At the third attempt, Audi has won the Dakar Rally!

Audi has claimed victory at the Dakar Rally at its third (and probably final) attempt, with Carlos Sainz Snr claiming his fourth title despite not winning any of the 12 stages during two weeks of racing.

Having won the Dakar in 2010, 2018 and 2020, victory number four moves him up to joint third in the all-time list, with only Nasser Al-Attiyah (five wins) and Stephane Peterhansel (eight… or 14 if you count his six motorbike wins) ahead of him.

Sainz Snr - a two-time world rally champion - also becomes the first driver to win the Dakar Rally with four different manufacturers (the others being Volkswagen, Peugeot and Mini) and at 61 he has extended his record as the event’s oldest ever winner.

Piloting Audi’s 671bhp, purpose-built RS Q e-tron alongside co-driver Lucas Cruz, Sainz was Mr Consistent throughout the rally as his main rivals hit trouble one by one.

Prodrive’s Sebastien Loeb was his closest challenger and at one point the pair were split by just a handful of minutes, but the Frenchman had issues on the final day and was classified third, nearly an hour and a half behind Sainz.

Guillaume de Mevius finished second in his Overdrive Toyota, with a deficit to Sainz of 1h 20m 25s.

The win is a crowning achievement for Audi, which announced its bid to become the first manufacturer to win the Dakar using an electrified powertrain more than three years ago.

It could only manage ninth and then 14th in its first two attempts in 2022 and 2023, but it proved to be third time lucky as it fielded a three-car attack with Mattias Ekstrom and Peterhansel in the other two cars.

Both fell out of contention several stages before the finish, but hung around to support Sainz and give the team the best chance of signing off with the victory Audi has been so desperate for.

Audi is now expected to wind up its Dakar operation so it can focus on joining the F1 grid with Sauber in 2026. And Ford is already sniffing out a potential Dakar victory instead of Audi next year, having announced a tilt at overall glory in a Raptor pick-up earlier this week.

Perhaps Ford would like to offer Sainz the chance to make it five wins with five brands in 2025...

SOMOS CAMPEONES!!
Tengo la suerte de tener a mi lado al mejor! Has hecho un @dakar fantástico @LucasCruz74! Todo esto es gracias a ti! 💪🏻💪🏻 pic.twitter.com/nZ1wjglQEf

— Carlos Sainz (@CSainz_oficial) January 19, 2024