Iveco launches Dakar trucks
3 Iveco trucks to compete in rally raid
Iveco and FPT Industrial, part of CNH Industrial, while provide trucks and engines to compete in the the Dakar rally in January 2015, with two Powerstars and a Trakker racing as part of Team PETRONAS De Rooy Iveco.
Iveco is providing the competition vehicles as well as a number of support vehicles, equipped with engines from FPT Industrial.
The team is led by captain and driver Gerard De Rooy, who won the Dakar in an Iveco Powerstar in 2012, and finished second in 2014.
De Rooy will drive a Powerstar, a cab-behind-engine truck that is sold primarily by Iveco Australia.
A modified Trakker will make up the third vehicle in the racing team, behind a second Powerstar. All the vehicles are powered by modified FPT Cursor 13 engines, capable of producing up to 900hp, though they are based on more than 70% serial production parts.
Speaking at the launch at CNH Industrial Village in Turin, Italy, Iveco Brand President, Riccardo
Buratt, said that a win in the Dakar would be a great start to the year for Iveco.
“2015 represents an important milestone for Iveco. It is the year that begins with the “International Van of the Year 2015” title awarded to our Daily by a jury panel of 23 leading journalists from major international commercial vehicle publications. It is also the year in which we celebrate our brand’s 40th anniversary. There would be no better way to celebrate these successes and commence the New Year than to take the first place position on the Dakar podium.”
