Qatar’s Nasser Al-Attiyah and his French co-driver, Mathieu Baumel, successfully defended the Dakar title they won for TOYOTA GAZOO Racing (TGR) in 2022 when they brought their GR DKR Hilux T1+ over the finish line of the final stage of Dakar 2023 with a winning margin of 1 hour 20 minutes 49 seconds.
Although they had lost almost 6 minutes to the final stage leaders, they had already built up a comfortable lead from stage 3 to be able to take overall victory. For Nasser, it’s a fifth win in the event, while Mathieu’s tally is now 4 victories. The pair have won 3 times for Toyota, with the latest victories coming in a back-to-back. Nasser’s two earliest wins were win Volkswagen (2011) and MINI (2015)
When the Audi RS Q e-tron started the 2022 Dakar Rally, there were many unknowns for the Audi Sport team. Audi Sport is no stranger to tough off-road racing – having been successful in the World Rally Championship in the 1980s with its Quattro – but the rallycar for the Dakar Rally was something entirely new. It ran primarily on electricity, something they had not done before in off-road competition.
Though the team did not win on that first attempt, it claimed 4 stage victories but more importantly, the experience helped the engineers improve the prototype rallycar in many areas. “We learned a lot at rallies and tests in our first year and implemented everything consistently – technically, logistically and organizationally. The close cooperation between Audi Sport, drivers, co-drivers and Team Q Motorsport is paying off and running very smoothly,” said Uwe Breuling, Head of Vehicle Operations.
With three weeks remaining until the start of the 2023 Dakar Rally, the TOYOTA GAZOO Racing (TGR) is making preparations for its 3-vehicle team’s entry in the first round of the World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC) 2023 season. The team will have reigning masters, Nasser Al-Attiyah and co-driver Mathieu Baumel, with newly crowned South African Rally-Raid Champion Giniel de Villiers and co-driver Dennis Murphy, as well as Henk Lategan and Brett Cummings.
The 2023 W2RC starts with the Dakar Rally in January, and will be followed by the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge at the end of February; the Sonora Rally in Mexico during April, and the Desafio Ruta 40 in Argentina at the end of August. The season will draw to a close with the Rally of Morocco, again scheduled for mid-October. Al-Attiyah and Baumel will compete in all the rounds.
In March 2022, the Audi RS Q e-tron won its first desert rally in Abu Dhabi, an important achievement for an electrically-powered vehicle. Audi was the first carmaker that committed to develop a viable alternative drive concept for the gruelling event, making it a pioneer in motorsport.
The original RS Q e-tron development had been rushed as it had to be done during the difficult period of the coronavirus pandemic in 2021 and limited testing opportunities. However, with the experience and learnings from that tough first event, Audi Sport’s engineers have developed a new and significantly improved prototype which will be entered in the 2022 Morocco Rally and the 2023 Dakar Rally.
“We’ve 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,” said Rolf Michl, Managing Director of Audi Sport GmbH and responsible for motorsport at Audi. “The entire team is working excellently together and pulling in the same direction. As is usual at such an early stage, the drivers, co-drivers and technicians quickly agreed on the next development targets. We have summarized the result in a new evolution package – the RS Q e-tron E2.”
Main components of the first RS Q e-tron
Second phase of development program Reminiscent of the legendary Audi Sport quattro in its final development stage for Group B rallying in the 1980s, the body is completely new and features significantly enhanced aerodynamics. It also has a lower weight and centre of gravity.
“The Audi RS Q e-tron E2 does not adopt a single body part from its predecessor,” said Axel Loffler, Chief Designer of the RS Q e-tron. In order to comply with the prescribed interior dimensions, the cockpit, which was previously narrowly recessed towards the roof, is now significantly wider. The front and rear hoods have also been redesigned.
“We are now doing away with the underflow of the rear hood to the left and right of the B-pillars. In conjunction with modified lay-ups – optimized fabric layers of the composite materials – this solution reduces weight,” said Loffler.
The T1U prototypes will have to weigh 2,100 instead of 2,000 kgs in the future. Given that the first generation of the RS Q e-tron was overweight, it was still necessary to save several dozen kilograms. This is accompanied by the lowering of the vehicle’s centre of gravity.
New aerodynamic concept The aerodynamic concept in the area of the body below the hoods is completely new. This section is somewhat like the shape of a boat’s hull: its widest point is at the height of the cockpit, while the body tapers significantly towards the front and rear.
The designers dispensed with the part of the fenders that was behind the front wheels and formed the transition to the door. Internally, this structure was called the ‘elephant foot’ and as a result, it saved more weight and optimized the airflow.
“The aerodynamic aspect should not be underestimated in desert rallying either,” said Axel Loffler, Chief Designer of the RS Q e-tron. “Admittedly, the new cockpit dimensions mean that the body has a larger and therefore less favourable cross-section. Nevertheless, it was possible to reduce the overall aerodynamic drag by around 15%. But this does not change the top speed, which remains limited to 170 km/h in the regulations.”
Nevertheless, the improved airflow offers one major advantage. “It further reduces the energy requirements of the electrically powered car,” explained Loffler. “We implemented the aerodynamic calculations entirely using computational fluid dynamics. These computer simulations replace the time-consuming work in the wind tunnel and still deliver highly precise results.”
Simplified operation in the cockpit The drivers can look forward to their new workplaces. The displays are still in the driver’s 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. However, the engineers have restructured the displays and controls.
They can also work much more easily when there is a puncture, which is not uncommon in off-road events. Simple, flat and easily removable body components replace the previous bulky covers for the spare wheels in the flanks. The new 10-spoke rims are much easier to handle, making the change of wheels safe and quick.
New operating strategies further improve the efficiency of the electric drivetrain. The drivetrain of the 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 pack. Two electric motors are used to power the front and rear axles.
Better energy management Energy management plays a crucial role here. The electronic control system of the complex electric drivetrain proved its worth in the first rally events and issues only occurred in extreme cases. At the Dakar Rally, for example, it was noted that there were short-term surpluses of power in situations where the wheels made less contact with the ground while jumping or on uneven terrain.
The so-called auxiliary consumers also benefit from optimized control. The servo pump, the air-conditioning cooling pump and the fans have a measurable impact on the energy balance. In the course of the debut season this year, the Audi and Q Motorsport rally team gained valuable experience that enables better assessment.
The air-conditioning system, for example, works so aggressively that it could cause the coolant to freeze when constantly running at its maximum output. In the future, the system will run in an intermittent mode. This saves energy, yet the interior temperatures only fluctuate slightly, even over longer periods.
“We have combined all the important lessons in a very short time. The result of our ideas is the E2 evolution,” says Uwe Breuling, Head of Vehicle Operations Audi Sport. “Our development team’s determined and cost-efficient work has prepared us perfectly for our second Dakar Rally.”
Prodrive, founded by former WRC co-driver David Richards, has lots of experience developing high-performance machines, especially for off-road use. A recent project was the Bahrain Raid Xtreme competition car driven by 9-time World Champion, Sebastien Loeb, in the Dakar Rally. Now using all its expertise and 40 years of successful off-road competition, it has developed the Hunter, a 600 bhp, 4-wheel drive all-terrain adventure vehicle with performance and capability to cross any landscape.
The rallycar used by Sebastien Loeb of the Bahrain Raid Xtreme team in the 2022 Dakar Rally.
Designed and intended for desert sand, dunes and rough mountain tracks, the Hunter is even more extreme than that driven by Loeb, with a 50% increase in power from the V6 engine and more suspension travel to absorb the harshest of terrain.
But while the car is even faster and more capable than the rallycar, it is also more refined. Ian Callum, who styled the exterior of the original competition car, returned to the project to create a new interior more in keeping with everyday use than rallying.
Aiming for Middle East markets
“There are numerous hypercars on the market; however, they all need good roads or even racetracks to show their performance. We identified that, in certain parts of the world, particularly the Middle East, there are vast expanses still to be explored that go way beyond the access provided by asphalt roads. Therefore, why not create a vehicle that gives the opportunity to explore these regions with performance way beyond that offered by any off-road vehicle before?” explained Richards.
The Hunter retains the Dakar competition car’s engine, drivetrain and suspension. To improve driveability, the manual sequential gearbox has been replaced by a 6-speeder with paddle shift, giving a smooth gear change in just milliseconds.
Higher power output
As the hypercar does not have to comply with strict competition regulations, the power output has been increased by more than 50%. The 3.5-litre twin turbo V6 has been refined and retuned to produce over 600 bhp and 700 Nm of torque while making its power delivery smoother and easier to drive.
Prodrive estimates that this would give it a 0 – 100 km/h time of less than 4 seconds and a top speed of nearly 300 km/h. The vehicle is fitted with bespoke 35-inch off-road tyres designed to optimise grip over rough terrain and sand, rather than on tarmac.
Hyper rallycar for the road
“We took the deliberate decision to keep the Hunter Hypercar as close to the original as possible. It’s about giving owners the opportunity to experience what it is like to drive Loeb’s Dakar car across the desert, but with all the comforts of a road car and the ability to drive it from your home, through a city, to any destination of your choice,” said Richards.
The whole car is built around a high-tensile steel spaceframe chassis, giving both a rigid platform to optimise the suspension geometry and performance and an FIA standard safety cage to protect the occupants. The all-round double wishbone suspension with twin adjustable dampers on each corner has 400 mm of travel – an increase from 350 mm on the competition car – to give a smoother ride and even greater ability to cross the roughest terrain at speeds unimaginable in any other vehicle.
The whole vehicle has been designed to minimise overall weight and optimise the weight distribution and centre of gravity. All the bodywork is made from lightweight carbon composite, which includes recycled materials produced by Prodrive Composites.
The first development Hunter is already going around the Middle East where potential customers are being offered the opportunity of driving it and confirming their personal specification for production vehicles, each priced from £1.25 million (about RM7.05 million) to be delivered later this year.
When Audi’s RS Q e-tron starts in the 2022 Dakar Rally this weekend, it will be an entirely new challenge for the engineers. While Audi Sport is no stranger to tough off-road racing, this event will be with a vehicle that runs on electricity rather than petrol – something they have not done before in off-road competition, especially one in the Saudi Arabian Desert.
“With our drive configuration in the RS Q e-tron, Audi is a pioneer in the Dakar Rally,” said Lukas Folie, a high-voltage battery engineer at Audi Sport. “Defining the challenges for this type of competition was very demanding. There are simply no empirical values in motorsport for such a concept and for this type of endurance competition.”
Designing for unknown requirements
Compared to the Formula E World Championship, which Audi last contested with a battery-electric drive, the standards at the Dakar Rally are different: daily stages of many hundreds of kilometres, the enormous driving resistance in the soft desert sand, plus high outside temperatures and a minimum vehicle weight set by the regulations at 2 tons are extremely tough in motorsport.
“It is not possible with today’s battery technology to realize a purely battery-electric off-road vehicle for the Dakar Rally under these conditions,” said Folie. The engineering team led by Axel Loffler, Chief Designer of the RS Q e-tron, therefore had to define basic benchmarks for the overall concept of the vehicle with electric drive and energy converter without any previous data.
Due to the short project development time, Audi relied on proven cell technology. The capacity of the high-voltage battery is 52 kWh and is therefore sufficient for the maximum expected requirements on each leg of the rally. The weight of the high-voltage battery including the cooling medium is around 370 kgs.
The required energy capacity and performance, as well as control and safety mechanisms, made Audi resort to proven round cells as the basis of the high-voltage battery. The battery system is designed in such a way that the drivers will not feel any difference between a new and a used battery.
Demanding off-road charging
When the drivers depart in full electric drive on the morning of each stage with a fully charged battery pack, a highly complex control system begins. Only a few minutes before the start of the stage do the teams learn any details about the route at all when the roadbooks are handed out. The RS Q e-tron must therefore be prepared for all conditions in terms of distances, speeds, difficulty of the terrain and other factors.
The engineers and electronic technicians have programmed algorithms to keep the State of Charge (the charge level) within defined ranges depending on the energy demand. Energy extraction and battery recharging are always in balance over defined distances. If, for example, a difficult dune passage with high driving resistance requires maximum energy for a short time, the state of charge drops within a controlled range. The reason: the drive power of the engine-generator units on the front and rear axles is limited to a maximum of 288 kW in total under the regulations. However, the energy converter can only provide a maximum charging power of 220 kW.
In extreme cases, therefore, consumption is briefly higher than energy generation. “Something like this is possible for a limited time,” said Folie. “But over a longer distance, it always results in a zero-sum game: We then have to regulate the power consumption down so that the battery’s state of charge remains within a corridor. The absolute amount of energy available on board must be sufficient to cover the day’s leg.”
Energy recovery is an important factor
In order to realize maximum efficiency, the engineers are also relying on a principle that has already been used in the Le Mans sportscars and in Formula E – the RS Q e-tron will recover energy during braking. The MGU units on the front and rear axles can convert the rotational movement of the wheels into electrical energy. The aim is to recuperate the maximum energy.
The power flow in this reverse direction is not subject to the same power limitations as when accelerating. What sounds so simple requires a complex Intelligent Brake System. It combines the hydraulic braking function with the electric regenerative brake.
Efficient on the move
Thanks to this targeted design, the RS Q e-tron has an exceptional position in the starting field. This applies not only to the basic system topology of all assemblies, but also to the energy control system. Although it has to move a larger mass due to the regulations, the RS Q e-tron manages with less energy than the competition. The smaller tank volume for the energy converter specified in the regulations proves that the rally car with the four rings is very efficient.
The RS Q e-tron will contest its first Dakar Rally with 3 cars entered by Team Audi Sport, with support from Q Motorsport. The 2022 event, which is the third Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia, has 12 stages with daily distances of more than 800 kms in some cases. The total length of the rally is 8,099 kms, with 4,252 kms of timed off-road stages.
The 2022 Dakar Rally will start on the second day of January and finish on January 14. It will be run entirely on Saudi Arabian soil, as in the previous two editions. The route will go south, passing through Riyadh, and conclude back in Jeddah. There will be 12 gruelling stages, with navigation, sand and dunes featuring more heavily than in previous editions. 80% of the route will be totally new to competitors. Managing the mechanics and physical exertion are two of the most important aspects of the event, and these aspects are never as decisive as they are during a marathon stage, where the ability to be autonomous is essential, even for those used to helping each other out. In the Empty Quarter, the two marathon days will be run ‘the old-fashioned way’.
Although Audi can lay claim to having been dominant in the World Rally Championship (WRC) with its Group B Quattro rallycar, the German carmaker has never taken up the challenge of the Dakar Rally. But for the 2022 edition of the world’s toughest off-road event, Audi will be there and it will be the first car manufacturer to use an electrified drivetrain to compete for overall victory against conventionally-powered competitors.
The car that the Audi Sport team will use will be the RS Q e-tron and it’s been undergoing an intensive test program since the first prototype fired up in July this year. After overcoming the challenges posed by the pandemic, the engineers now face the special challenges that the characteristics of the Dakar Rally present. The annual marathon event lasts 2 weeks and the daily stages are up to 800 kms in length. “That’s a very long distance,” said Andreas Roos who is responsible for the Dakar project at Audi Sport. “What we are trying to do has never been done before. This is the ultimate challenge for an electric drivetrain.”
Because there are no charging opportunities in the desert, Audi has chosen an innovative charging concept. On board of the car is the highly efficient TFSI engine from the DTM. It is part of an energy-converter that charges the high-voltage battery while driving. Since the combustion engine is operated in the particularly efficient range of between 4,500 and 6,000 rpm, the specific consumption is well below 200 grams per kWh.
A third motor-generator unit (MGU) is part of the energy converter and serves to recharge the high-voltage battery while driving. In addition, energy is recuperated during braking. The battery weighs about 370 kgs and has a capacity of around 50 kWh. The maximum system power of the e-drivetrain is 500 kW. The electric drivetrain offers many advantages. The electric motors can be controlled extremely precisely and can thus ensure good drivability. In addition, braking energy can be recovered.
The most recent testing was done in Morocco as crews Mattias Ekstrom/Emil Bergkvist, Stephane Peterhansel/Edouard Boulanger and Carlos Sainz/Lucas Cruz took turns in the cockpit of the RS Q e-tron which can now handle daily off-road distances in testing equalling the length of a Dakar stage.
The entire team is focusing its energy on continuing the development under the toughest conditions,” said Arnau Niubo, Head of Test Engineering. “It was impressive how important findings flowed back to the factory from Morocco at a daily pace. As a result, our 3 rallycars currently under construction for the Dakar Rally will have the latest technical status. At the same time, logistical preparations are in full swing.”
The three crews subjected the prototype to a total of more than 2,500 kms over the toughest terrain. The various system tests included the engineers imposing artificially high temperatures on the RS Q e-tron. Peterhansel drove the rallycar through a dry riverbed with the cooling air intakes deliberately taped off to simulate high outside temperatures – and the electric drive didn’t fail or falter.
However, the testing was not without difficult moments. Tyre damage on the rocky tracks caused Ekstrom and his partner repeated interruptions. A suspension wishbone bent by a rock, a leaking driveshaft sleeve and other components required replacement, and the bodywork needed minor repairs. But the prototype was spared nothing during its testing.
Long before Audi unveiled the RS Q e-tron to the public in mid-2021, the racing engineering team was already intensively involved in the Dakar Rally. The risks in off-road racing were at the centre of the considerations for a sophisticated safety concept. From the electrical safety of the high-voltage system to optimum passenger protection in the event of accidents, the design department had many challenges to overcome.
The protective and load-bearing basic structure of the RS Q e-tron consists of a tube frame. The regulations stipulate that this structure be made of metallic materials. Audi has opted for a heat-resistant, alloyed quenched and tempered steel from the aerospace industry that contains the alloying elements chromium, molybdenum and vanadium. The tube frame complies with the geometry defined in the regulations and fulfils the required static pressure tests.
Additional protection for the crew is provided by panels made of composite materials in the spaces between the frame. These components made of carbon fibre-reinforced plastic (CFRP) – in some cases supplemented by the tear-resistant Zylon – prevent the penetration of sharp and pointed objects from outside.
Likewise, they protect the drivers and co-drivers from any problems with the high-voltage system. The high-voltage system of the electric drive with its energy converter itself also requires multiple protection. The encapsulation of the centrally located and thus particularly safe high-voltage battery comprises CFRP structures, some of which are reinforced by Zylon.
The protection at the bottom is very complex. In off-road sports, the underbody is the assembly subjected to extreme stresses, including metre-high jumps, whirled-up stones and large ramp angles. Its lowest layer consists of an aluminium plate that resists abrasion by hard objects and partially absorbs impact energy. The energy-absorbing foam above absorbs the impacts and distributes them to the sandwich structure above. This third structure protects the high-voltage battery and the gasoline tank of the energy converter. In the event of excessive damage, the assembly can be easily replaced during the evening service in the rally bivouac.
Optimum insulation of the system against water during river crossings and an electrically insulating extinguishing agent in the on-board fire extinguishing system protect passengers in extreme physical situations. The entire team, including drivers and co-drivers, also underwent high-voltage training in advance, as did rescue teams from the organizer.
Other regulations and devices provided by the organizer round off the overall safety concept. For example, the occupants can make an emergency call via a safety tracking system including an SOS switch and be found quickly. An accident data recorder records the most important measured variables for later analysis. An onboard surveillance camera shows what is happening in the cockpit. The Sentinel system makes overtaking safer in the dust typical of the desert. And finally, the regulations limit the top speed in the T1 category to 170 km/h.
While electrification is the big move by the auto industry to achieve carbon neutrality as soon as possible, there are also parallel efforts by the FIA (the world motorsport governing body) to reduce the environmental impact of motorsport and motorized mobility. The efforts of the organization apply a science-based target reduction plan aligned with the Paris Agreement 1.5°C objective.
One of the strategies is the introduction of 100% sustainable fuel for Formula 1 in 2025. This fuel will have zero net carbon dioxide emissions. The use of this fuel in motorsports could be a savior for internal combustion engines (ICE) if the technology can be widely commercialized for roadgoing vehicles. If this can happen, then the days of the ICE could be extended a bit more while meeting demands to stop carbon dioxide emissions.
While the use of sustainable fuels in F1 has already been committed, there are also other parties in the motorsport community that are supporting the effort. Prodrive, the British motorsport specialist that developed championship-winner cars for the Subaru World Rally Team, will support one of the first major teams in the world to compete with a new generation of advanced sustainable fuels in an FIA championship. The championship is the FIA World Cup for Cross Country Rallies that will run later this year.
The Prodrive-run Bahrain Raid Xtreme (BRX) team will then use this fuel at the Dakar rally in January to demonstrate that such sustainable fuels can be used as a direct replacement for fossil fuels in standard production vehicles.
Prodrive has developed the sustainable fuel over the past 8 months in conjunction with UK-based, Coryton Advanced Fuels. Called Prodrive ECOpower, it has been specifically developed to demonstrate the environmental benefits of the latest sustainable fuel technology. The main components are generation 2 biofuel, manufactured from agricultural waste, and efuels created by capturing carbon from the atmosphere. As a result, the fuel reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 80% compared to equivalent petrol.
“I am a great advocate of motorsport taking the lead in developing, proving and promoting new technologies that can help address climate change. Covering thousands of miles across the toughest terrain, the Dakar and the FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies are the perfect environment to showcase the benefits of the next generation of sustainable fuels and demonstrate that they can be used in road vehicles to reduce the use of fossil fuels, while still offering the same performance and range,” said Prodrive Chairman, David Richards.
The fuel has been developed at Prodrive’s powertrain facility in England and has been run in the BRX team’s Prodrive Hunter T1+ car in the same unmodified engines which previously ran on petrol. While Prodrive ECOpower has been developed for motorsport use, this sustainable fuel can be used as a direct replacement for unleaded petrol in almost any vehicle and the company is planning to run a near identical fuel in a number of its road vehicles to further prove out the technology.
The Hunter T1+ has been specifically designed to compete at the tough Dakar Rally in the deserts of Saudi Arabia and in cross-country rallies across the world. The 4-wheel drive car can travel over almost any type of terrain, from sand dunes to rocky mountain tracks, and at high speeds. Over the 2 weeks of the Dakar, it will cover more than 7,500 kms.
The BRX team has carried out extensive testing in the UK and is now heading to the Middle East for more extensive endurance work in the same conditions it will experience at the rally. The team will then compete at the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge and Hail Rally before heading to the Dakar which starts on the first day of 2022.
Racing provides a good demonstration of the performance and durability of vehicles, and many manufacturers participate in various motorsport competitions for that purpose. Additionally, the participation also serves as a testing ground as the conditions are extreme, whether they are on a racing circuit or off-road in the desert.
Toyota has long been involved in motorsports and its official team – TOYOTA GAZOO Racing (TGR) – has been active in the top-level events like the World Endurance Championship (WEC) and World Rally Championship (WRC). In recent years, TGR has also given attention to the Dakar Rally, considered the toughest in the world. To date, it has scored one overall victory in the event which goes back to 1979. That was in 2019 when the route was run in South America after the original west African route was unsafe due to the presence of terrorists.
TOYOTA GAZOO Racing has been doing well this year in the World Endurance Championship as well as the World Rally Championship and will aim to add a second victory in the Dakar Rally to its list.
For the 2022, TGR will be trying hard again and aim to score a milestone victory in the Dakar Rally to complement the victories in the WEC and WRC. It is preparing a 4-crew team for the event which will take place in Saudi Arabia from January 2nd, 2022. Building on the experience from this year’s and last year’s events where the team’s best result was second place, TGR will continue to field a mix of experienced specialists.
As in 2021, the works team will be spearheaded by Nasser Al-Attiyah (the winner in 2019) and navigator Mathieu Baumel. Giniel de Villiers will be partnered with navigator Dennis Murphy; Henk Lategan and Brett Cummings will return for their second Dakar; and Shameer Variawa will now be partnered with navigator Danie Stassen.
The team will also be fielding an all-new Toyota GR DKR Hilux T1+, which conforms to the updated regulations for the T1 category. The prototype car, in temporary raw carbonfibre finish, is currently undergoing testing and will be shown to the public later in 2021.
The Hilux used in 2021 (left) with the new version on the right which is now being developed for the 2022 event.
Qatari Nasser and Frenchman Mathieu have won in the Andalucia Rally as well as the Baja Spain Aragon. The pair, who won the FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies on 3 consecutive times, will be aiming to add a fourth Dakar victory to their resume in 2022.
Giniel and Dennis, both from South Africa, have competed successfully in the South African Cross-Country Series (SACCS), which also serves as a testbed for the continued development of the Toyota Dakar Hilux. They were in the lead of the title chase after 3 of the seven rounds that make up the series.
With a crash on Stage 5 of Dakar 2021 forcing South Africans Henk and Brett to retire after posting highly competitive times on Stages 3 and 4, they will be keen to show their pace, and mix it up with the more experienced crews ahead of them. Henk’s Dakar debut drew global attention, and the young driver from Johannesburg, who has won the SACCS crown multiple times, will be looking to build significantly on that experience.
Nasser Al-Attiyah won the event in 2019 when it was run in South America.
Following TGR’s philosophy of ‘making ever-better cars’, the team has continued to refine the Hilux and the latest version will be used for the 2022 event. This version of the Dakar Hilux has been developed based on the latest rules. It will share components with the race-proven Hilux that was first introduced in 2018, and won the race in 2019, but will feature a host of improvements including bigger running gear – tyres of 37 inches, up from 32 inches; together with a tread increase from 245 mm to 320 mm. The new truck also has more suspension travel with the previous limit of 280 mm now increased to 350 mm.
Under the bonnet will be a powerful 3.5 litre twin-turbocharged V6 engine, also found in the latest Land Cruiser 300. In standard form, the engine produces 415 ps at 5,200 rpm and 650 Nm of torque from 2,000 rpm but the more developed engine for the Dakar truck will certainly be significantly higher.
The Dakar 2022 route in the Saudi Arabian desert will follow a clockwise route this time. The race will start on January 2nd in the northern city of Ha’il and then head southward to the Empty Quarter. The rest day will be in the Saudi capital of Riyadh on January 8th before the race heads south-westward to the finish in the city of Jeddah on January 14th. The traditional Marathon Stage will see the crews race away from the main bivouac to an unsupported encampment for an overnight stop, before racing back to rejoin their technical crews at the main bivouac. This is a challenging part of the race, that often plays a major role in its outcome.
At the very beginning of 2022, the Dakar Rally will be on again in Saudi Arabia. Among the participating teams will be Audi Sport which was a pioneer in the World Rally Championship with the quattro all-wheel drive in a rallycar. This time, it wants to be the first car manufacturer to use an electrified drivetrain to compete for overall victory against conventionally-powered competitors in the world’s toughest rally.
“The quattro was a game-changer for the World Rally Championship. Audi was the first brand to win the Le Mans 24 Hours with an electrified drivetrain. Now, we want to usher in a new era at the Dakar Rally, while testing and further developing our e-tron technology under extreme conditions,” said Julius Seebach, MD of Audi Sport which is responsible for motorsport at Audi.
Testing and preparation are underway with the new RS Q e-tron which has an all-electric drivetrain. The front and rear axles are both fitted with a motor-generator unit (MGU) from the current Audi e-tron FE07 Formula E car which has been developed by Audi Sport for the 2021 season. Only minor modifications had to be made to use the MGU in the Dakar Rally.
The characteristics of the Dakar Rally present the engineers with special challenges. The marathon event lasts 2 weeks and the daily stages are up to 800 kms in length. “That’s a very long distance,” said Andreas Roos who is responsible for the Dakar project at Audi Sport. “What we are trying to do has never been done before. This is the ultimate challenge for an electric drivetrain.”
Because there are no charging opportunities in the desert, Audi has chosen an innovative charging concept. On board of the car is the highly efficient TFSI engine from the DTM. It is part of an energy-converter that charges the high-voltage battery while driving. Since the combustion engine is operated in the particularly efficient range of between 4,500 and 6,000 rpm, the specific consumption is well below 200 grams per kWh.
A third MGU, of identical design, is part of the energy converter and serves to recharge the high-voltage battery while driving. In addition, energy is recuperated during braking. The battery weighs about 370 kgs and has a capacity of around 50 kWh.
The maximum system power of the e-drivetrain is 500 kW. How much of this may be used during the Dakar Rally is still being finalized by the organizers. The electric drivetrain offers many advantages. The electric motors can be controlled extremely precisely and can thus ensure good drivability. In addition, braking energy can be recovered.
The RS Q e-tron only needs one forward gear. The front and rear axles are not mechanically connected, as is also common in electric vehicles. The software developed by Audi takes over the torque distribution between the axles and thus creates a virtual and freely configurable centre differential, which has the positive side effect of being able to save the weight and space that would have been required by propshafts and a mechanical differential.
“As engineers, we basically see development potential in every component. But in terms of the drivetrain system, we have already achieved a system efficiency of over 97% in Formula E. There’s not much more room for improvement,” revealed Stefan Dreyer, Head of Development at Audi Sport for motorsport projects.
“The situation is quite different with the battery and energy management. This is where the greatest development potential lies in electromobility in general. What we learn from the extremely challenging Dakar project will flow into future production models. As always, we are also working closely with our colleagues from road car development on this project,” he added.
The Dakar Rally entry is being run in conjunction with Q Motorsport. “Audi has always chosen new and bold paths in racing, but I think this is one of the most complex cars that I have ever seen,” said team principal Sven Quandt. “The electric drivetrain means that a lot of different systems have to communicate with each other. Besides reliability, which is paramount in the Dakar Rally, that’s our biggest challenge in the coming months.”
Quandt compares Audi’s Dakar project to the first moon landing. “Back then, the engineers didn’t really know what was coming. It’s similar with us. If we finish the first Dakar event, that’s already a success!” he said.
The prototype of the RS Q e-tron had its first roll-out in the plant only at the beginning of this month. An intensive test program and the first test entries at cross-country rallies are on the agenda from now until the end of the year. “This project’s schedule is extremely packed and challenging,” said Roos. “Less than 12 months have passed since the project officially started. We had to begin the development while the regulations for alternatively-powered vehicles had not even been finalized yet. And all of the development took place during the coronavirus pandemic. You mustn’t underestimate that either. What the team has achieved so far is unique. The roll-out was a very special moment for everyone.”
