“We're going low profile”

As a teenage skateboard champion, Stéphane Peterhansel was already captivated by the images of the Dakar in the 1980s, with Cyril Neveu and Hubert Auriol devouring the Saharan dunes. But he had no idea that 40 years later, he would sit atop the mountain with 14 titles and embark on a high-flying technological challenge. His talent and precociousness enabled him to learn the rally-raid trade quickly. He won his first Dakar in 1991. The biker donning the blue bandana won six titles in eight years aboard a Yamaha. The qualities he had acquired on a motorbike were immediately put to good use when he switched to four wheels: 7th on his first attempt in 1999 and runner-up the following year. The first win in a car came in 2004, when 'Peter' became the second competitor in Dakar after Hubert Auriol to win in both the bike and car categories. He won with Mitsubishi in 2005 and 2007. After the Japanese firm withdrew, Peterhansel joined X-Raid, but it wasn't until 2012 that he collected his 10th title. Never satisfied, 'Monsieur Dakar' followed it up with another victory in 2013. A new challenge arose in 2015 with the return of Peugeot to the Dakar. 'Peter' secured the French carmaker's first victory since the success of Ari Vatanen in a 405. The series continued with the 3008 to go for a 13th title at the end of a tense final duel with team-mate Sébastien Loeb. In January 2021, he added another milestone to his unmatched career, becoming the only competitor to have won in Africa, South America and now Asia. The feat could have prompted the rally-raid legend to call it a day. But carmaker Audi presented him with one of the most tempting challenges of his career: to participate in the design and development of the first electric vehicle capable of winning the Dakar. The first two attempts failed, firstly because of the shortcomings of the RS Q e-tron and then because of a driver error that resulted in a serious injury to his co-driver in 2023, during stage 7. To complete this technological adventure, he still has one last opportunity in the three-year programme that ends with the 46th edition of the Dakar. Accompanied by Edouard Boulanger, the former KTM and Toyota 'mapman' who has sat to his right since the last victory with Peugeot and who has been healing his vertebrae since the accident last January, Stéphane Peterhansel is moving forward with equal parts ambition and humility. With the timid but real hope of going for a 15th trophy!

S.P.: “It's never pleasant to stop when your co-driver is injured because you also feel guilty. Edouard's recovery went well, and we soon knew we would get back together. Meanwhile, I kept busy, participating in a vintage motorbike championship in Italy (4 wins, 2nd in the championship!). After the Baja in Spain, we started competing again in earnest on the Rally of Morocco, where we had some good times and some not-so-good ones. Afterwards, I was particularly pleased with how we felt, and I could see that we were really up to the challenge of competing with the best. On the other hand, the car wasn't as reliable as it should have been, and that's not down to any fault in the car's design. It's more a question of rigour in the car's preparation and maintenance, but there's still time to put things right between now and the Dakar.
I'd really like this programme with Audi to end on a high note because our only victory so far was in the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge in 2022. When a leading manufacturer commits to the Dakar, there is usually a learning phase. They invest until they win and then withdraw. It would be a shame not to win the Dakar, whatever the crew. So we will keep a low profile because we haven't proved much! But I hope we'll be in the running all the same”.


E.B.: “I was tremendously lucky in that accident on 6 January. When I had my operation on the 9th, I was assured that I would be able to resume a normal life. But I had to become a top-level athlete again. And the recovery was quite rapid, even if I had to start from scratch. I re-trained, notably at the RedBull performance centre in Austria, and then in May, I got the green light for a full resumption with no intensity limit. I was apprehensive when I rejoined Stéphane at the Baja in Spain. But it barely lasted half an hour before it went away. On the other hand, it was frustrating from a sporting point of view, and we weren't spared reliability problems in Morocco either.
We still confirmed that we were on pace, but now we'd like to do a trouble-free Dakar, which has never happened for any of the three Audi crews. We can't be 100% serene. There are no certainties. We have to accept that this technology isn't totally ready for the Dakar, but at the same time, there has never been a car as complex as this. The challenge is enormous, but we can congratulate ourselves on achieving 40% less energy consumption than our rivals. As for the rest, we'll definitely be frustrated if we don't finish on the podium”.