Not even race truck should be threat to the environment. This is proven by “green” project of Buggyra ZM Racing team. All of its Tatras will run in truck category during 45th edition of Dakar Rally, which starts in a few days, on biodiesel known as HVO.
Use of eco-fuel is not “fallen from above“. Buggyra has been developing Gyrtech biodiesel engines for the second season as part of the FIA European Truck Racing Championship. These units are now sufficiently tested to power both Dakar Phoenix truck driven by Jaroslav Valtr and Robert Kasák and also Tatra 815 of Martin Šoltys.
“We know that smog and overall ecological burden of trucks is a big problem. Sustainability is clearly at the forefront of our future development focus. That is why our development centre has been dealing with this issue for a long time. FIA federation pursues for green racing that would not be a burden on nature. This gave rise to HVO project for racing trucks. It is the reason why we are now starting at Dakar Rally, where we will be refuelling all our racing Tatra trucks with biodiesel,“ Buggyra boss Martin Koloc explained.
Knowledge gained from the world’s most demanding rally will not only be used in Buggyra Research and Development Centre, but they are mainly valuable data for Tatra company. “Even-though our team competes in the heavy duty league of Dakar, we do not like to compromise our mission and goal towards carbon neutrality in the near future,” Koloc said.
“In the future, motorsport will have to get used to the fact that without sustainability there may no longer be any racing. It is mainly about development of technologies that will be able to be used in normal traffic. Dakar offers very good platform for testing this fuel and raising awareness of its benefits and existence,“ team boss added.
HVO (Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil) is a biofuel made by the hydrocracking or hydrogenation of vegetable oil. Thanks to this, there is a drastic reduction in CO2 emissions and engine smoke.