With Markku Alén and Miki Biasion retiring at the end of last week, Pepe Vila's departure from the 28th Dakar Rally yesterday ends Motorsport Italia's involvement in the famous desert marathon this year with the giant new Iveco Trakker trucks. Following the departure of the two team leaders with shock absorber problems the Spanish veteran had assumed the mantle of team leader and was running safely just inside the top ten in the 13-litre four wheel driver Iveco Trakker.

Stage seven, the 499km run from Zouerat to Atar, though saw it all going wrong for the all-Spanish crew of Pepe Vila, Moi Torrellardona and Gustavo Azumendi, and they in fact found out exactly what it was like to spend a night in the African desert. The ventilator on the Trakker broke at the stage's 170km mark, and without the necessary spare part on board to replace the failed unit, Torrellardona thus made his way to the nearest village, while Vila slept in the truck, literally in the middle of nowhere. Torrellardona returned the next morning at 9am, and after the broken part was replaced, the two pilots got back on the track again, reaching Atar in the afternoon, before setting off again for Nouakchott, where they hoped to catch up the field. "We have been unlucky, but I am not giving up: I want reach Dakar," said the determined Vila.

Vila, Torrellardona and Azumendi finally arrived yesterday morning, in the repaired Trakker, at the event's official bivouac in Nouakchott, the tired crew hoping to continue their race despite all the dramas. However, having not undergone the official starting formalities of the special stage from Atar, and also having not passed through any Control Points on their way to Nouakchott, they were excluded by the rally officials, and now plan drive to Dakar on the normal roads.

Riccardo Garosci in Motorsport Italia's smaller 6-litre Eurocargo ML140E24WS 4x4, also retired from the rally though Luisa Trucco, in the other remaining Eurocargo is still in the event, running in a solid 28th place overall, with 50 trucks still classified.
 

Vila explains his downfall: "At kilometer 177 of the Zouerat-Atar special stage we broke the ventilator. Moi went to Zouerat with some local people to buy the spare parts. When we started again and arrived in Atar no one from the organisation was there. Plus we travelled 70 km to help another competitor with a broken transmission. At Nouakchott they told us we were out of the race. It is a pity, as in the first 6 stages we were among the best, even 4th in the general ranking. But we demonstrated the potential of the Trakker with Pirelli tyres. This was a good test for the next editions."

It was a truly brave, battling performance from the last of the three Iveco Trakker crews still left in the event, typifying the spirit of the legendary desert rally which sees the competitors defying the odds and the harsh desert landscape, in the race to reach Dakar intact. Iveco, Motorsport Italia, Pirelli, Pro Motor, and the crews of all five trucks can be justifiably proud of the performance which was turned in during the 28th Dakar Rally. The new Iveco Trakker AT190T44W 4x4 proved itself to be a very competitive proposition in its first major event, closely chasing the tried and tested Russian Kamaz trucks during the rally's early stages. The Trakker AT190T44W 4x4 is powered by six-cylinder 12,880cc Cursor 13 turbodiesel engine combined with a 16-speed ZF manual gearbox. They have a wheelbase of 4,200 mm and the alterations include: special dampers and a cab equipped with a roll-over bar and Sparco wraparound racing seats. The box body has been lightened considerably, giving the vehicle an overall weight of little more than nine tonnes.