Dakar 2013: Preview - Trucks

The truck category to me is the most spectacular. Its for vehicles that weight more than 3,500 kilos (7,000 pounds). Its divided in two groups.

T4, these are trucks that participate in the competition and they have to be homologated.

They can provide service to vehicles in their own team.

T 4.1 are production trucks.

T 4.2 are modified trucks.

T5 are support trucks, they move from service to service and support other vehicles in the competition. Do not require homologation.

In T4 the brands that have participated are Tatra, LIAZ, Kamaz, Hino, MAN, DAF, Mercedes-Benz, Unimog, Renault Kerax, SCANIA, IVECO, and GINAF. In the 80s, there was a big rivalry between DAF and Mercedes-Benz this brought big trucks with double engines with power of 1,000 hps.

Motorcycles and cars start each stage before the trucks and must keep in the race apart from them. Because they generate big dust clouds and deep ditches in the roads making for the cars an motorcycles almost impossible to drive after a truck has passed.