2017 Dakar, IVECO goes to South America to defend historical victory

For the seventh consecutive year, PETRONAS De Rooy will be the official sponsor of the IVECO team, providing the team with high-quality vehicles, spare parts, and continuing to advance this partnership that has achieved many major victories in recent years.

2017 Dakar, IVECO goes to South America to defend historical victory

An IVECO Powerstar 4×4 and two IVECO 4×4 trucks will tackle continuous extreme terrain during the 2017 off-road vehicle endurance race. The three trucks are equipped with a Cursor 13 engine with up to 900 horsepower specially built for the event by FPT Industrial, a division of CNH Industrial. The PETRONAS De Rooy IVECO team also includes seven additional vehicles – six Trakkers and one – to provide full support and assistance to the team.

The 2017 Dakar Rally will be a well-prepared, highly competitive and challenging event – the 39th edition of the world’s most famous rally will once again be staged on the South American continent. The race will begin in the city of Asunción, Paraguay on January 2 and wind its way through Paraguay, Bolivia and Argentina, covering a total distance of more than 9,000 kilometers. It will conclude in Buenos Aires on January 14.

On November 24 and 25, all the European teams’ vehicles were loaded at the port of Le Havre, France, and it took about a month to cross the Atlantic Ocean to reach the competition venue.

Pierre Lahutte, president of the Iveco brand, said: "We hope that through the efforts of this year’s competitors, the team will be able to build on its success. In last year’s Dakar Rally, five truck brands occupied the top 10, and Iveco stood out and won the championship. As far as Iveco is concerned, it is certain that we will continue to fully demonstrate the excellent reliability of Iveco trucks on the Dakar Rally track, allowing drivers to reach their maximum potential in the race."

●  PETRONAS De Rooy IVECO team ready to go

Following the impressive results achieved in 2016, the PETRONAS De Rooy IVECO team has taken a break and is highly motivated. Two drivers, Gerard de Rooy and Ton van Genugten, will be ready to meet new challenges with the strong support of Wuf van Ginkel.

2017 Dakar, IVECO goes to South America to defend historical victory

Gerard de Rooy will drive the Iveco Powerstar with a long cab. He is a professional racer who has shown exceptional personal skills in many races in the past, and who has won the Dakar Rally in 2012 and 2016, and is still talked about today. His co-pilot is Spanish Moi Torrallardona, an experienced navigator who has worked with several famous drivers in the event. The two competed together for the first time at the Morocco Rally in 2015. Maintenance technician Darek Rodewald will also be on board the Powerstar, responsible for providing technical support throughout the event.

The second car is the IVECO Trakker model with a short cab, driven by professional truck racer Ton van Genugten, who has a major mission to lead the Trakker team to success. Van Genugten first raced in the IVECO Trakker last year, and as a result became famous in the first battle, finishing fifth overall. Now he hopes to match his teammate and captain De Rooy in the 2017 race. Anton van Limpt is his co-pilot and has been his navigator since last year’s Dakar Rally. Bernard der Kinderen, a maintenance technician for the De Rooy team who has served the team for a long time, will be aboard the Trakker this time to support the Van Genugten team.

The other Trakker will be driven by Wuf van Ginkel, who will be competing for the first time in an Iveco model, and will be tasked with providing "rapid assistance", mainly in transporting key spare parts during the race. Erik Kofman will be his navigator, while Bert van Donkelaar will be their maintenance technician.

As one of CNH Industrial’s brands, FPT Industrial designs and manufactures on-road and off-highway engines, engines, and engines. FPT Industrial and Sparco will be both technical sponsors of the fleet.

PETRONAS Lubricants, one of IVECO’s long-standing partners, will continue to support its old friend in the Dakar Rally 2017. As title sponsor, PETRONAS Lubricants will provide lubricants and working fluids for race and service vehicles, and act as chief technical partner of the PETRONAS De Rooy IVECO team. The sponsors also include OK Trucks – an IVECO-certified brand.

Gerard De Rooy, who is ready for the challenge, said: "The race will be very competitive, but the team is ready for the challenge. We have prepared very carefully and our cars have proven their reliability to be true to the harshest road conditions of the Dakar Rally. Everyone in the team is very experienced and can’t wait to test our skills and cars again in the race: like our partner IVECO, endless may be our innate instinct."

2017 Dakar, IVECO goes to South America to defend historical victory

Nicknamed "El Coyote", Federico Villagra, a racing driver who won a surprise in 2016, will once again race in the Iveco Powerstar, leading an Argentine team with the goal of finishing first.

●  Participating models

The IVECO Trakker is a model that delivers exceptional performance in the harshest of off-highway operations. The Trakker range, with a combined weight from 18 to 72 tonnes, offers a perfect blend of durability and reliability. It can be equipped with the new Active Day short cab and Active Time long cab, providing excellent comfort. Available in either left or right rudder models, the Trakker range offers a wide range of bespoke models for a variety of specific jobs thanks to the IVECO Cursor 13 engine and two cabs. The Trakker chassis is available in 4×2, 4×4, 6×4, 6×6 or 8×8 drive forms with engine power from 310hp to 500hp.
Available in 4×2, 4×4, 6×4 and 6×6 drive formats with engines from 360 to 500 horsepower. Whether used in extreme off-highway conditions or primarily for on-road operations, Trakker offers the best payload and fuel economy.

From November 24th to 25th, IVECO vehicles were loaded and shipped in the port of Le Havre in northern France, together with other European competitors’ racing cars, assistance vehicles, logistics service vehicles and press vehicles. Since 2009, the vehicle loading process in this second largest port in France has become an important celebration and to some extent represents the first phase of the event. In addition, the event offers a unique opportunity to observe vehicles, the environment quickly transforms, presenting a remarkable South American atmosphere! It takes about a month to cross the Atlantic Ocean.

All news on IVECO’s official website – Dakar Rally www.iveco.com/dakar

IVECO will www.iveco.com/dakar daily news from South America in the official website area, providing fans with the latest racing conditions. The official website area will follow the journey of this most difficult and demanding cross-country event in the world in English and Spanish, and update the PETRONAS De Rooy IVECO team’s race results and various data every day, as well as multimedia content directly from the event. Likewise, IVECO’s social media accounts will be updated daily with race news as well as reports, videos and pictures.

●  IVECO

IVECO is a brand of CNH Industrial Group, a leading global manufacturer of means of production listed on the New York Stock Exchange and the Italian Stock Exchange Electronic Stock Market. IVECO designs, manufactures and sells a wide range of light, medium and heavy commercial vehicles, off-highway trucks and vehicles for off-highway tasks.

The product range of the IVECO brand includes the Daily series, GVW 3-7 tons, Eurocargo series, GVW 6-19 tons, Trakker series (dedicated to off-highway tasks) and Stralis series, all with a GVW of 16 tons or more. In addition, the IVECO Astra brand manufactures off-highway trucks, standard and articulated, as well as vehicles.

IVECO has nearly 21,000 employees worldwide. The company manages factories in 7 countries in Europe, Asia, Africa, Oceania and Latin America, and produces vehicles with the latest advanced technology. Wherever the customer’s vehicle goes, the 4,200 sales and after-sales services outlets in more than 160 countries can guarantee the corresponding technical support.

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