IVECO VEHICLES AND FPT INDUSTRIAL ENGINES EN ROUTE TO SOUTH AMERICA FOR DAKAR 2013
Iveco and FPT Industrial are sponsoring Team De Rooy from the Netherlands at Dakar 2013. Renewing a partnership that led to major successes at the 2012 edition, Iveco and FPT Industrial have supplied Team De Rooy with vehicles, engines and spare parts.
The provided vehicles embarked via cargo ship with an estimated 700 race, assistance, organisation and press vehicles from the Port of Le Havre, in the north of France. The journey to South America will take 21 days, crossing the Atlantic Ocean and passing through the Panama Canal.
Recognized as the world’s premier off-road rally, garnering millions of followers each time, the race sets off on 5 January from Lima, Peru, and ends on 20 January in Santiago, Chile, crossing through Argentina.
The Petronas De Rooy Iveco Team will compete at Dakar 2013 with two 4×4 New Trakkers (Evolution 3), two 4×4 New Trakkers (Evolution 2) and one Iveco Powerstar, a vehicle produced and sold by Iveco in Australia.
All the vehicles are equipped with FPT Industrial’s Cursor 13 engines, which generate up to 840 horsepower.
Rally truck 1, an Iveco Powerstar, sleeper cab version, will be driven by 32-year-old team leader Gerard de Rooy, winner of the Dakar 2012. Rally truck 2, an Iveco New Trakker Evolution 3 day cab version, will be driven by Dutch rally driver Hans Stacey. Rally truck 3, an Iveco New Trakker Evolution 2 day cab version, will be driven by Italian driver Miki Biasion, a Dakar veteran who has previously competed three times in the race car category and five times in the truck category.
Rally truck 4, an Iveco New Trakker Evolution 3 day cab version, will be driven by team-newcomer René Kuipers, a seasoned motorbike and car rally racer from the Netherlands. French driver Jo Adua, a seven-time Dakar competitor, will drive the final rally truck 5, an Iveco New Trakker Evolution 2.
In addition to the rally trucks, there will be seven assistance vehicles tasked with providing vehicle support and assistance during the competition. The vehicles consist of five Iveco New Trakkers (an 8×8 truck, two 6×6 trucks, a 4×4 truck and a 6×6 camper) and one Daily 4×4 truck.
Dakar 2013 marks the third year Iveco and FPT Industrial have partnered with Team De Rooy, first debuting together at the 2011 Morocco Rally. They collaborated once again this past October at the 2012 Morocco Rally where team drivers Gerard de Rooy and Miki Biasion respectively placed first and second in the special truck category. As Morocco is regarded as a preparatory run leading up to Dakar, their results are a positive lead up to the far more intense challenge ahead.
Iveco
Iveco, a Fiat Industrial company, designs, manufactures, and markets a broad range of light, medium and heavy commercial vehicles, off-road trucks, city and intercity buses and coaches as well as special vehicles for applications such as fire fighting, off-road missions, defence and civil protection. Iveco employs almost 25,000 people and runs in 11 countries in the world using excellent technologies. The company operates in Europe, China, Russia, Australia and Latin America.
Around 5,000 sales and service outlets in over 160 Countries guarantee technical support wherever in the world an Iveco vehicle is at work.
FPT Industrial
FPT Industrial is a company of Fiat Industrial dedicated to the design, production and sale of powertrains for on/off-road vehicle, marine and power generation applications. The company employs approx. 8,000 persons worldwide, in 10 plants and 6 R&D Centres. The FPT Industrial’s sales network consists of 100 dealers and over 1,300 service centres in about 100 countries. A wide range of products (5 engine ranges from 37 up to 640 kW, and transmissions with maximum torque from 300 up to 500 Nm) and a close focus on R&D activities, make FPT Industrial a world leader in industrial powertrains.
