Cutting-Edge Audi Dakar Racer Found in a Czech Dump

Being called “trash” is harsh criticism. Being literally thrown out into a dump is a whole ‘nother level of disrespect. Reports from Czechia say that such an undignified place is where one of Audi‘s most advanced racers was laid to rest, and officials are looking into the reason why.

Audi has a history of motorsports success. From Le Mans to Pikes Peak, the Four Rings knows a thing or two about winning. One of its more recent victories was the 2024 Dakar Rally, which was Audi’s first-ever title in the desert rally raid. But Audi wouldn’t have topped that podium without its pioneering RS Q E-Tron specially built for the 2022 race. Not only was this prototype rally truck a leap for Audi racing and EV tech, but, at the time, it was also the automaker’s most complex racer ever built—and that’s saying something.

And yet, this very vehicle was found unceremoniously dumped in Jiríkov, Czechia.

According to local outlet Seznam Zpravy, pieces of one of Audi’s Dakar debut rally racers ended up in an illegal dumping site located within an environmentally protected area. Found in bags labeled “plastic” were brake rotors, fiberglass aero pieces, and circuit boards from the RS Q E-Tron No. 224. Audi entered three vehicles that year with No. 224 being the highest finisher in ninth place.

“We found batteries there, battery cells that can be toxic,” Jiříkova Mayor Barbora Šišková told a local news agency. “It’s 100% illegal because they’re stored in bags, which shouldn’t be stored like that. And on top of that, they say kunststoff [plastic], which is, of course, a lie.”

The Dakar vehicles utilized three of Audi’s Formula E motor-generator units for its powertrain supported by a DTM racing engine as a range extender. Although not a pure electric vehicle, the RS Q E-Tron still earned Audi the Dakar distinction of being the first automaker to compete with an alternative powertrain.

“The development of this car must have cost millions of euros,” Šišková said. “Audi management paid the German company Roth to dispose of the car and it ended up with us.”

Audi said an internal investigation is underway, particularly its compliance processes and environmental guidelines, which extend to contractors. Roth International, a Germany-based waste management company, was confirmed as an Audi contractor. However, the automaker did not explain if or why Roth was assigned to scrap the competition EV(s). The Dakar vehicles have significance and could easily have found a home in a museum or stored with Team Audi Sport.

Audi said in a statement: “In cases where supplier companies do not implement the specified measures or do not implement them completely, the business relationship may be terminated in the last instance.” 

Properly handling the toxic car parts is said to cost upwards of 600 euros ($629 at today’s exchange rate), but there is also the threat of additional fines and possible arrests. Šišková said that a convoy of trucks discarded at least 200 tons of lithium-ion batteries within the protected park. Road and Track adds that the Czech Environmental Inspectorate has already implicated a domestic plastic company in the dumping scheme with a fine of 25 million Czech koruna ($1.05 million). 

Roth International is tasked with returning the dumped waste to Germany. So far, at least five truckloads have been removed. The company is also under investigation by both Czech and German officials, with local law enforcement alleging possible ties to organized crime.

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