Words by Andrew Middleton. Pictures by Andrew Middleton & iveco.
Some vehicle launches feature hours of PowerPoint presentations, the consumption of too much buffet food, and driving round some tyres a few times − but Iveco’s launch came as a welcome surprise. They shocked us journos with a bone-shaking ride in a replica Dakar truck, a 4×4 experience, and some gymkhana. All to celebrate the Iveco launch of its new ‘Tested by Dakar’ kits, as well as a new medium truck.
The event was designed to demonstrate what Iveco’s 4×4 trucks are capable of, and also to knock our organs loose in the Dakar replica − built by none other than Lionel Lewis of LAS. This number 507 Dakar replica was a shock to the system. Although it fell slightly short of Dutchman Gerard de Rooy’s (34) Dakar winning truck’s 600 kW, it didn’t want for any back-breaking offroad performance. And, speaking of backs – Gerard has broken his twice while in the driver’s seat. One would have thought comfort would be higher on the wish-list when racing 9 000 km over rocks and sand; but, clearly, these drivers are a special breed.
With regard to comfort, you may have noticed the retro ‘bottle-nose’ design of Gerard’s truck in the previous few races. The reason he chooses to avoid a forward control design is purely for comfort’s sake. Simple physics will explain that, because occupants of the truck sit further back, they feel less impact over bumps and jumps compared to the guys in forward-control type vehicles, who sit slightly ahead of the front wheels. Apart from this driving position, the bottle-nose and forward-control type vehicles share identical engines and drive trains.
