- About the Company
Tatra Trucks company won the prestigious Red Dot award for the design of the latest generation of Tatra Force model line
A few days ago, Tatra Trucks company achieved another great success. For the first time in its history, it won the Red Dot award in the Product Design category, even twice. Tatra Force vehicles of the latest third generation were decorated with this award, which is one of the most prestigious internationally in the field of design, while a version with a four-door cab was presented, as well as a version of the development line known as e-Drive with an electric traction motor and hydrogen fuel cells.
- Your TATRA partner
Dealer and Service Network
With the exception of Antarctica, you will find TATRA on every continent. We offer the largest network in Europe.
TATRA TAKES YOU FURTHER
2013 DAKAR Rally and 2013 Africa Eco Race
4 January, 2013
In the motor racing world, the end of the year and the beginning of a new one is primarily associated with travelling to the DAKAR rally start rather than with lively celebrations, drinking champagne and eating canapés.
View fotogallery
At the beginning of this year´s racing season, you can see the TATRA brand in two races: in the traditional African “Dakar” rally called Africa Eco Race, and in the bigger high profile “Dakar” rally called DAKAR 2013 in which several TATRA special trucks are competing or participating as support trucks. In fact, there have not been more TATRA trucks in this race before.
2013 AFRICA ECO RACE
The fourth year of a rally which follows the route of the original Paris Dakar Rally is the right African adventure in the footsteps of Thierry Sabine. This year, as well as the last one, it is the Letka Racing Team consisting of Tomáš Tomeček and Vojtěch Morávek, winners of the last year, who are keeping the flag flying; they drive a special 4x4.1 “Livescore” TATRA truck and are accompanied by a 4x4 TATRA 815 support truck. Another two 6x6 TATRA 815 trucks are participating in the rally as organizers’ support trucks (so-called “camion ballé”); it has been their second year in this race. One of the trucks belongs to Tomáš Tomeček, the other one to a Slovak enthusiast Robert Kasák.
The race started on December 27, 2012 in Saint Cyprien, France and will finish on January 9, 2013 in Dakar, Senegal. Go to www.lrt.cz to read the updates about the rally and especially about the Letka Racing Team and their Tatra truck. On this website, you can also subscribe to a newsletter.
2013 DAKAR
The 35th edition of the famous rally has already been organized for the fifth time in South America, which is gradually becoming a traditional venue for this race. Different conditions of individual stages, such as flat country, climbing steep rocky slopes and declines, as well as sand dunes are just perfect for the TATRA chassis design to excel. The rally starts in Lima, Peru on January 5, 2013. As mentioned above, this year there will be a record number of Tatra trucks at the start ever:
- No. 503 – 4x4.1 TATRA 815-2Z0R45 truck called “Princess 69” of the Instaforex Loprais Team with Aleš Loprais, a driver, Serge Bruynkens, a navigator, and Radim Pustějovský, a truck mechanic;
- No. 506 – 4x4.1 TATRA 815-2C0R45/41 truck of the Czech Dakar Team with Martin Kolomý, a driver, René Kilián, a navigator, and David Kilián, a truck mechanic;
- No. 512 – 4x4.1 TATRA 815-2C0R45/43 truck of the Czech Dakar Team with Tomáš Vrátný, a driver, Jaroslav Miškolci, and Milan Holáň, a truck mechanic.
- No. 530 4x4.1 TATRA PHOENIX 158-8P5R23 of the Dakar Team Holland, the crew of which consists of pilot Marcel Schoo, navigator Michel van Herpen and mechanic Jaap de Vit. In this case it is worth mentioning that the special truck is driven by a six-cylinder 12.9-liter Paccar MX engine with maximum performance of approximately 800 hp and maximum torque of 3,300 Nm. This engine is a modified version of the standard engine of the TATRA PHOENIX commercial truck range. The vehicle has a standard 16-speed ZF transmission and a 2-speed transfer case. Its independently suspended swinging half-axles are equipped with air bellows and Reiger telescopic shock absorbers. Both the front and rear axles have their own differential locks. The racing truck features a DAF CF85 model modified cab, which is also modified for the commercial range. Wheels are fitted with 14.00 R20 Michelin CTIS tires. The truck is 6,240 mm long, 2,500 mm wide, 3,300 mm high, and the wheelbase is 4,290 mm. The vehicle fully equipped for the rally weighs 9,300 kg, and its top speed is about 170 kmph. However, to comply with the race rules, the speed limiter is set at 140 kmph.
There will be also a significant number of support TATRA trucks. The Instaforex Loprais Team has two T 815 trucks: a 4x4 and a 6x6. The Czech Dakar Team will be supported by three TATRA trucks (a 6x6 T 815, and two new 6x6 and 8x8 T158 PHOENIX trucks). The Dakar Team Holland has one 6x6 T 158 TATRA PHOENIX support truck.
The 2013 edition of the DAKAR Rally is the first race in which the Czech Dakar Team, Bonver Dakar Team and Dakar Team Holland will closely cooperate under a BONVER DAKAR PROJECT.
For updates about results and performance of individual teams go to:
We would like to express our thanks to all the private teams for their trust and confidence in TATRA trucks and for promoting this brand, and we wish them the best of luck and the best rankings.