Ekström and Peterhansel penalized but Audi overtake preserved on Stage 8

The Sportity application, used by competitors as well as the media on the Dakar 2022, was primarily intended to serve as a collection of rankings and routes. However, the avalanche of decisions from commissioners and penalties is clogging up the system a little more every day.

Latest notification to date, that concerning the two Audi RS Q e-trons of Mattias Ekström-Emil Bergkvist and Stéphane Peterhansel-Édouard Boulanger during the eighth stage between Al Dawadimi and Wadi Ad-Dawasir (Saudi Arabia) on Monday January 10.

Mattias Ekström/Emil Bergkvist finished the sixth stage in second position, which was their best result to date. Check out the summary of today.

>> https://t.co/i5Tnh0Pbjz#FutureIsAnAttitude #AudiDakar # Dakar2022 #RSQetron pic.twitter.com/kbl1gybvRe

- Audi Sport (@audisport) January 7, 2022

The two crews, which formed the first double for the brand at the Rings in the rally-raid, were pinned down for a higher electrical power than what the regulations allow.

For the Swedish crew (car no. 224), the infraction was noted on a distance of 531 meters at km 162. The electric power was 291,62 kW while the limit is 288 kW. As for the French crew (car no. 200), peak power lasted 1,035 km also at km 162 of the special, with the same value of 291,62 kW.

Here is Audi Sport's defense as recounted in the commissioners' note: “This is the first time we have used the FIA ​​data logger and this data comes from the battery, which we are not used to. So far on the Dakar, we have never changed the car settings, and the data from the first seven stages proves that the power deployed has never gone beyond the limit.

We don't know what happened in the eighth stage. It is very surprising that this “overboost” occurred on two of our cars almost at the same place in the special and only once. We have now reduced the electrical power by 1 kW so that this does not happen again. »

LThe regulation stipulates, in principle, a disqualification following case law in identical cases. But the commissioners determined that this was "exceptional circumstances", in the same vein as the suspensive disqualification of Nasser Al-Attiyah-Mathieu Baumel (Toyota) and Cristina Gutiérrez-François Cazalet (Overdrive in T3).

“An exclusion from the competition does not seem to be a proportional sanction, especially as the competitor has confirmed that he will rectify this problem quickly so that the cars respect the regulations in the following stages. »

The commissioners conclude that“a time penalty is necessary but also sufficient. » The two Audis were penalized by two minutes, which does not change the order of the top 3 because Sébastien Loeb-Fabian Lurquin (BRX, 3rd) was initially 2'19 and 3'08'' behind respectively on Peterhansel-Boulanger and Ekström-Bergkvist. The final gap is therefore 1'08'' with Ekström-Bergkvist (final winners of the stage) and 19'' with Peterhansel-Boulanger.

“To determine the time penalty, the stewards had to decide whether a low overboost from the turbo engine (the turbo petrol TFSI from the DTM in the Audi. Editor’s note) is comparable to the additional power of an electric vehicle over a short period.

After extensive discussion, the stewards concluded that this was not directly comparable, that power exceeded for a short time had less impact on performance and therefore chose a lower time penalty. »

For comparison, Henk Lategan-Brett Cummings, aboard their Toyota Hilux T1+ turbo petrol, receiveda five-minute penalty on the second stage due to turbo overboost.