Eight paragraphs deep into an Audi press release, 46 words communicated the end of a factory motorsport programme that will have stretched back seven years come its demise.
That press release read: "The Dakar Rally will replace Audi's factory involvement in Formula E, which will no longer be continued in the form of an Audi factory team after the 2021 season. The use of the newly developed Audi powertrain by customer teams will remain possible beyond next year."
A likely return to the Le Mans 24 Hours for Audi via a combined IMSA SportsCar and World Endurance Championship assault will also come to replace the FE operation in addition to the Dakar switch. That might seem like an odd development for a VW Group member. Amid the fallout of the 'dieselgate' emissions scandal, it could be said that there's been an element of 'electric washing' for the Group.