The German manufacturer was due to complete its third and final season in the FIA-sanctioned series as part of its cross-country program with the RS Q e-tron.
However, just a month after taking its first victory in the prestigious Saudi marathon last January, Audi announced it would close the program with immediate effect, forgoing the four remaining events on the W2RC calendar.
But the decision will not be without financial consequences: the stewards of the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge have in fact penalized the brand for missing the second round of the season, as required by article 3.4.3 of the FIA Cross-Country Rally Sporting Regulations.
In fact, it was revealed that Audi had registered as a manufacturer for the entire 2024 W2RC season and is therefore damaging the image of the championship by skipping some events in which it should have taken part.
For this reason, the sports commissioners concluded to “impose a financial sanction of 750,000 euros on the manufacturer Team Audi Sport, of which the amount of 562,500 euros is applied with suspension of the sentence, provided that no other similar infringements are committed during of the 2024 World Cup”.
Given that Audi has already made it clear that it does not intend to re-enter the championship later in the year, it is expected that it will have to pay the entire fine.
Interviewed by Motorsport-Total.com, a newspaper that is part of the Motorsport Networkan Audi spokesperson said: “We are recalling and will not comment further on the matter, as this is an ongoing procedure.”
#204 Team Audi Sport Audi RS Q e-tron E2: Carlos Sainz Sr, Lucas Cruz
Photo by: Audi Communications Motorsport
Previously, Audi had described a lack of spare parts as the main reason for the premature end of its Rally Raid programme. The company said delivery times for some parts were up to two years and that in the last two editions of the Dakar it had consumed more components than expected.
“Audi ends the Rally Raid project as planned after its third participation in the Dakar, and consideration for a possible participation in the 2024 World Rally Raid Championship has been rejected,” it said in a statement.
“After an extremely high consumption of spare parts at the Dakar 2023, a very intensive test program in 2023 and the damage that occurred, as well as the very harsh Dakar 2024, the majority of prototype parts were worn out, as demonstrated by a 'in-depth analysis”.
“The long production times of these unique parts can be up to two years, due to the small number of highly specialized suppliers for the extremely complex prototypes made by Audi.”
“This means that the conditions do not exist to guarantee Audi's participation in the World Rally Raid Championship for an entire season.”
Audi won the 2024 Dakar with Carlos Sainz driving the latest version of the RS Q e-tron, which used powertrain technology developed in Formula E and the DTM.
With the conclusion of this program, Audi will no longer be directly involved in motorsport until it enters the Formula 1 grid in 2026, as part of the Sauber takeover.
#Dakar #Audi #fined #euros #leaving #World #Championship
