Dakar 2015, Petronas De Rooy IVECO Team.

Iveco and FPT Industrial to feature at Dakar 2015

Team PETRONAS De Rooy Iveco announces participation in the next edition of the world’s most famous off-road rally. Three Iveco vehicles are set to compete for a place on the podium.

Together again, ready to fight for a place on the podium at the 2015 Dakar: Iveco and FPT Industrial will once again feature at the world’s biggest rally – the Dakar – as official sponsors of Team PETRONAS De Rooy Iveco. The news was announced today at a press conference held at CNH Industrial Village in Turin, Italy. International press attended the event where the new Team was presented.

The morning’s proceedings saw speeches by Pierre Lahutte, Iveco Brand President, Riccardo Buratti, Engines  Engineering Director at FPT Industrial, and Claudio Pastoris, CEO of Sparco, a global supplier of racing equipment. Speaking on behalf of PETRONAS were Giuseppe D’Arrigo, Regional Head of Europe, and Andrea Dolfi, Global OEM Liaison & Motorsport Manager, Research & Technology. Gerard De Rooy – captain of Team PETRONAS De Rooy Iveco – also took the floor to present the other members of the Team and outline the main characteristics and challenges of the 2015 race.

In line with their adventurous identities, the two CNH Industrial brands will provide vehicles, parts and engines for the Netherlands-based Team PETRONAS De Rooy Iveco at the next Dakar rally.

The 37th edition of the Dakar – the seventh to take place on South American soil – will start in Buenos Aires, Argentina on 4 January and will finish in the same city on 17 January, after 13 stages following a ring-shaped route. The 414 vehicles on the starting line will have to cover more than 9,000 km of roads, tracks and dunes, through Argentina, Chile and Bolivia.

Team PETRONAS De Rooy Iveco

After taking second place in the 2014 edition of the rally, the Netherlands’ Gerard De Rooy – on board a sleeper-cab version of the Iveco Powerstar – will once again lead the Team. At 34 years old and having won the Dakar in 2012, the Dutchman returns to the race with more determination and enthusiasm than ever, ready to face the extreme challenges that the rally presents each year.

Behind the wheel of a second Powerstar will be fellow Dutchman Hans Stacey, winner of the Lisbon-Dakar in 2007 and a member of Team PETRONAS De Rooy Iveco since 2011. The third vehicle, a day-cab Trakker Evolution 3, will be under the control of Spanish driver Pep Vila, a rally veteran and a Team fixture at the Dakar.

Iveco’s race vehicles: strength, reliability and performance even over the toughest terrain

The Dutch team will use three Iveco vehicles at the 2015 Dakar: two Powerstars (specifically, a Strator prototype version – built in the Netherlands with an Iveco chassis, driveline and cab inspired by the Powerstar, manufactured and marketed by Iveco Australia) and a Trakker 4×4, manufactured in Spain. In addition to the rally trucks, six support and assistance Trakkers will complete the Team PETRONAS De Rooy Iveco line-up: one 8x8s, four 6x6s and one 4×4.

The Iveco Trakker is an off-road quarry-site vehicle, with a new cab designed to improve driving and on-board comfort, elements which today are recognised as essential for the productivity and safety of a vehicle. This vehicle is capable of operating on difficult, bumpy terrain, like the surfaces the drivers will need to navigate on in South America, and relies on FPT Industrial’s Cursor engines, which ensure power and reliability. The defining characteristic of the vehicle is its sturdiness: each individual component, starting from the high-yield steel chassis, guarantees long lasting performance.

The Trakker represents a “Best in Class” not only for its day-to-day use, but also in more challenging environments, having been designed to work in all weather conditions and on all types of terrain, from dirt roads to extreme off-road trails, ensuring maximum comfort, safety and output.

The vehicles are fitted with three rally seats with seat belts and a roll-over protection bar. The vehicles feature ZF gearboxes providing both ergonomics and performance. These include the Ecosplit 9- and 16-speed manual gearboxes, both equipped with a “servo-shift” servo-assist system which offers a more comfortable and safer driving experience, and the Eurotronic 12- and 16-speed automatic gearboxes, with gear selector built into the steering column switch, which helps to improve driver comfort.

The Dakar will represent an important occasion for Iveco to test the performance of the products in action: each vehicle will face huge challenges in extreme conditions, thus providing an opportunity to test the vehicles’ reliability and performance.

The engines

All Iveco vehicles participating in the 2015 Dakar are equipped with FPT Industrial Cursor 13 engines which generate up to 900 horsepower. Thanks to continuous research and development activities, the in-line six-cylinder Cursor 13 adopts the most advanced technologies available, such as latest generation Common Rail HD injection system, guaranteeing pressures up to 2,200 bar. These engines provide high power, fast load response and high power ensity and ensure maximum robustness and reliability, and low operating costs. To ensure such a high level of reliability, FPT Industrial puts its powertrains through several thousand hours of rigorous testing and, above all, tests them in extremely challenging sporting competitions such as the Dakar.

The 2015 Dakar

The race will take place in three major South American countries from 4 to 17 January: Argentina, Chile and Bolivia. The route forms a ring, starting in Buenos Aires in Argentina, reaching Iquique in Chile, and returning once again to the Argentinian capital.

Argentina will therefore host both the start and end of the race, as well as a further six stages. The rest of the race will take place in Chile, plus one stage in Bolivia, as the 9,000 km route weaves its way through a landscape of desert and rocks.

Like last year, there will be different routes for cars, trucks, bikes and quads. In particular, the truck route will be nearly 1,000 km shorter to avoid having heavy vehicles passing through Bolivia’s salt flats. This decision also stemmed from a desire to respect and protect the environment hosting this spectacular and strenuous race. A total of 414 vehicles have registered for the race this year: 164 bikes, 138 cars, 48 quads and 64 trucks, with 665 competitors representing 53 different countries.

Finally, the section “From Dakar to your job” offers Iveco customers the chance to discover all the features of the Trakker, known for its reliability in day-to-day work on quarry sites and also in extreme situations such as the Dakar: this confirms that this type of event is an excellent opportunity to test the performance and reliability of the whole vehicle under extremely challenging conditions.

Iveco and its commitment to sports

The Dakar is part of Iveco’s wider communication strategy, which – given its strong international identity and the ongoing pursuit of initiatives matching its vitality and energy – has always kept close ties with the world of sport.  Iveco’s involvement in the Dakar reinforces the brand’s strong affiliation with the leading names in international sport. Past collaborations span a wide range of sporting initiatives including a partnership with Rugby World Cup champions the All Blacks from Australia and Iveco’s role as Official Supplier to Ferrari’s racing team.