King of the desert – Scania off road truck won the 2010 Africa Eco Race!
”During the whole race only a leaf spring bolt was damaged”
Miklós Kovács, driver of Qualisport team
From Portimao in Portugal to Dakar in Senegal the race covered more than 6,000 kilometres. The route was rough; the teams had to fight big rocks, 30-40 centigrade daily temperature swings, rough camelgrass, deep sand and huge dunes.
Last year the legendary Dakar rally moved to another continent, giving place to a new off road trophy, the Africa Race. The distance and the difficulty level of the competition is similar to the previous Dakar races: the participants are fighting against stones, big rocks, 30-40 centigrade daily temperature variation, rough camelgrass, deep sand and huge dunes for almost two weeks, covering more than 6,000 kilometres between the Portuguese city of Portimao and Dakar, the capital city of Senegal.
The Qualisport team with Miklós Kovács driver, Péter Czeglédi co-driver and Tamás Tóth chief mechanic made its debut on the Central European Rally (CER) organised in Hungary and Romania two years ago. Later the Hungarian team got the third place on the 2009 Africa Race with its powerful, robust and reliable Scania off road racing truck. During last year Qualisport team took part on some other international off road rally races, and made further developements on the truck according to the latest experiences. As a result of the persistent work, the team scored a victory in its category on the 2010 Africa Eco Race on the 10th of January.
”We are very proud of our victory in category T4, among the trucks, and in addition we got the 6th place in the absolute summary. We reached a 65 km/h average speed on the total distance with our Scania, only 6-7 km/h lower than the fastest cars,” says Miklós Kovács, driver of Qualisport team.
“The most dramatic moment of the race was sliding on a huge dune with a rear wheel of the truck in the air,” says driver Miklós Kovács.
Qualisport team has built and prepared the truck for racing in their own small workshop in a Hungarian village with some crafted and experienced mechanics. The base of the truck is a Scania P 420 4×4 model, with engine tuned up to approximately 700 hp. The front suspensions are lifted by 15 centimetres and strengthened by Panhard-rods, while the cooling capacity of the engine is increased significantly. The cab features a safety tubular frame, a main electricity cut-out switch, a fire protection system and racing seats according to the official rules of the race. In order to support the team in the best way during the race in the desert, the truck is equipped by navigation systems, onboard tyre pressure regulation system and high performance xenon headlights.
”We have modified some part of the truck according to the requirements of the 2010 Africa Eco Race,” says Miklós Kovács. ”The P-series sleeper cab has been replaced with the shorter day cab. The inner fabrics and the front bumper are removed to decrease the kerb weight of the vehicle by some 200 kilogramms. On the other hand the safety frame of the cab and the rear suspensions are strengthened, while the four leaf spring bundles are changed to more massive ones in order to increase safety, reliability and stability. Furthermore the length of the body is adjusted to the shorter cab and the inclination of the back is slighter. During the whole race only a leaf spring bolt has damaged and the transfer case was making some strange noise, but it was functioning perfectly all the way”.
Qualisport team’s main sponsor is Hungarian haulier Qualitrans Cargo. The company has been operating mainly Scania trucks since the early 1990’s.
QUICK FACTS
Modell: Scania P 420 CB4X4EHZ
Length: 6,9 m
Width: 2,5 m
Wheelbase: 4,3 m
Kerb weight: 9 800 kg
Fuel capacity: 2×500 l
Engine type: DC 1203
Max. output: ~700 hp
Gearbox: Scania GRS905
Transfer case: ZF GTD900
Suspension: two FRT shock absorbers per wheel, double parabolic leaf springs
Cab: Scania CP16
Tyres: Michelin 14,00 R 20 XZL
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Scania Images at Flickr
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