Dakar | Quandt: “The Audi team is new. Winning would be a feat”

Winning the Dakar is so special that there are projects that, no matter how many years pass, never manage to do it, but Audi is one step away from doing so after three editions in which luck has abandoned it. Furthermore, the Germans did not have an easy life, as they had to combine the farewell to the desert with the start of the Formula 1 team.

Here's what Q-Motorsport director Sven Quandt, very close to the German manufacturer, said: “This year is a very special year”, after having built everything from scratch: “This year is very special. We have a completely new team , basically from Audi, because everyone else went to Formula 1.”

“And we've had to build a team spirit over the last couple of months, let's put it that way, and it's been fantastic, as you can see,” one of the bosses of the Teutonic company told Cross-Country Rally.

“It's very, very good team work here on the field, and it's incredible team work with the drivers. As you can see, in the last few days, we follow Carlos [Sainz]always with a few spare tires, and we have a car right behind him to make sure he has the best chance of winning.”

“All of them, and the co-pilots, contributed to bringing Carlos to the finish line,” explained the German, who was feeling “up and down” after missing the goal he set himself three years ago by just one stage: “I'm there There have been ups and downs. Yesterday we lost time, today we gained time, but nothing is finished before crossing the finish line, we all know that.”

“So anything can happen tomorrow too, but it doesn't seem like it was as bad as yesterday, when the lead got smaller and smaller, and now I can say I'm not sure, but more than last night,” continued Sven Quandt. “However, only when we are at the finish line on the podium and everything is in place, then we will get it.”