Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge: First victory of the Audi RS Q e-tron

For the eighth time since 1996, Stéphane Peterhansel accepted a winner’s trophy at the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge – and at the same time his first for Audi. Together with co-driver Edouard Boulanger, the 56-year-old Frenchman led the desert rally continuously from the first stage after a flawless drive. “Congratulations to Stéphane and Edouard, to Team Audi Sport as well as our fielding partner Q Motorsport. They have achieved a breakthrough for our innovations with this success,” said Julius Seebach, Managing Director of Audi Sport GmbH and responsible for motorsport at Audi. “We developed the Audi RS Q e-tron¹ in record time. Now, for the first time, a car with an electric powertrain² has won a desert rally. That makes me proud. A victory on the second start against the two best contenders of January’s Dakar Rally – winner Nasser Al-Attiyah and record World Champion and Monte Carlo winner Sébastien Loeb – is an outstanding result. It was remarkable that our concept prevailed in even tougher conditions than in January.”

“It wasn’t easy to find the right rhythm on the sometimes very treacherous broken dunes,” reported Stéphane Peterhansel. “Our pace was right and we didn’t take too many risks. Once again, the Audi RS Q e-tron¹ was a lot of fun.” The example of the competition showed how complicated the terrain was: As early as on the first day, Nasser Al-Attiyah and Sébastien Loeb lost all chances of good overall results due to damage to their cars.

A puncture on the second day was the only unscheduled stop for Team Audi Sport. Therefore, the lead of 9.30 minutes after the first stage was reduced to 7.49 minutes. After a setback for another opponent on the third stage Peterhansel/Boulanger continuously extended their advantage.