FPT Industrial is ready to ride the dunes of the Dakar race

FPT Industrial and Dakar, once again, hegemonized by the Russian Kamaz team. FPT is taking part in the 45th edition of the Dakar Rally as co-sponsor and supplier of Cursor 13 engines especially prepared for the IVECO Powerstar trucks of the two new teams, Boss Machinery Team De Rooy IVECO and Eurol Team De Rooy IVECO (with the support of Allison). The Dakar Rally is the world’s most challenging rally raid, to be held in Saudi Arabia for the fourth time from 31 December 2022 to 15 January 2023.

FPT, Iveco, De Roy, in one word, Dakar

Preceded by the prologue’s almost 5,000 km of specials, the 14 stages, totaling over 8,500 km, follow a new coast-to-coast route from the shores of the Red Sea to those of the Persian Gulf, finishing in Damman. The organizers have really done everything in their power to make life very difficult for the 365 vehicles in the race, with a route that includes four days in the Empty Quarter’s sea of dunes and a marathon stageduring which the crews and their vehicles will be without backup. Participating in its eleventh Dakar Rally in partnership with IVECO, FPT Industrial has carried out meticulous preparations on its 13-liter Cursor 13 engines which will power the four IVECO Powerstars taking part in the race. The Cursor 13 prepared to deal with the pitiless demands of the 2023 Dakar Rally is basically no different from those installed on standard vehicles. Naturally, the FPT Industrial R&D Center at Arbon, in Switzerland, reinforced the propulsion units shipped to Arabia and boosted their power to enable them to generate over 1,000 HP and maximum torque of more than 5,000 Nm, but in terms of design and structure they are identical to those built to deal with more routine challenges. “Being an active part of this incredible challenge is a great honor and very emotional,” said Pierpaolo Biffali, Vice President Product Engineering, FPT Industrial. “But it also provides us with the ideal test bed to try out new solutions under the most extreme conditions on earth in order to further improve the reliability and toughness of the engines used by our customers.”

Two new teams

The two new teams, both captained by legendary multiple event winner Gerard De Rooy, have fiercely competitive crews who will stop at nothing to bring IVECO, with the fundamental input of FPT Industrial, the final victory as in 2012 and 2016. Boss Machinery Team De Rooy IVECO: #502 IVECO Powerstar – driver Janus van Kasteren Jr, copilot Marcel Snijders, mechanic Darek Rodewald and #504 IVECO Powerstar – driver Vick Versteijnen, copilot Teun Van Dal, mechanic Andreas Van Der Sande.

The second team, Eurol Team De Rooy IVECO is made by #506 IVECO Powerstar – driver Martin van den Brink, copilot Rijk Mouw, mechanic Erik Kofman and #511 IVECO Powerstar – driver Mitchel van den Brink, copilot Moises Torrallardona, mechanic Bert Jarno Van De Pol