Carlos Sainz does not return to competition in stage 10

Carlos Sainz/Lucas Cruz will not continue in the 2023 Dakar Rally after their accident on the ninth stage on January 10. The three-time Dakar winners landed on the front of the vehicle after jumping off a dune on the section from Riyadh to Haradh and rolled over. Driver and co-driver were uninjured. Team Audi Sport subsequently made the RS Q e-tron ready again with the help of the race truck crew. However, during the assessment at the evening bivouac in Haradh, the Audi Sport engineers determined that the damage was too serious for repairs on site because safety-relevant assemblies were also affected. “As sorry as we are, even a team as tireless as ours cannot repair damage of this dimension on site in time,” said Head of Audi Motorsport Rolf Michl. “As a result, the hopes for a finish rest on the shoulders of Mattias Ekström and Emil Bergkvist in the remaining Audi RS Q e-tron.”