Dakar Rally
After the breakup with Nasser Al-Attiyah, Mathieu Baumel breaks the silence: “We have to think about the future”
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Rally-Raid
Dakar 2023 – Mathieu Baumel angry: “I think they gave victory to Audi”
Nasser Al-Attiyah and Mathieu Baumel (Toyota) are racing to stay in the lead in the 2023 Dakar. © ASO/C.Lopez
The storm had been brewing on the Dakar for several days; it broke out at nightfall this Wednesday, January 4 in Ha'il (Saudi Arabia). The decision of the World Championship committee rally-raid (W2RC) to add 10,8 horsepower (8 kW) to the Audi RS Q e-tron hybrids from the 5th stage of the event brought the leaders of the race off their hinges.
ALSO READ > Dakar 2023 – Audis gain power, not Toyotas and Prodrives
Indeed, Nasser Al-Attiyah and Mathieu Baumel did not mince their words in front of the French media present in the Saudi bivouac. The Qatari driver, leader of the event, thanked the officials for “killed the race very early” on his Instagram account.
See this post on Instagram
His tricolor navigator was more verbose, but his analysis is identical. Mathieu Baumel expresses his incomprehension because according to him, the acceleration data of the T1U (Audi) and T1+ (Prodrive, Toyota) taken into account by the FIA and ASO are not representative of their actual performances in competition on this Dakar 2023.
“The data is something, of course, but in reality, we drove with them several times and at no time can we say that we were going at the same speed as the Audis, declares the reigning world champion. From there to say that they are still in deficit when it is they who are deposing us... I don't really see the principle. Adding 10 horsepower to them is a lot, especially for a car which, in reality, is already faster than us. »
It's a fact, Audi hybrids benefit from an advantage during restart phases, particularly on sandy surfaces and in dunes. Their electric motors give the pilots (Stéphane Peterhansel, Carlos Sainz, Mattias Ekström) immediate response to the accelerator pedal, unlike the Toyota Hilux and Prodrive Hunter, equipped with twin-turbo petrol V6s, without an electrical system.
Mathieu Baumel continues. “Clearly this decision gives the advantage to Audi and allows them to come back. We are in the lead but they will come back on us. It doesn't go in the direction of fairness as it is written on paper in any case.
We expected quite the opposite! Maybe they made a mistake in the writing, right? There really is a serious problem. We rode with them again today (Wednesday). It's incomprehensible. I think they gave Audi the victory. »
Medhi Casaurang
Passionate about the history of motorsport across all disciplines, I learned to read thanks to AUTOhebdo. At least that's what my parents tell everyone when they see my name inside!
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Alex Marotte
05/01/2023 at 10:46 a.m.
In rally-raid we talk about EoT as we talk about BoP in endurance, but HERE, at ASO in particular, the rules are not the same, HERE, when we want to give "a helping hand" it's not like with the BoP which plans it for the next round of the calendar, no no here, at the DAKAR, the decision is IMMEDIATE it will be for the upcoming special, there we are no longer riding, we are walking on our heads. If this is not conclusive for "the rings" ASO will undoubtedly find one or the other imaginary "WP" in order to give, not a boost, but 1 or 2 hours of penalty???
YVES CHAMPOD
05/01/2023 at 09:14 a.m.
Matthew is right! ! ! . . . . . . AUDI in Rally-Raid, and 'Mercedes AMG Petronas' in F1, same 'fight' with the FIA! ! ! . . . . . . . It's a shame ! ! !