Fassi Cranes with the IVECO Petronas De Rooy team at the Dakar Rally and at the Africa Eco Race

FASSI CRANES will be at the side of the PETRONAS De Rooy IVECO team at the start of the two important raids that will engage their IVECO vehicles in South America for the Dakar Rally and in Africa for the Africa Eco Race

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Leaders choose leaders. With this in mind, FASSI CRANES has decided to match its brand with a winning crew like the PETRONAS De Rooy IVECO team in the most important rally raids of the 2018 season. The difficult tests in the deserts and on stony terrain, be they in Peru, Mauritania or the Russian Steppes, are the ideal settings for Fassi, a company which is used to producing cranes that face the toughest challenges on construction sites all over the world.

There is hardly any time to announce that vehicles and crews are already ready for the double challenge. In fact, two of the rally raids are scheduled for January: the legendary Dakar, now in its 40th edition, scheduled from 6th to 20th January, preceded by the 10th edition of the Africa Eco Race a few days earlier, from 2nd to 14th January.

It is unavoidable for the Team to split itself between the two commitments, with Gerard De Rooy who, after winning the Dakar in 2016, preferred to focus on the African race with his IVECO Powerstar (#400). Wuf Van Ginkel will race on board the second IVECO Powerstar (#403). In South America, the colours of the PETRONAS De Rooy IVECO team will be defended by the Dutchman Ton van Genugten (#509) and the Kazakh Artur Ardavichus (#508), both driving IVECO Powerstars.

The Africa Eco Race will start from Monaco on 31st December, but only from 2nd January will the special stages begin in Morocco. The rally raid is organized by the Frenchman Hubert Auriol, veteran of the Dakar, and takes place on what were the routes of the original Paris-Dakar, which then left the African deserts after the 2007 edition. Once the conflict in Mauritania and neighbouring countries had stabilised, cars, motorcycles and trucks returned to the streets of the famous rally raid. The course of about 6,500 km, with over 4,000 km of special stages, includes five stages in Morocco, one in Mauritania and one in Senegal, with the arrival in Dakar scheduled for 14th January.

Having won many prestigious accolades, Gerard De Rooy is the favourite among the truck drivers. The IVECO Powerstar 4x4, equipped with the IVECO Cursor 13 engine with a power output of approximately 1000 hp, was specially designed for the rally by FPT Industrial, the CNH Industrial brand which specialises in the design and production of powertrains.

The 40th Dakar (the 10th rally held in South America) will start from Lima, Peru, on 6th January and in 14 stages (of which seven are all off-road) will cross Bolivia and Argentina, for over 5,000 km of special stages and less than 4,000 transfers. It will conclude on 20th January in Cordoba, Argentina.

Ardavichus and van Genugten have the task of going up against the winning crew of the last edition. The two IVECO Powerstars are also equipped with IVECO Cursor 13 engines specially designed for the rally by FPT Industrial