Trucks bring big thrills to Dakar 2017

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Owner/Driver  /  January 16, 2017

The trucks at the 2017 Dakar Rally brought thrills and spills as they battled across 9,000 kilometres of arduous South American terrain.

Russian truck manufacturer KAMAZ took out first place in the 2017 Dakar Rally truck category, with Iveco achieving third and fourth place following a 2016 win.

Piloted by Dutchman Gerard de Rooy, the IVECO Powerstar finished on the podium only 41m 19s short of winner Eduard Nikolaev, after 12 days of close racing.

This year’s third placing to de Rooy’s wins in 2016 and 2012 and is seen as an excellent result given the multiple punctures his truck suffered over the course of the event.

Also performing strongly this year was Argentinian Federico Villagra, in another IVECO Powerstar, as he finished the event in fourth position, less than 20 minutes behind de Rooy.

In total, six IVECO trucks competed in the 2017 instalment of Dakar, with all completing the event, a testament to the manufacturer’s strength and reliability.

Iveco Australia Marketing Manager, Darren Swenson, says IVECO’s off-road range has tremendous pedigree and is second to none in the Australian market.

"Local buyers have a lot of choice from IVECO when it comes to off-road vehicles, with many models available across the light, medium and heavy duty weight classes," he said.

"Beginning with the new car licence Daily 4x4 (optional light truck 5.5t GVM also available), the range then moves to the Eurocargo 4x4 as successfully used by Daryl Beattie Adventures and a growing number of emergency service organisations.

"For heavier duty applications up to 33t GVM, there’s the Trakker 4x4 and 6x6 range which is increasingly being put to work in mining and exploration applications. And in the even heavier weight classes up to 48t GVM, we have the Astra 6x6 and 8x8 variants which are taking on roles in off-road tipper work, drilling, exploration and similar.

Mr Swenson says the Dakar rally was helping to grow awareness of IVECO’s off-road credentials.

"IVECO is gaining a very solid reputation in demanding off-road racing such as Dakar, and increasingly this is leading to improved sales across the range and a growing list of satisfied local customers."

See below for results and a video of the top Dakar 2017 truck moments!

Top Five Truck Category Standings – Dakar Rally 2017

 1. Eduard Nikolaev (Kamaz)  27h 58m 24s

2. Dmitry Sotnikov (Kamaz) +18m 58s

3. Gerard de Rooy (IVECO)  +41m 19s

4. Federico Villagra (IVECO) +1h 00m 04s

5. Airat Mardeev (Kamaz) +2h 26m 50s

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