Don't Miss These Epic Photos of Audi's Morocco Rally Test

We don't cover much in the way of motorsports or rally racing, but these photos are too good not to share.

Team Audi Sport is prepping for the 2024 Dakar Rally, and their journey includes competing in the Morocco Rally. The team will field three Audi RS Q e-tron cars, driven by the teams of Mattias Ekström/Emil Bergkvist, Stéphane Peterhansel/Edouard Boulanger, and Carlos Sainz/Lucas Cruz, marking their first classification in this prestigious rally.

According to Head of Audi Motorsport Rolf Michl, October represents the most intensive phase of their preparation, as the team can now work in competitive mode. The Morocco Rally serves as an ideal training ground due to its duration and terrain, closely resembling the diverse conditions of the Dakar Rally.

The Rally du Maroc, scheduled from October 13 to 18, features a prologue and five rally stages with a total distance of 2,219 kilometers (1,379 miles). Unlike the previous year when Team Audi Sport participated outside the classification, they will now face formidable competition from Toyota, Ford, and Prodrive as registered participants in the fifth round of the FIA World Rally-Raid Championship. Rolf Michl regards this as an excellent opportunity to assess their current standing and fine-tune their preparations for the 2024 Dakar Rally.

The Rally du Maroc's diverse terrain, which includes gravel roads, sand, and dunes, provides an excellent simulation of the challenges awaiting them in the Dakar Rally. In the lead-up to the event, Team Audi Sport conducted six days of testing in Morocco in collaboration with Q Motorsport from October 3 to 8. This extensive testing involved each of the three driver pairings covering more than 3,000 kilometers (1,864 miles) in the Audi RS Q e-tron cars.

Check out the teams in action below:

By Colum Wood