Radovan Kazarka will make his Africa Eco Race début in 2025 behind the wheel of a Tatra 815 Puma.
He revealed the restored truck in late August at Automotodróm Slovakia Ring, the place his sons Tomáš and Marko have been racing within the Renault Clio Cup’s Clio Cup Bohemia. The Tatra itself was a part of the OMV MaxxMotion Grand Prix of Slovakia, the place the elder Kazarka did demonstration laps across the circuit.
“I’m glad that Slovakia Ring confirmed curiosity in me and my Tatra 815 Puma and that I had the chance to showcase it in motion. Though, let’s be sincere, the Puma very a lot prefers unpaved surfaces and isn’t too keen on asphalt,” Kazarka remarked. “I’m happy to see such nice curiosity in experiencing firsthand what it’s wish to race in a Dakar particular (stage).
“Our Puma will take part within the Africa Eco Race on the finish of this 12 months and the start of subsequent 12 months, whose tracks are an identical to these of the previous Dakar Rally when it was nonetheless held in Africa.”
Kazarka raced the Tatra on the Dakar Basic, an regularity-based rally for historic automobiles that’s held adjoining to the Dakar Rally, in 2022 and 2023. He completed ninetieth total and thirteenth within the H1T class for vans on the 2022 version earlier than cracking the latter’s podium with a 3rd in 2023 and thirty-sixth outright.
The Tatra 815 Puma was one of the crucial iconic rally raid vans in the course of the Paris–Dakar Rally period, with which Karel Loprais gained the Truck class in 1998, 1999, and 2001. His nephew Aleš Loprais is at the moment restoring the unique Puma to make use of within the 2025 Dakar Basic, which is able to happen in Saudi Arabia concurrently the Africa Eco Race.
The 2025 Africa Eco Race kicks off on 28 December and runs by way of 12 January.
