast.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.audimiddleeast.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.audimiddleeast.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2277"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/news.audimiddleeast.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2277\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2315,"href":"https:\/\/news.audimiddleeast.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2277\/revisions\/2315"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.audimiddleeast.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2277"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.audimiddleeast.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2277"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.audimiddleeast.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2277"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}