Keep on trucking… in Dakar 2013

THE Dakar is considered the world’s toughest off-road rally and now you can follow this year’s event in detail thanks to Iveco.
The Italian truck maker, part of the Fiat group, is entering five trucks in this year’s event, which takes place over some of the most difficult terrain that South America can offer.
Team De Rooy, the current Dakar champions, will field an Iveco Powerstar and four New Trakkers. The route begins in Peru, crosses Argentina and finishes in Chile.
As part of the preparations for the rally, which takes place this month, Iveco has launched You Are In The Dakar in partnership with Italian radio station Radio Deejay and Deejay TV. Extreme sports journalist  and blogger Gross will team up to present reports on the event.
Gross will act as the official voice of Team Iveco and its drivers (Miki Biasion, Gerard De Rooy, Hans Stacey, René Kuipers and Jo Adua) following each stage of the race and will send daily updates to http://dakar.iveco.com/en. A filmmaker will accompany him, recording a Dakar-Iveco documentary about the race, vehicles and drivers along with behind the scenes footage from the team’s camp.
DJ Vic will also recount stories sent by Gross to Radio Deejay’s listeners. Videos from the preparatory phases will air from January 21-25 on Occupy Deejay, one of Deejay TV’s most popular programs.
The website http://dakar.iveco.com/en is already live and will be updated on a daily basis, showing the latest race results and performance stats for Team De Rooy. Photos and video footage sent from South America will also be posted online.
The design of the website is divided into two sections. This idea reflects the two sides of an Iveco Trakker, a heavy vehicle that is ideal for both daily on/off-road transport applications, as well as extreme off-road situations such as the Dakar. The first section of the website profiles the New Trakker by showcasing its technical specification and highlighting what makes it stand out from the competition. The second section of the website is dedicated to the Dakar with a countdown to the rally’s start. All stages of the race are listed along with a dedicated Team area, complete with biographies on the five competing drivers.
Dakar represents a great opportunity for Iveco to test the performance and reliability of its products over some of the most extreme off-road conditions any vehicle will ever face. Each of its trucks will be put to the test in extraordinary circumstances as they cross three of South America’s largest countries, with the rally being held over more than 8,000 kilometres.