Get Hotcars Premium. Start your free trial today

A drag race pits the legendary new Dakar racer against Audi's own R8 V10 supercar.

Another day another drag race – Mat Watson via the prolific CarWow YouTube channel is here to satisfy our unending desires to see which cars can beat which in yet another drag race.

Today it’s the return of a couple of iconic cars that have already enjoyed time on the CarWow runway, and today they meet to take each other on in a pedal-to-the-metal test.

Interestingly, it’s a one-make race as these Audi vehicles will prove whether a supercar can beat a specially engineered professional competition car.

We stick around long enough to see if it’s as obvious an outcome as we expect and find out more about the special Dakar speedster.

RELATED: Audi RS Q E-Tron Rallies Through The Streets Of Hamburg At The OMR Festival

So as always, there’s a breakdown of the key statistics before the race to put it into perspective.

The ubiquitous Audi RS Q e-tron is not a first-time offender here and this time it will take on the Audi R8 V10 with its two electric motors.

It makes 340 hp from the dual electric motors which get charged dynamo-style via a 2-liter DTM racing engine in real time.

It’s a potential $2 million competition car that can double its power output at the flick of a switch to 680 hp, which it will need to as the Audi R8 V10 makes 620 hp.

Audi’s V10 supercar drives all four wheels through a 7-speed DCT gearbox and is around 1500 pounds lighter than the Dakar car, but the RS Q e-tron has the bonus of instant electric acceleration, so the odds are unclear at the start.

RELATED: Audi Gets Set For The Next Challenge With Its RS Q e-tron

When it comes down to the drag races, the cars are extremely evenly matched over the short distance and cross the line almost together each time.

The Dakar racer won the best of three races, but it was so close each time and the Audi R8 V10 was always overtaking the RS Q e-tron towards the end – indicating that it would win over a longer distance.

The devilish noise of the RS Q e-tron as it accelerates, and the way Mat struggles to keep it straight make for entertaining viewing as well as for the sound of the iconic combustion engine under the rear hatch of the R8 V10.

A braking test highlights the handicap of the extra weight of the Dakar car’s batteries as it overshoots the Audi R8 by some distance in that test.

Hailing from Britain, the home of both MG and Aston Martin, Dave is no stranger to sports cars. Or a little rain. When he's not busy working his day-job or writing songs and pretending to be a musician; Dave indulges his obsession with cars by writing and researching diligently, so that he can inform and convert other people to the dark side.