Frenchman Peterhansel, 55, has won the Dakar a
record 14 times including this year. Spaniard Sainz, 59,
triumphed in 2020 with both drivers recently competing for the
X-Raid Mini JCW team.
They will be joined by 42-year-old Swede Mattias Ekstroem, a two
times winner of the Germany Touring Car (DTM) championship and
world rallycross champion, in the Jan 2-14 event in Saudi
Arabia.
Audi hope to be the first manufacturer to take overall victory
with an electrified powertrain.
"The Dakar is one of the last adventures in this world. And it
is on the verge of a radical change: the future is electric,"
said Peterhansel.
"The Dakar is an extreme test for this technology. We want to be
the first team to win the Dakar Rally with an electric
powertrain."
Sainz is already competing in electric racing with his own team
in the Extreme E off-road SUV series that started this year.
"Even at 59, I’m still hungry, otherwise I wouldn’t have taken
on this new challenge," he said.
The prototype cars will use an electric drivetrain supplied by a
high-voltage battery which can be charged via a combustion
engine.
The annual rally started in 1978 as a race from Paris to the
Senegalese capital, Dakar, but moved from Africa for safety
reasons in 2009.
One of motorsport's most dangerous and gruelling events, the
rally is now held entirely in Saudi Arabia after a stint in
South America.
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin in London, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
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