Following on from the news that Audi would be joining the Dakar Rally for the first time with a brand new prototype in 2022, a newly founded team has been announced to run the programme for the German manufacturer.
Q Motorsport GmbH based in Trebur, Germany has been founded by Sven Quandt and his two sons Thomas and Tobias Quandt. Quandt brings years of off road experience with him having won the T1 Marathon Cup in 1998. In the same year, his team GECO Raid celebrated a 1-2-3 victory in the T1 classification of the Paris–Dakar Rally.
Quandt was also head of motorsport at Mitsubishi Motors from 2002-2004, building the foundations for the X-raid Team which has since celebrated five victories in the Dakar Rally and won the FIA World Cup for cross-country rallies eleven times.
“By cooperating with Q Motorsport, we are sticking to our philosophy that has proven itself at Audi over many years,” said Julius Seebach, Managing Director of Audi Sport GmbH and responsible for motorsport at Audi. “The development of the Dakar prototype with its innovative drivetrain concept is being carried out in-house. We are contesting the race together with an experienced partner. The Q Motorsport team contributes an enormous amount of specific experience from cross-country motorsport.”
“With Q Motorsport, we want to break new ground in cross-country motorsport independently of and parallel to X-raid,” added Sven Quandt. “The world is changing and the Dakar must also prove that it can be sustainable and continue to point the way forward. This is exactly what Q Motorsport wants to demonstrate together with Audi.”
