IVECO is unbeatable in the African Rally Truck Group

The 2018 African Rally for the Environment has come to a successful conclusion: 12 stages, covering 6,500 kilometers, spanning 3 countries (5 stages in Morocco, 6 in Mauritania, and 1 in Senegal). The intense competition unfolded in a beautiful setting, with drivers and crews crossing rocky fast lanes and challenging sand dunes to reach the Rose Lake in Senegal, cheering the winners and celebrating the perfect conclusion of the rally.

PETRONAS De Rooy team captain Gerard De Rooy won the rally truck group and maintained the lead throughout the race, both in the rocky fast lane and in the extremely soft sand dunes.

IVECO has been the official supplier to the PETRONAS De Rooy IVECO team for eight consecutive years, providing vehicles and parts for the team to go to the African Rally. The legendary reliability of IVECO trucks is derived from this extreme test, and every component of our trucks is subject to the most rigorous tests. The cars are equipped with an engine specially designed for this event by FPT Industrial, a powertrain brand of CNH Industrial – the IVECO Cursor 13 engine with a power of up to 1000 hp.

In the final stage, the drivers began their final sprint around Rose Lake near Dakar. The crowd cheered for the drivers at the scene. After the race, a grand award and collection ceremony was held on the beach by the lake.

Dutchman De Rooy was delighted with the rally: "I really enjoyed the beautiful special stage of the race and the hard challenges along the way. That’s what we came to the race for: to have fun again. The special stage was long, but the days were relatively short because there were no connecting stages. Looking back on the journey now, I really feel great."

In the intense Dakar Rally in South America, three IVECO Powerstars played to their potential and delivered consistent high performance, placing in the top 10 for both stages after the break. In the seventh stage, Ton Van Genugten took the lead and held it to the end, two minutes ahead of teammate Federico Villagra, and Artur Ardavichus crossed the line after 18 minutes, placing seventh.

The eighth stage, a 381-kilometer time trial between the Bolivian cities of Uyuni and Tupiza, was the final leg of the long race. In the world’s toughest rally, the track posed little threat to the IVECO crew: overcoming downpours and floods, Federico Villagra, Ton Van Genugten, and Artur Ardavichus drove three IVECO Powerstars to cross the finish line, all in the top ten.

Federico Villagra continued to perform well, crossing the finish line in second place in the seventh and eighth stages. The Argentine driver’s goal was to win the championship through a solid performance, gradually approaching the lead driver Eduard Nikolaev.

Ton Van Genugten won the seventh stage and placed sixth in the eighth stage between Uyuni and Tupiza, 15 minutes behind the first driver.

Artur Ardavichus also played consistently, ranking seventh in the seventh stage, ninth in the eighth stage, and in the top ten overall.

Due to severe weather in southern Bolivia and northern Argentina, the organization decided to cancel the ninth stage (Tupiza-Salta).

● 　Overall Rank – Truck Category – Rally Africa 2018

1. GERARD DE ROOY (IVECO) 　 　
2. Tomas Tomecek () + 5 hours 12 minutes 32 seconds 　 　
3. Johannes Van De Laar (DAF) + 6 hours 49 minutes 12 seconds 　

● 　Stage 8 – 2018 Dakar Rally

1. Dmitry Sotnikov (Kamaz) 4 hours 23 minutes 32 seconds
2. FEDERICO VILLAGRA 5 minutes 11 seconds
3. Airat Marbeyv + 6 minutes 28 seconds
4. Eduard Nikolaev + 8 minutes 33 seconds
5. Martin Kolomy + 12 minutes 11 seconds
———-
6. TON VAN GENUGTEN + 15 minutes 36 seconds
9. ARTUR ARDAVICHI + 41 minutes 36 seconds

● 　Overall Rank – 2018 Dakar Rally

1. Eduard Nikolaev (Kamaz) 28 hours 15 minutes 06 seconds
2. FEDERICO VILLAGRA + 46 points 25
3. Martin Macik + 3 hours 29 minutes 25 seconds
4. Siarhei Viazovich + 3 hours 59 minutes 35 seconds
5. Airat Marbeyv + 4 hours 23 minutes 20 seconds
———-
6. TON VAN GENUGTEN + 4 hours 31 minutes 08 seconds
8. ARTUR ARDAVICHI + 5 hours 28 minutes 16 seconds

● 　IVECO

IVECO is a brand of CNH Industrial Group, a leading global manufacturer of means of production listed on the New York Stock Exchange and the Italian Stock Exchange Electronic Stock Market. IVECO designs, manufactures and sells a wide range of light, medium and heavy commercial vehicles, off-highway trucks and vehicles for off-highway tasks.

The product range of the IVECO brand includes: Series (GVW covering 3 – 7.2 tons), Eurocargo Series (GVW covering 6 – 19 tons), Series (dedicated to off-highway tasks) and Series (GVW over 16 tons). In addition, the IVECO Astra brand also manufactures off-highway trucks, rigid and articulated, and special vehicles.

IVECO has nearly 21,000 employees worldwide. The company manages factories in 7 countries in Europe, Asia, Africa, Oceania and Latin America, and produces vehicles with the latest advanced technology. Wherever the customer’s vehicle goes, 4,200 sales and after-sales services outlets in more than 160 countries can guarantee the corresponding technical support.

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