Tatra to set off for 2016 Dakar Rally with Tatra Phoenix and Tatra 815 race trucks

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Tatra Trucks Press Release / November 24, 2015

The Tatra Buggyra Race Team with the new race-prepped Tatra Phoenix and Martin Kolomý's already race-proven Tatra 815 Buggyra are preparing to head to the most challenging motor race, the Dakar Rally.

Demanding stress tests form a part of the preparations for the climax of this season.

The Tatra Phoenix will be crewed by Jaroslav Valtr (two-time champion of the Czech Republic’s Offroad Marathon), Josef Kalina (three-time winner of the Dakar Rally) and newcomer Jiří Stross.

The Tatra 815 will be piloted by teammate Martin Kolomý.

The Euro-6 emissions rated Tatra Phoenix symbolizes a new era in truck racing at the 2016 Dakar Rally.

Tatra will celebrate its 30th anniversary at Dakar in 2016, having first entered the race in 1986.

To commemorate this significant anniversary, Tatra Trucks is preparing a series of special events.

A regular production Euro-6 Tatra Phoenix 6x6 fitted with an 11-liter 430 horsepower engine and Contsystem (http://www.contsystem.cz/en/) superstructure featuring a Multilift XR hook loader will set off for the Dakar Rally as a support vehicle.

In preparation for the Dakar Rally, the trucks underwent rigorous testing at the "Slovak Sahara" in the training area of Senica in October and early November. Tatra Trucks CEO Petr Karásek and Engineering Director Radomír Smolka both took turns behind the wheel and put both trucks through their paces.

"Some of the chassis design and technological features of the new Phoenix are based on Martin Kolomý's proven TATRA 815 race truck. However, the overall concept has undergone major evolutionary modifications. For Tatra Trucks, the new Phoenix race truck is also an opportunity to test various technical solutions for regular production trucks," says Radomír Smolka.

Tatra Trucks, as a part of the celebrations of the 30th anniversary of Tatra’s first entry in the Dakar Rally, then called the Paris-Dakar rally, is planning a series of activities, including a limited edition book tracing the history of truckmaker's participations in the Dakar Rally.

Tatra Phoenix race truck specifications

Type Tatra model 158-8P0R21.43 4x4.1

Engine 12.5-liter Gyrtech, in-line 6-cylinder

Transmission ZF 16-speed with hydraulic gear shifting

Transfer case Tatra single-speed with 1.30 reduction

Chassis "Tatra" concept with the central back-bone tube and swinging half-axles;

front and rear axles with disc brakes; front and rear air bellows suspension with Reiger shock absorbers and front anti-roll bar

Tires 14.00R20 paired with central tire inflation system

Wheels Hutchinson aluminum

Wheelbase 4,290mm

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