Miki Biasion and Markku Alen have described in Milan their experience during the Dakar 2005.

The recently concluded 2005 edition of the Dakar Raid more than lived up to the legendary African event’s spectacular reputation. And two stars of the show were the two Iveco Eurocargo 140E24WS trucks and their drivers. Only 35 of the 69 trucks that started actually made it to Dakar, the last of them over 65 hours behind the leaders.

The excellent performance of the Iveco Eurocargo truck reflects the importance Iveco assigned to its participation in this raid. Above all, it offered an ideal opportunity to put the truck through its paces in gruelling conditions that tested all its components almost to breaking point, verified its reliability and gathered priceless first-hand information from the drivers on how the truck performed on such a demanding course.

The two Eurocargo 140E24WS, were entered by Motorsport Italia who also took charge of all organisation, servicing and logistic aspects. The trucks were always among the leaders, their superior navigation and distinctly greater agility allowing them to build up a substantial lead in the more technical stages.

It is no coincidence that the two Iveco trucks distinguished themselves and produced their best results in the more demanding stages. One outstanding example is provided by the dreaded 669 km marathon across the Mauritanian desert from Zouerat to Tichit, a section consisting almost entirely of special trials. Here, the Eurocargo140E24WS trucks driven by Miki Biasion and Markku Alén, finished sixth and eighth respectively, which raised them to fifth and seventh in the overall rankings.

The Mauritania section pushed the two Iveco Eurocargos well up the leader board, where they remained until Biasion was forced to retire after a banal accident. That occurred soon after the start of the 11th stage, when a stone perforated the gearbox lining causing an oil leak. At that point the safety-conscious Italian driver preferred not to enter the next speed trial, which might have caused further damage to the mechanicals.
 

What’s more, the disaster struck when Miki Biasion was soundly positioned in sixth place. Still, the fact that he did get to Dakar, albeit unclassified, says a great deal about his driving skills and his truck’s reliability.

By contrast, Markku Alén’s first Dakar outing proceeded entirely without incident. He was able to defend his eighth place in the overall rankings right to the end and did exceptionally well in the 14th Kayes-Tambacounda stage (which took the raid across the border from Mali to Senegal), finishing sixth.

That’s how things stood until the very last day in Senegal, where the final 60 km along the Dakar shoreline produced the sort of surprise we have come to expect of this gruelling raid, when the Dutch driver, Bekx, in a DAF, then lying second, was forced to retire.

That lifted Markku Alén to 7th position overall, 11 hours, 26 minutes behind the winner, Kabirov in his Kamaz.

An excellent result for both the Finnish driver though some of the credit should go to Iveco’s main partner in this venture, Pirelli, who supplied both Iveco trucks with their Pirelli PS22 Pista tyres, a standard product that handles sand with aplomb and is tough enough to stand up to the sort of extreme terrain characteristic of the Dakar Raid.

Markku Alén is universally recognised as one of the best rally drivers of all time. Initially in the Fiat 124 Abarth and Fiat 131 Abarth, and later in the Lancia Stratos, 037 and Delta S4, he has won any number of rallies all over the world.

Miki Biasion needs no introduction. His successes speak for themselves: two world rally titles in the Lancia Delta Integrale and equally spectacular performances in the Tout Terrain raid, including two further world titles won in an Iveco Eurocargo 135E23W in 1998 and 1999.