Team PETRONAS De Rooy IVECO - Africa Eco Race 2018

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Team PETRONAS De Rooy IVECO on the podium in the first stage of the Africa Eco Race 2018

Iveco Trucks Press Release  /  January 3, 2017

Team PETRONAS De Rooy IVECO placed its two IVECO Powerstar trucks in the top 10 in the first stage of the tough rally raid competition.

Gerard de Rooy crossed the finish line in third position, followed by Wuf Van Ginkel in sixth, having tackled the difficult stony and dusty conditions of the track.

The 10^th edition of the Africa Eco Race is underway, with a record number of competitors. The participants started early in the morning of Tuesday 2nd January in the Moroccan port town of Nador, with the short, 92-km first stage taking them from Ameziane to Merada, across cultivated areas with hard ground on tracks made of mostly gravel and rocks. This is familiar terrain for the Team PETRONAS De Rooy IVECO pilots Gerard De Rooy and Wuf Van Ginkel, who have both driven on rallies in Morocco in the past.

Gerard De Rooy, Team leader, made his mark right from the first stage of the competition on board his #400 IVECO Powerstar with his experienced co-pilot Moi Torrallardona and the technical support of mechanic Darek Rodewald. He finished in third position, 5’25” behind the leader, Russian Vladimir Vasilyev. He was careful on this first stage to avoid the risk of punctures on the stony ground of the track.

Wuf Van Ginkel finished in sixth position on the second IVECO Powerstar (#403) with co-pilot Erik Kofman and mechanic Bert van Donkelaar.

The Sentinel warning system that signals the arrival of a faster vehicle or a stationary one on the track was not working on any of the trucks, making it difficult to overtake: “it took a lot of time to overtake small SSVs and slower cars took a lot of time” commented Gerard de Rooy.

The second stage will take the competitors on a 443-km route, which will include the renowned dune section of Erg Chebbi.

Follow all developments on www.iveco.com/TeamPetronasDeRooyIveco
IVECO will keep fans updated during the rally on www.iveco.com/TeamPetronasDeRooyIveco with daily updates from Africa published in English. Social media channels and the IVECO press site will also be updated with news, reports, videos and photos.

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Dakar Rally 2018: Team PETRONAS De Rooy IVECO off to a good start with a fourth position in stage 1

The 2018 edition of the Dakar rally kicked off Saturday January 6 with a short special of 31 kilometres

Ton van Genugten’s IVECO Powerstar finished in fourth place, just over a minute behind the leaders, while Artur Ardavichus followed less than 4 minutes later.

The 10^th South American edition of the toughest rally raid in the world, the Dakar, kicked off on Saturday in Peru, with three IVECO Powerstars as contenders facing a route of almost 9,000 kilometres ahead of them. The 337 participating vehicles drove through the starting ramp in a colourful ceremony in El Pentagonito, Lima. All the crews drove straight to the beginning of the stage, close to the city of Pisco, where the first 31 kilometres of timed special took place for the 40th edition of this historical competition.

Ton van Genugten, from team PETRONAS de Rooy IVECO, achieved the best result of the three IVECO Powerstars in the first special. He crossed the finish line just over a minute behind the leaders, in fourth place behind Ales Loprais, Martin van den Brink and Eduard Nikolaev. The Dutch pilot was very pleased with the opening stage of the Dakar 2018: "This was about what I had in mind. It went extremely well. It was a fast track through the dunes, you could drive fast, but it was certainly not easy."

Teammate Artur Ardavichus finished the stage five minutes behind Loprais. The driver from Kazakhstan will start the second stage from the 16th place, following his position on yesterday’s special.

Argentinian Federico Villagra, also behind the wheel of an IVECO Powerstar, and one of the favourites to battle the Russian’s Kamaz head to head, had a bit more complicated race in the first 31 km special. A glitch with the navigation system cost the pilot 16m37s in the shortest day of competition.

Even though the first stage covered a short distance, it already showed the difficulties that the crews will face in the first week of action, when they will cross the world’s highest dunes in the desert of Peru. Navigation will be a key factor in this Dakar 2018 and the co-pilots’ skills will be put to the test all the way through.

Stage 1 / Overall – Dakar Rally 2018
1. Ales Loprais (Tatra) 25m15s
2. Martin van den Brink (Renault) + 22s
3. Eduard Nikolaev (Kamaz) + 29s
4. TON VAN GENUGTEN (IVECO) + 1m11s
5. Anton Shibalov (Kamaz) + 1m18s
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16. ARTUR ARDAVICHUS (IVECO) + 4m55s
21. FEDERICO VILLAGRA (IVECO) + 16m37s

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1/15/2018

IVECO dominates the Africa Eco Race 2018 in the truck category and finishes with the victory of Gerard De Rooy from Team PETRONAS De Rooy IVECO

Gerard De Rooy wins the first place in the truck category of the Africa Eco Race 2018, having dominated the race from the start.

 

In the Dakar 2018 Federico Villagra achieves his sixth podium in eight stages with a second place in stage 8 and IVECO places again three Powerstars in the top 10 of stage 8

 

The Africa Eco Race 2018 edition is over: after 12 stages and 6,500 km across 3 countries – 5 in Morocco, 6 in Mauritania and 1 in Senegal – fierce competition in breathtaking landscapes over fast rocky tracks and challenging dunes, the drivers and their crews have reached the shores of Lake Rose in Senegal to celebrate the winners and the big achievements of the rally.

 

Gerard De Rooy, leader of team PETRONAS De Rooy IVECO, won the rally in the truck category, having maintained the lead over the trucks throughout the rally – on the fast rocky tracks as well as the extremely soft sands of the dunes.

 

IVECO, official supplier of Team PETRONAS De Rooy IVECO for the eights consecutive year, provided the Africa Eco Race’s winning crew with the vehicles, engines and spare parts. The legendary reliability of IVECO trucks comes from this extreme experience, where every part of our trucks is put at the hardest test that could exist. Equipped with IVECO Cursor 13 engines – specially engineered by FPT Industrial, CNH Industrial’s powertrain brand – the vehicles deliver up to 1000 hp of power.

 

The final stage saw the drivers compete in a short, final boost in the traditional last leg around Lake Rose, near Dakar. The crowds were out in force to encourage the competitors and celebrate the winners as they took their place on the podium on the beach of the lake.

 

Dutchman De Rooy is very pleased with the rally: "I enjoyed both the beautiful specials and the toughness. That was what it was all about in the first place: having fun again. They were long specials, but still short days because we had almost no connection. I really look back on it with a very good feeling."

 

In South America, the three IVECO Powerstars are fulfilling their potential, delivering consistently high performances and achieving placements in the Top 10 in the two stages after the rest day. In stage 7, Ton Van Genugten took the lead and never let go, winning the special two minutes ahead of teammate Federico Villagra, with Artur Ardavichus following 18 minutes later in seventh place. 

 

Stage 8 took the competitors on the 381 timed kilometers that ended the marathon stage between the Bolivian cities of Uyuni and Tupiza. The tracks were no big hazard for the IVECO crews in the world’s toughest Rally Raid: in spite of the heavy rain and flooded roads, the three IVECO Powerstars piloted by Federico Villagra, Ton Van Genugten and Artur Ardavichus reached the finish line of the special – and all three in the Top 10.

 

Federico Villagra continued to deliver podium placements, crossing the finish line of stages 7 and 8 in second place. The Argentinian, who is aiming for victory through a consistent performance, is steadily closing in on leader Eduard Nikolayev.

 

Ton Van Genugten followed his win in the stage 7 with a sixth place in the Uyuni-Tupiza special of stage 8, finishing 15 minutes behind the leader.

 

Artur Ardavichus also delivered a consistent performance, completing stage 7 in seventh place and stage 8 in ninth, maintaining his position in the Top 10 of the overall classification.

 

Due to bad weather in the south of Bolivia and north of Argentina, the organization decided to cancel Stage 9 (Tupiza – Salta).

 

Overall Standings – Trucks Category – Africa Eco Race 2018

1. GERARD DE ROOY (IVECO)    45h53s

2. Tomas Tomecek (Tatra)    + 5h12m32s

3. Johannes Van De Laar (DAF)     + 6h49m12s

 

Stage 8 – Rally Dakar 2018

1. Dmitry Sotnikov (Kamaz)     4h23m32s

2. FEDERICO VILLAGRA (IVECO)     + 5m11s

3. Airat Mardeev (Kamaz)     + 6m28s

4. Eduard Nikolaev (Kamaz)     + 8m33s

5. Martin Kolomy (Tatra)     + 12m11s

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6. TON VAN GENUGTEN (IVECO)     + 15m36s

9. ARTUR ARDAVICHUS (IVECO)     + 41m36s

 

Overall Standings – Rally Dakar 2018

1. Eduard Nikolaev (Kamaz)     28h15m06s

2. FEDERICO VILLAGRA (IVECO)     + 46m25s

3. Martin Macik (Liaz)     + 3h29m25s

4. Siarhei Viazovich (Maz)     + 3h59m35s

5. Airat Mardeev (Kamaz)     + 4h23m20s

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6. TON VAN GENUGTEN (IVECO)     + 4h31m08s

8. ARTUR ARDAVICHUS (IVECO)     + 5h28m16s

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