Motorsports is not just for fun, although many of us enjoy watching the Dakar rally, Baja, Formula 1, WRC, NASCAR, and many other forms of racing. Racing allows for development of advanced technologies that can benefit the daily lives of consumers, who purchase production vehicles. TATRA Trucks hopes to develop this relationship between racing and production to the next level with a partnership with Buggyra (Power Sports Enterprises). Buggyra is a motorsports focused company with expertise in heavy truck racing.
The 2014 Dakar rally is just around the corner (Jan 5th-18th, 2014). Tatra is entering several heavy racing trucks to go for the win. Of course, Dakar is the toughest off-road race in the world. The trucks must first finish the race. And then – there are the tough competitors: KAMAZ, IVECO, MAN, GINAF, HINO, and others.
These racing beasts weigh in near 10,000 lbs and use racing prepped turbo-diesel powerplants. They have increased ground clearance and lots of suspension travel, and they get air-borne once in a while.
One example of technology sharing between racing and production is Tatra’s front axle air suspension on their production semi trucks. This suspension was first testing in racing, and then made a transition to series trucks and made them better by decreasing curb weight and improving driver comfort.
Tatra Trucks has not won at Dakar since 2001, but they are determined to continue the fight against KAMAZ and IVECO.
TFL team is planning a documentary to tell the Untold Story of Tatra, by driving a 1968 Tatra 603 sedan from Prague to Pebble Beach. Tatra no longer makes passenger cars, but many people don’t know that if it wasn’t for Tatra – there may not be a Volkswagen Beetle or a Porsche 911 today.
You can help us make the Tatra documentary a reality by supporting us on Kickstarter.
