Petronas Team De Rooy Iveco, veterans of the legendary Dakar rally, are going for gold again in the world’s toughest race, driving on standard Goodyear Offroad ORD tyres.  The 2019 Dakar Rally takes place from January 6th to 17th in Peru where the 5,000 kilometre challenge will be driven mainly on sand.

Team De Rooy will participate with four Iveco Powerstar trucks fitted with regular Goodyear Offroad ORD tyres.

Team De Rooy will have the strongest team ever for Dakar 2019. The drivers are Gerard De Rooy, Federico Villagra, Ton van Genugten and Maurik van den Heuvel. 

Dutchman Gerard De Rooy is two-times winner of the Dakar, and winner of the Africa Eco Race 2018. Argentinian Federico Villagra, who was in the battle for victory last year until the penultimate day, is again aiming for a podium finish, and Ton van Genugten from the Netherlands, who won no less than four stages in 2018, will be fighting to make it three team members on the 2019 Dakar podium.  Maurik van den Heuvel, the third Dutchman in the team and a very experienced Dakar truck driver, has joined Team De Rooy and will support his colleagues where necessary.

As well as choosing Goodyear 375/90R22.5 Offroad ORD truck tyres for their four race trucks, Petronas Team De Rooy Iveco have picked Goodyear OMNITRAC mixed service tyres for their service trucks, which follow the team on the rally.  The team is aiming for repeated success after this year’s win in Africa with the long-term dedicated support of Goodyear further providing testing and back-up.

"Our long experience using Goodyear Offroad ORD 375/90R22.5 truck tyres has been one of the main elements in our continuing rally success.  The conditions the tyres have to endure are some of the worst, and this year it will be sand that is the great challenge.  The Dakar is the toughest test for tyres in the world and it is a fine testament to Goodyear that their products are capable of beating this challenge," said Gerard De Rooy.

"Our continued relationship with Gerard De Rooy and his team is very important to us.  Their goal is to win the Dakar and other events they participate in and we are committed to giving them our full support.  This is not only by supplying their tyres but also the preparation work and testing that our engineers undertake in Luxembourg and on events.  This work is critical to ensure that Team De Rooy can achieve the best possible setups to tackle the range of challenging conditions that the Dakar offers.  We wish them every success for 2019," said Benjamin Willot, Director Marketing Commercial Tyres Europe at Goodyear.

The 2019 Dakar takes places exclusively in Peru, covering 5,000 kilometres of which about 70% is on sand, and includes 10 special stages over 3,000 kilometres.  The rally starts in Lima on January 6th.  More than 330 trucks, cars and motorcycles will race to Tacna on the border with Chile before returning to Lima for the finish on January 17th.