KAMAZ-master and PETRONAS Team De Rooy IVECO to compete on standard Goodyear OFFROAD
Goodyear has announced the renewal of partnerships to equip tyres for two legendary and most titled truck racing teams, KAMAZ-master and PETRONAS Team De Rooy IVECO, at the 2022 edition of the Dakar rally. Both outfits will continue to put their trust in Goodyear’s proven OFFROAD standard tyres for the gruelling competitive trek through the Arabian Desert from January 1-14. Few sporting events present as great a challenge as the Dakar, both for the teams and their supporting partners.
Goodyear views the event as an integral arena to drive results on the track and in daily transport fleet operations. KAMAZ-master won the hotly contested trucks race earlier this year and Goodyear is proud to carry the winning spirit of that affiliation into the next edition of the Dakar; an event that enables Goodyear’s production technologies to master the most extreme driving environments.
KAMAZ plans to bring four works entries to the start line at Ha’il with a quartet of top drivers. Defending winner Dmitry Sotnikov, five-time winner Eduard Nikolaev, double winner Andrey Karginov and runner-up the last two years Anton Shibalov will be assisted by strong teams of expert navigators and mechanics.
During the next Dakar the factory-operated KAMAZ-master sports trucks will once more rely on Goodyear tyres. Two examples of the new KAMAZ-435091 model and two returning KAMAZ-43509s represent the team’s formidable line-up for its title defence.
Goodyear has also confirmed that its long-standing partnership with the PETRONAS Team De Rooy IVECO team has been renewed for the 2022, 2023 and 2024 Dakar. Bringing a unique mix of youth and experience, the 2016 winning squad is also aiming to compete at the sharp end of the field. Three brand-new IVECO Powerstar Torpedo trucks will be joined by an Iveco Tracker fast assistance truck for the fortnight-long adventure.
Hans Stacey, one of the Dakar’s most experienced and successful drivers, will captain one of two ‘Green Team’ entries for PETRONAS Team De Rooy IVECO. After finishing sixth in 2020, promising talent Janus van Kasteren will team up with his same navigator/mechanic combination in the other ‘Green’ IVECO.
Richard Mouw, Bert van Donkelaar and 19-year-old Mitchell van den Brink will share the De Rooy team’s Iveco Trakker also in ‘Green’ colours. Dakar expert Martin van den Brink is at the helm of the ‘Orange Team’ entry competing under the Mammoet Rallysport Team De Rooy IVECO banner
At the end of November, the Dakar trucks departed Marseille on shipping freight to Jeddah, where they will undergo preparations before scrutineering for the rally on December 29-31.
With highly capable and robust OFFROAD tyre, the crews from KAMAZ-master and De Rooy will be able to maximize the performance of their vehicles through the scorching desert, vertigo-inducing sand dunes and dusty tracks that make up the over 8000 km Dakar course comprising about 4300 km in special stages.
Maciej Szymanski, Director of Marketing for Commercial Business Europe at Goodyear said: “All teams have to compete on standard tyres as per ASO. The Goodyear OFFROAD range is used in construction, military and emergency applications. It’s tread rubber and design resists cutting and chunking in harsh off-road operations and at the same time is capable of cool running in high temperatures. With its excellent traction on all terrains, it is a perfect companion to conquer the challenging Dakar route full of unexpected events. It’s an honour to be selected as exclusive tyre partner by two legendary teams. We definitely share their passion to drive results every day again and look forward to support these 8 trucks, while the teams give their best to be on the podium.”
While the Dakar field runs through Saudi Arabia in January, Goodyear fleets around the globe will be able to benefit from the equivalent durability, excellent performance and robust Goodyear carcass technology to keep ahead of the game in daily on-road operations.
