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ORANJE KUST & GROENE HART RALLY
XXXVII. T.F.I. RALLY
Netherlands, May 29 – June 1, 2014
The 2014 annual TFI meeting will be held in Holland, following a decennium tradition of earlier Duch TFI meetings held in Katwoude (1994) and Lekkerkerk (2004). The meeting, organised by the Tatra Freunde International, will be held at the Ascension weekend in 2014 in the triangle shaped by The Hague, Haarlem and Utrecht in one of the most beautiful and quiet areas of Holland. Chosen theme is “ORANGE COAST AND GREEN HEART.” The meeting will have its base in Noordwijkerhout, halfway The Hague and Haarlem, close to the coast.
Tatras from Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, France, Belgium, Luxemburg, the Netherlands and the U.K. are expected. Start and Finish will be the four star NH Hotel in Noordwijkerhout. http://www.nh-hotels.com/nh/en/hotels/the-netherlands/noordwijkerhout.html Adress: Langelaan 3, 2211 XT, Noordwijkerhout, NL.
On Thursday, May 29th, Ascension day, we will arrive in Noordwijkerhout with the rooms of the hotel available from 15.00 hrs onwards. Parking, partly covered, is available. Dinner is possible at the hotel from 18.00 till 22.00 hrs, but is not included in the participation fee. For organizational reasons, however, you are requested to inform the organizers on the application form, whether you will have dinner at the hotel on Thursday. The annual members meeting of the Tatra Freunde International is held that very evening between 20.00 and 21.15 in the “Oxford” room of the Hotel.
Friday morning, we have planned a route along the coast. Arriving in the Hague, we will visit the Louwman Vehicle Museum. http://www.louwmanmuseum.nl/?sc_lang=en The high quality collection is internationally oriented and consists of over 230 automobiles. The museum has allowed us to park our Tatras on their main square, in front of the museum. We will try to have a photo shoot here. But, as the parking space on their main square is limited, it will depend on the number of participants, whether all cars can be parked. After a tour through the museum, we will have a hot lunch, offered by the Tatra meeting sponsor “CHOPARD,” the well-known Swiss luxury watch- and jewellery manufacturer.
In the afternoon, we will continue to the city of Leiden and the old polders north of it, before we will use some unusual roads around Schiphol Airport. At the end of the afternoon, we continue west- and southwards through romantic scenery formed by sand dunes and polders, direction our NH hotel. At the evening, we will have dinner at the Chinese-Indonesian self-service restaurant “Flamengo,” just 200 m on foot from the hotel. Here the drinks are included!
After having enjoyed our breakfast, the rested Tatra fans will head eastwards to the Groene Hart area, the Green Heart. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groene_Hart Travelling through a very relaxed polder scenery with romantic villages, we will stop at the village of Boskoop in the world’s biggest, joined floriculture area. We will have a boat tour through the many canals of Boskoop, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsLYaRfOoQ8 along the nurseries and nature areas, before having a hot lunch in Restaurant “Flora.” That afternoon, we will drive our Tatras through a lake area and use quite narrow, winding roads before we reach the former northern border of the Roman empire. Using less narrow roads, we then will return to the hotel. In the evening, you are invited to have a dinner buffet with the rally’s prize giving parallel and next to it.
Invitation http://www.tatraclub.at/images/stories/Dokumente/Uitnodiging_Engels_final.pdf
Entry form: http://www.tatraclub.at/images/stories/Dokumente/Aanmeldingsformulier_Engels_final.pdf
Text invitation as well as the applicationform are also available in German language: http://www.tatraclub.at/index.php?lang=de
January 23rd, 2014
The Loprais truck seen in Le Havre, readied for shipping to South America.
January 1st, 2014
Arthur Ardavichus from Kazakhstan – a mechanic, lawyer and logistics specialist – was one of the first who competed with a private Kamaz Rallytruck at the Dakar Rally. He started his career on a motobike at the previous “Silk Way Rally” in 2006 and finished second. In 2007 he participated in the “NPO Tunisia Rally” – also with a bike – and in the same year he switched to T1-prototype cars for the “NPO Morocco Rally”.
He was infected – and in 2008 he wanted to participate in his first Dakar rally, this year in a T2 (production) car. But as we all know, this Dakar was cancelled and this was the end of the “real Dakar” in Africa.
It should take another three years that his Dakar-dream became true: After participating in Rallies like the “UAE Desert Challenge”, “Transiberico Portugal” and other marathonrallies in a car, his first Dakar was in 2011 – behind the steering-wheel of a private Kamaz Truck in the mint green (or blue?) colours of his country and the name “Astana” – the capital of Kazakhstan. A name which is also well known in the international bicycle sports. His success was the birth of the “Astana Dakar Team”, which will represent the European/Asian country with four participants in the Dakar Rally 2014.
Arthur Ardavichus from Kazakhstan – a mechanic, lawyer and logistics specialist – was one of the first who competed with a private Kamaz Rallytruck at the Dakar Rally. He started his career on a motobike at the previous “Silk Way Rally” in 2006 and finished second. In 2007 he participated in the “NPO Tunisia Rally” – also with a bike – and in the same year he switched to T1-prototype cars for the “NPO Morocco Rally”.
He was infected – and in 2008 he wanted to participate in his first Dakar rally, this year in a T2 (production) car. But as we all know, this Dakar was cancelled and this was the end of the “real Dakar” in Africa.
It should take another three years that his Dakar-dream became true: After participating in Rallies like the “UAE Desert Challenge”, “Transiberico Portugal” and other marathonrallies in a car, his first Dakar was in 2011 – behind the steering-wheel of a private Kamaz Truck in the mint green (or blue?) colours of his country and the name “Astana” – the capital of Kazakhstan. A name which is also well known in the international bicycle sports. His success was the birth of the “Astana Dakar Team”, which will represent the European/Asian country with four participants in the Dakar Rally 2014.
Continue: http://www.marathonrally.com/news/dakar_rally_2014_kazakhstan_to_start_with_four_astana_rally_teams.23887.0.html
Additional info on the Bonver project:
In last year’s Silk Way Rally, the Pole SZUSTKOWSKI was the fastest Tatra of with a truck of the Vratny-team, Loprais retiring
At the Dakar 2013 ( http://www.dakar.com/dakar/2013/us/stage-14/rankings/overall-trucks.html#ancre), Kolomny came home 5th as the highest placed Tatra, Loprais finishing 6th. kolomny drove a Bonver/Vratny trucks. Last year, Kolomny and Vratny, entered into a conflict, Kolomny starting this year in a new team, the Bagheera team,
Tomas Vratny bought the former CzechDakarTeam from Kolomny in 2011, and rebaptized it into Bonver Team.
http://www.dakar.com/silk-way-rally/2011/us/stage-7/rankings/overall-trucks.html#ancre
January 1st, 2014
Long-time Dakar competitor Tomas Tomecek switched to the Africa-Eco race years ago and will compete in this year’s rally once more. The rally will start in Maroc in two days. In the trucks category, there should be a harsh battle between the Czech Tomas Tomecek on his Tatra Truck and Portguese Elisabete Jacinto on her MAN TGS. A battle which shall be refereed by Miklos Kovacs from Hungary on his stunning Scania, and the Belgians Noel Essers (MAN) and Gregoor Bouwens on a brand new IVECO.
http://www.africarace.com/en
http://www.marathonrally.com/news/africa_eco_race_organizers_unveiled_the_route_of_2014_africa_eco_race.23826.0.html
December 27th, 2013
With his eyes full of tears on the podium in Santiago, Eduard Nikolaev put the shine back into Kamaz with his first success in the Dakar last year. The time is approaching to confirm that victory, but Gerard De Rooy and a long list of Dutch drivers intend to make life difficult for the Kamaz team.
It was a light soft shot, not a hard blow. The day Vladimir Chagin retired after seven wins in the class ushered in a difficult time for the Kamaz team, which had to undertake a renewal of drivers who had not shown their full potential yet. The following year – 2012 – Gerard de Rooy’s win, with no Russian presence on the podium, confirmed how difficult it was to look ahead to the future.
However, normal service was restored in the last edition of the Dakar, where rising star Eduard Nikolaev managed to get a blue truck onto the highest step of the podium. To round things off, the team showed great form by completing the ranking with Ayrat Mardeev (2nd) and Andrey Karginov (3rd), and all this with an average age of just over 29. A sign of fierce competition.
Aware of the difficulty of repeating the exploit, the engineers from Naberezhnye Chelny have developed a version of their truck equipped – like their rivals – with a smaller engine that is nevertheless just as powerful: “because we turn the page every year”, says the ‘little Czar’ Eduard Nikolaev.
As for 2014’s ‘page’, De Rooy and his teammates intend to write it in a rather more forceful style than last year. Although De Rooy won 6 stages (he had perhaps dreamed of starting a ‘turquoise blue’ era), the Dutchman’s 4th place in the final ranking left him a bitter taste in the mouth. His cousin Hans Stacey, winner in 2007 and second in 2012, is the second trump card in the group.
By slightly moving away from the Eindhoven-based team, one gets the feeling that Kamaz run the risk of being assaulted by an armada of Dutch trucks in teams of differing strengths, but all to be taken seriously nevertheless.
After winning his first special stage last January, Peter Versluis is aiming quite a bit higher than his 7th place with his MAN truck, which has been tuned up in the workshops of the Veka team. The Ginaf trucks, completely redesigned and developed since last year, will have the ambitious Wuf Van Ginkel back, and also Martin Van den Brink, to have a shot at the podium.
The wind of technological revolution has not only been blowing over the plains of Holland. The real outsider could well come from the Czech Republic, and people will be watching the Tatra of Ales Loprais very closely. Its bodywork has adopted the vintage look launched by De Rooy two years ago.
Re-christened “Queen 69”, his reworked truck allows him to aim at a podium finish as in 2007. In a nearby rival team, Martin Kolomy was involved in the battle for the podium during the main part of the rally before falling back to 5th place. One could guess Kolomy will make a point to proudly fly the colours of the Czech Republic at the podium ceremony this year in Valparaiso!
With his eyes full of tears on the podium in Santiago, Eduard Nikolaev put the shine back into Kamaz with his first success in the Dakar last year. The time is approaching to confirm that victory, but Gerard De Rooy and a long list of Dutch drivers intend to make life difficult for the Kamaz team.
It was a light soft shot, not a hard blow. The day Vladimir Chagin retired after seven wins in the class ushered in a difficult time for the Kamaz team, which had to undertake a renewal of drivers who had not shown their full potential yet. The following year – 2012 – Gerard de Rooy’s win, with no Russian presence on the podium, confirmed how difficult it was to look ahead to the future.
However, normal service was restored in the last edition of the Dakar, where rising star Eduard Nikolaev managed to get a blue truck onto the highest step of the podium. To round things off, the team showed great form by completing the ranking with Ayrat Mardeev (2nd) and Andrey Karginov (3rd), and all this with an average age of just over 29. A sign of fierce competition.
Aware of the difficulty of repeating the exploit, the engineers from Naberezhnye Chelny have developed a version of their truck equipped – like their rivals – with a smaller engine that is nevertheless just as powerful: “because we turn the page every year”, says the ‘little Czar’ Eduard Nikolaev.
As for 2014’s ‘page’, De Rooy and his teammates intend to write it in a rather more forceful style than last year. Although De Rooy won 6 stages (he had perhaps dreamed of starting a ‘turquoise blue’ era), the Dutchman’s 4th place in the final ranking left him a bitter taste in the mouth. His cousin Hans Stacey, winner in 2007 and second in 2012, is the second trump card in the group.
By slightly moving away from the Eindhoven-based team, one gets the feeling that Kamaz run the risk of being assaulted by an armada of Dutch trucks in teams of differing strengths, but all to be taken seriously nevertheless.
After winning his first special stage last January, Peter Versluis is aiming quite a bit higher than his 7th place with his MAN truck, which has been tuned up in the workshops of the Veka team. The Ginaf trucks, completely redesigned and developed since last year, will have the ambitious Wuf Van Ginkel back, and also Martin Van den Brink, to have a shot at the podium.
The wind of technological revolution has not only been blowing over the plains of Holland. The real outsider could well come from the Czech Republic, and people will be watching the Tatra of Ales Loprais very closely. Its bodywork has adopted the vintage look launched by De Rooy two years ago.
Re-christened “Queen 69”, his reworked truck allows him to aim at a podium finish as in 2007. In a nearby rival team, Martin Kolomy was involved in the battle for the podium during the main part of the rally before falling back to 5th place. One could guess Kolomy will make a point to proudly fly the colours of the Czech Republic at the podium ceremony this year in Valparaiso!
http://www.marathonrally.com/news/dakar_rally_2014_will_the_new_kamaz_repeat_their_triuph_in_the_trucks.23900.0.html
December 25th, 2013
The Dakar 2014 rally, once more held in Southern America, Dakar homepage , will count a record number of Tatra participants. Most well-known Tatra competitor Ales loprais, will race his Queen 69 Evo II truck. Video. This truck is newly built and based on his “Jamal” truck that took him to victory in the 2011 Sedge Way Rally but which was crashed heavily in the 2012 Dakar.
Rising Tatra star Martin Kolomy will drive the Tatra 815 Buggyra truck. Details here.
The Bonver Tatra project is running Tatras since 2011 with modest success. They hope to change it this year with not less than three competitors. Tomas Vratny and the Pole Robert Jan Szustkowski will drive T 815s while Artur Ardavichus from Kazachstan will drive a T 163 Jamal, a vehicle similar to Ales loprais’truck.
Finally, the Dakar Team Holland will drive a Tatraq Hoenix. The team experinced a serious setback recently as driver/team owner Marcel Schoo had to cancel his participation due to health problems. He will be replaced by the experienced Dakar competitor Pierre Blom. Details here
December 25th, 2013
Proudly presenting the Logo of next year’s “Tatra Freunde International “International Tatra meeting.
Final invitation and subscription form will be published in January 2014
December 19th, 2013
Video: https://d2pq0u4uni88oo.cloudfront.net/projects/796522/video-325306-h264_high.mp4
The Untold Story of Tatra: Driving a Tatra 603 from Prague to 2014 Pebble Beach Concours, 5,000+ miles, TFLcar.com video webseries.
Tatra is the third oldest car manufacturer in the world after Mercedes-Benz and Peugeot, yet if you were to ask your neighbor, chances are they’d never heard of the storied Czechoslovakian car and truck builder. Yet Tatra, and their chief engineer, Hans Ledwinka, played a direct and influential role in the design of the car that you and your neighbor are driving today.
In fact, Tatra has such and important role in the design of today’s cars that the 2014 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance is celebrating the historical Czech Automotive brand with a special class this year. The world’s most prestigious auto show will feature classic Tatra cars in a special class in 2014. We plan to document the story of Tatra by driving a Tatra 603 from the car’s home country to the trim and neat fairways of the 2014 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.
FULL STORY: http://kck.st/19SN7KF
December 19th, 2013
Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance
Once each year, on the third Sunday in August, about 200 of the most prized collector cars and motorcycles in the world roll onto what is often called the best finishing hole in golf — the famed eighteenth fairway at Pebble Beach. Tire meets turf and transformation occurs: the stage is set for one of the most competitive events in the automotive world. The occasion is the prestigious Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.
Originally a small social event paired with a road race through the pine and cypress forests of Pebble Beach, the Pebble Beach Concours has grown into the top-ranking collector car competition in the world. People from all over the globe come to compete in or simply witness and enjoy the event here at Pebble Beach.
The Concours is not a contest of speed, but of excellence. Automobiles and motorcycles are judged for their historical accuracy, their technical merit and their style—and the best garner reward and recognition.
WATCH THE 2013 PEBBLE BEACH CONCOURS AWARDS SHOW.
VIEW 360-degree PANORAMA IMAGES OF THE 2013 PEBBLE BEACH CONCOURS.
TAKE A TOUR THROUGH THE 60 YEARS OF THE CONCOURS.
The Concours is not a contest of speed, but of excellence. Automobiles and motorcycles are judged for their historical accuracy, their technical merit and their style—and the best garner reward and recognition.
So, WHAT MAKES A CONCOURS CAR?
The 2014 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance will feature the following following marques and special classes:
• Maserati Centennial
• Ruxton
• Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa
• Fernandez et Darrin Coachwork
• Steam Cars
• Rolls-Royce Phantom IV and Phantom V
• Tatra
• Eastern European Motorcycles
http://www.pebblebeachconcours.net/pages/3022
December 19th, 2013
At this year’s Agritechnica is Kopřivnická Tatra latest version Phoenix series, designed for use in agriculture.
Agritechnica, held from 10 to 16 November 2013 at the Exhibition Grounds in Hanover, one of the most important international meeting of experts in agricultural technology. Exhibitors from all over the world to present their technologies for professional plant production.
The automaker Tatra Trucks here in cooperation with its German partner companies Leewes & Ludmann exhibits her Agrotahač 6×6 for agriculture, which premiered at this year’s Bread Basket 2013 held in Czech Budejovice at the end of August.
New is the result of a joint development kopřivnické car with peasant society Lesonice Inc. and its prototypes were homologated under the “individual control” for use on the road as tractors.
Agrotahač 6×6 Tatra based on the traditional concept of the chassis, based on a central tube with swinging half-axles. The vehicle has air suspension compared to conventional freight Phoenix 6×6 short wheelbase between the first and second axle to 3.060 mm, while the second and the third has a wheelbase of 1.450 mm.
The total length of the machine is 6.965 mm, width 2.600 mm and 3.250 mm height. Are standard for all three axle tires of size 445/65 R22, 5 but Tatra recommended tires in the form of broad low pressure tractor tires 500/60 R22, 5 at the front and 600/50 R22, 5 back.
On request it is available the last steerable axle with electrohydraulic control system to a speed of 40 km / h This correction reduces the outer turning radius, which in combination with a trailer with steering axles improves the maneuverability of the vehicle and prevent its unintended dragging that tire wear and udusává soil in the field.
Drive tractor ensures liquid-cooled six-cylinder Paccar MX340 with a capacity of 12.9 liters, meeting the Euro 5 emissions standard The engine of the tractor is available with outputs of 265 kW, 300 kW and 340 kW in combination with 16stupňovou manual gearbox ZF automatic gearbox 16stupňovou ZF AS-Tronic automatic or 6-speed Allison transmission brand. All the variants gear can be equipped with an integrated retarder.
The vehicle is equipped with four mutually independent braking systems – operating, emergency, and parking motor. On request, available compression brake MX Engine Brake. The cab is offered protection ROPS / FOPS ( safety cab rollover). Equipped tractor is height adjustable rear tractor hitch and two-inch turntable. The bow is adapted for mounting the front mounted implements. We also offer a complete hydraulic outputs in the front and rear.
In comparison with vehicles with rigid axles reaches tractor Tatra field higher speed, which means that it is able at the same time undergo a greater number of heats. The distribution of load weight of the trailer to the rear axle configuration 6×6 compared to 4×4 enables higher capacity semi-trailer, thereby further increasing the productivity of transportation.
Start of serial production Agrotahače Kopřivnická automaker plans for the second half of next year following the start of production of vehicles meeting the Euro VI emissions standard. Production of this model should expand the presence of Tatra in agriculture, which are the vehicles for several years successfully used as carriers for agricultural swap bodies.
At this year’s Agritechnica is Kopřivnická Tatra latest version Phoenix series, designed for use in agriculture.
Agritechnica, held from 10 to 16 November 2013 at the Exhibition Grounds in Hanover, one of the most important international meeting of experts in agricultural technology. Exhibitors from all over the world to present their technologies for professional plant production.
The automaker Tatra Trucks here in cooperation with its German partner companies Leewes & Ludmann exhibits her Agrotahač 6×6 for agriculture, which premiered at this year’s Bread Basket 2013 held in Czech Budejovice at the end of August.
New is the result of a joint development kopřivnické car with peasant society Lesonice Inc. and its prototypes were homologated under the “individual control” for use on the road as tractors.
Agrotahač 6×6 Tatra based on the traditional concept of the chassis, based on a central tube with swinging half-axles. The vehicle has air suspension compared to conventional freight Phoenix 6×6 short wheelbase between the first and second axle to 3.060 mm, while the second and the third has a wheelbase of 1.450 mm.
The total length of the machine is 6.965 mm, width 2.600 mm and 3.250 mm height. Are standard for all three axle tires of size 445/65 R22, 5 but Tatra recommended tires in the form of broad low pressure tractor tires 500/60 R22, 5 at the front and 600/50 R22, 5 back.
On request it is available the last steerable axle with electrohydraulic control system to a speed of 40 km / h This correction reduces the outer turning radius, which in combination with a trailer with steering axles improves the maneuverability of the vehicle and prevent its unintended dragging that tire wear and udusává soil in the field.
Drive tractor ensures liquid-cooled six-cylinder Paccar MX340 with a capacity of 12.9 liters, meeting the Euro 5 emissions standard The engine of the tractor is available with outputs of 265 kW, 300 kW and 340 kW in combination with 16stupňovou manual gearbox ZF automatic gearbox 16stupňovou ZF AS-Tronic automatic or 6-speed Allison transmission brand. All the variants gear can be equipped with an integrated retarder.
The vehicle is equipped with four mutually independent braking systems – operating, emergency, and parking motor. On request, available compression brake MX Engine Brake. The cab is offered protection ROPS / FOPS ( safety cab rollover). Equipped tractor is height adjustable rear tractor hitch and two-inch turntable. The bow is adapted for mounting the front mounted implements. We also offer a complete hydraulic outputs in the front and rear.
In comparison with vehicles with rigid axles reaches tractor Tatra field higher speed, which means that it is able at the same time undergo a greater number of heats. The distribution of load weight of the trailer to the rear axle configuration 6×6 compared to 4×4 enables higher capacity semi-trailer, thereby further increasing the productivity of transportation.
Start of serial production Agrotahače Kopřivnická automaker plans for the second half of next year following the start of production of vehicles meeting the Euro VI emissions standard. Production of this model should expand the presence of Tatra in agriculture, which are the vehicles for several years successfully used as carriers for agricultural swap bodies.
November 18th, 2013
