Audi calls time on its rally-raid programme after Dakar win
Having finally achieved its goal of an outright win on the Dakar with its RS Q e-tron, Audi has put an end to its rally-raid programme after three years.
The German manufacturer had considered entering this year’s FIA World Rally-Raid Championship season but decided not to, following an evaluation of spare parts and production timelines.
In a statement, Audi explained that ‘extremely high spare parts consumption’ over the last couple of years had depleted its supply of components.
Two Audis crashed out of the 2023 event and the manufacturer embarked on an intensive test programme to validate its upgrades for 2024. It entered this year’s event with three cars and took victory with the one driven by Carlos Sainz, alongside Lucas Cruz.
Audi’s analysis found that lead times in the production of one-off
