(Tatra) Dakar 2016 has started

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Tatra Trucks Press Release / January 3, 2016

The 38th year of the most challenging long-distance rally in the world - the Dakar Rally - officially started on January 2 from the "podium" in Buenos Aires. Having been at the first start of TATRA vehicles in this competition together with Karel Loprais in 1986, Josef Kalina will celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of the participation of TATRA vehicles at the Rally.

A total of 59 trucks have started this year, including the following 6 Tatra trucks: TATRA 815 "Fat Boy" and TATRA PHOENIX ride in the TATRA BUGGYRA RACING team, three TATRA 163 JAMAL trucks ride in the BONVER DAKAR PROJECT team, and one TATRA PHOENIX goes with the Dutch crew of Gert Huizink.

On another continent, Africa, the Africa Eco Race is underway, leading along the footsteps of the original Dakar race, from Morocco to Senegal, where it will end on January 10 at the Lac Rose (Pink Lake). Tomas Tomeček will defend the Czech colours and the Koprivnice truck maker's colours and you can watch his fortunes at the TOM RACING Team website www.tomastomecek.cz.

TATRA BUGGYRA RACING trucks

TATRA 815 "Fat Boy" with the starting number 505 – piloted by Martin Kolomý with the Kilians brothers within one crew. This racing truck is equipped with a 12.5-litre, 900 hp Gyrtech Rally Power MK14-3EC engine with a torque of 3800 Nm, maximum speed 150 kph (due to a speed limiter). The drive is complemented with a 16-speed ZF/Gyrtech manual transmission. The Tatra-concept chassis was supplemented with a new front axle with disc brakes.

TATRA PHOENIX MX-11 with the starting number 533 – piloted by Jaroslav Valtr with Josef Kalina and Jiri Stross within the crew. The type designation of the team news is TATRA 158-8P0R21.43 4x4.1, fitted with the same assembly as "Fat Boy", from which, however, it differs in several ways - new cab from the series trucks of TATRA PHOENIX Euro 6, MX-11 type, and especially in the chassis part, where the overall concept has undergone major evolutionary changes. This vehicle features disc brakes and air suspension on both axles, of course in combination with Reiger shock absorbers and torsion stabilizer on the front axle. The wheels are fitted with Michelle 14.00R20 tires with aluminum Hutchinson discs and central inflating system, controlled from the technician's seat in the cab.

Start of a new racing PHOENIX at the 2016 DAKAR Rally, corresponding with the new TATRA PHOENIX Euro 6 range, represents a certain symbolism and follows the 30th anniversary of the start of the first Tatra truck at the most challenging world's long-distance rally in 1986. The mission of the new special TATRA PHOENIX truck will be to fully complement a teammate Martin Kolomý driving the truck TATRA 815 and jointly support the efforts of the TATRA BUGGYRA RACING team for the best possible finishing position.

The fleet of the TATRA BUGGYRA RACING team supplemented with, among others, three accompanying Tatra trucks: TATRA PHOENIX 8x8 with a 12.9-litre 340 kW Paccar MX 13 engine and a full-crew cab, where a chassis with extended wheelbase must have been used, so the total length is 8,710 mm. The vehicle serves as a service truck. Another truck is TATRA PHOENIX Euro 6, 6x6 with a 10.9-litter 320 kW Paccar MX-11 E6 engine, serving as a logistical escort vehicle. A cage to transport tires is mounted on Contsystem´s Multilift XR hook loader, as a considerable quantity of tires is need due to the daily exchange of both racing specials. The last accompanying vehicle is Tatra 815 6x6 with a 19-litre 235 kW TATRA engine.

The BONVER DAKAR PROJECT

sets off with proven "Jamal" trucks, equipped with 12.9-litre 920 hp Renault DXi 13 engines with maximum torque of 4,500 Nm at 1,200 rpm. A Tatra chassis is suspended with air bellows combined with coil springs, and drum brakes used on the axles. The crew of Tomas Vratny, Jaroslav Miskolc and Milan Holan starts with the number 513, Artur Ardavicus, Ignat Falkov and Filip Skrobanek stars with the number 515 and a special truck adapted to manual steering due to Albert Llovera's handicap, with Gotlib Charli and Jaromir Martinec on board starts with the number 521.

Please cheer also for the Tatra truck of the Dutch team manned Gert Huizink, Rob Buursen and Gerrit Schooneveld racing with number 524.

For regular information visit www.tatradakar.com, www.buggyra.com, www.bonverdakarproject.com and of course the official Rally website www.dakar.com.

Cheer with us also on our Facebook, Twitter or Instagram – we will reward best comments, insights, observations or images with TATRA BUGGYRA RACING T-shirts and caps. Cheer with us!

TATRA starring

The 38th year of the DAKAR Rally will also symbolically close the upcoming book mapping the three decades of TATRA vehicles' involvement in the toughest rally in the world. Not only genuine racing trucks, but also accompanying and customized vehicles have regularly undergone this off-road torture for over thirty years at the beginning of each year, to leverage their experience in heavy duty series production. The Tatra truck maker has always deployed or supported the use of the latest technology in Dakar races, based on the famous "Tatra truck concept".

Thirty years ago, the TATRA brand entered into "battle" Dakar field with the latest vehicle in its production, T 815. Today, still faithful to our beliefs and strategies, even after thirty years of Dakar we again deploy the newest and most modern units to this race: genuine racing version of TATRA PHOENIX.

The book from the writing duo Radomir Smolka & Milan Olšanský, with TATRA as the main character, will bring a lot from the development of Tatra's Dakar trucks and much more - even undreamt of.

Photo gallery - http://www.tatratrucks.com/about-the-company/press-and-media/news/dakar-2016-has-started/

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TATRA PHOENIX – successfully premiered at the 2016 Dakar Rally!

Tatra Truck Press Release / January 20, 2016

The crews of the TATRA BUGGYRA RACING team contributed to the thirty-year celebrations of the TATRA brand at the world's toughest long-distance rally with the excellent finishes at the 2016 Dakar Rally. Jaroslav Valtr finished eighth with his Phoenix truck, and Martin Kolomy sixteenth with his Fat Boy.

The key goal of the new TATRA PHOENIX vehicle was to finish the race. And to test and tune the truck for the next one. Having switched to the TATRA from Liaz, Jarda Valtr got the feeling soon after the race started that he could let the Phoenix "fly" and battle for the top positions. After the initial "tuning" and some bad luck for the Phoenix, he fought his way from the 33rd starting position to the second ten, and from there repeatedly made a play for the "podium".

"I came back after a year's break, and now we have the result of a lifetime. We had problems primarily at the beginning of the race and it cost us an even better finish. The race was fantastic. We showed several times that both the Fat Boy and new Phoenix belong to the absolute best and that our vehicles are ready to fight for the Bedouins," said Valtr. His teammate, Josef Kalina, who stood at the start of the TATRA vehicle with Karel Loprais 30 years ago, added after Stage 13: "It was a perfect stage for our Phoenix. He was flying today! But we had some mistakes in navigation, and it cost us valuable time. But we have another top ten finish as a result and we're defending eighth place overall, which is an excellent outcome."

Martin Kolomy strove for the highest positions and turned in a fantastic ride during the whole competition, illustrated by his victory in the 3rd stage, but unfortunately he had bad luck for a moment in the seventh stage when a stone jammed his steering, resulting in the truck crashing into a riverbed bank, causing fairly extensive damage to it. With new TATRA-brand servicing tools and technology on hand, the mechanics of the TATRA BUGGYRA RACING team managed to repair everything. Martin then tested the robustness and resilience of the TATRA 815 Fat Boy vehicle by getting back into the top ten from the depths of the starting field, where he dropped back to due to delays from the crash, and once again he put up a fight for a stage "podium", but finally ended up only in fourth.

"This year's Dakar was very hard, because we had an accident and some technical problems. One truck fared better and the other worse, but I'm excited. Both our crews finished and are healthy. It's a marathon contest, difficult to prepare for. The stages were difficult but nice, and I hope that we shall get together here in a year's time again and do even better, maybe get the best possible results. Even after today's stage, I know there is no better brand to start with," the sixteenth-place Martin Kolomy said in praise of his Tatra at the finish line.

The TATRA trucks of another Czech team – Bonver Dakar Project – also didn't do too badly with their international crews but were held back in the race by some minor accidents and defects rather than any fundamental technical problem. Arthur Ardavichus from Kazakhstan also had excellent results with an 11th place finish overall. Team boss and driver Tomas Vratny finished in 17th place and handicapped driver Andorran Alberto Llovera in 35th. With a Tatra truck adapted for manual steering, he became the first handicapped truck driver to finish the race and huge thanks go to both him and the whole Bonver Dakar Project team that enabled him to achieve this result and fulfil the TATRA brand's motto – "TATRA takes you further..."

Photo gallery - http://www.tatratrucks.com/about-the-company/press-and-media/news/tatra-phoenix-successfully-premiered-at-the-2016-dakar-rally/

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