A vehicle that's Sturdy as ever

The Kamaz vehicle has been very popular among truckers, particularly in the Far East and former Soviet bloc countries. The truck is used for several purposes, but it is in the field of racing that it stands out - its performance in events like the FIA World Cup Cross Country Rally is commendable

I first came across the Kamaz racing trucks on the 1997 Paris-Dakar rally when I was acting as an official for the FIA. Since then, they have been a complete fascination every time I see them entered in an FIA World Cup Cross Country Rally - the most recent occasion being the Por Los Pampas Cross Country rally in Argentina in September.

The Kamaz racing truck team is sponsored by Master - a large Russian trading conglomeration that also sponsors and partly organises the annual Master Rally in tandem with the enigmatic Rene Metege from France.

The Kamaz brand is very famous among truckies, especially in the Far East and countries supported by the former Communist regime in the USSR in the days before the Berlin Wall came down and detente was achieved.

Kamaz trucks were, and indeed still are, used for commercial and military purposes, and there is a large Kamaz contingent with Abu Dhabi municipality to this day.

But, those are mundane and ordinary trucks - the racing version is just in another world.

This truck has been so successful in the T4 Truck Category of the FIA World Cup in recent years that for the 2001 season, the FIA introduced a third truck category in T4 - to give other entrants a chance!

Originally, T4 categories were two - one for 4x4 trucks and the other for 6x4 or 6x6 trucks. The new third category is for trucks that do not have their engine located over the front axle.

Everything about the racing Kamaz seems larger than life, although, to be fair, it is not a huge vehicle when compared to other trucks one sees on the roads. Perhaps, it is the 'greyhound' of the truck world as opposed to the 'Irish wolfhound'!

The large, high-wide cab is designed to seat a three-man crew on long-distance rallies - the driver being supported by a co-driver, who does the navigation whilst the third member of the crew is a technical person capable of solving the majority of mechanical or electrical problems that might arise.

The bodywork behind the cab is deceptive as all it houses is part of the mandatory fire extinguishing system and the engine and transmission units. Unlike the standard truck, the engine of the racing truck is mounted behind the cab and low down in the chassis frame.


This engine is a V8 diesel with a capacity of 17,250 cc (yes, that's right - 17.24 litres!) - the equivalent of 13 Corollas each with a 1,300-cc engine. This monster engine produces 830 bhp at only 2,500 rpm and torque of 260 Nm at 1,400 rpm.

It is truly a 'square' engine as the diameter of each piston - 14 cm - is exactly the same as the length of the piston stroke - 14 cm. To give an indication of the mass that is moving up and down inside this engine at up to 3,000 rpm, just draw a circle with a diameter of 14 cm and visualise this being 8 cm tall and made out of steel.

The power from the engine is transmitted to the driving wheels through a friction-type, dry, two-plate clutch and a ZF mechanical gearbox that has a range of 16 forward speeds and two reverse.

The forward propeller shaft drives the front wheels and the rear propeller shaft drives the rear wheels.

Both front and rear axles are solid- beam type and immensely strengthened to cope with the tremendous forces set up by the truck when in full song over uneven ground.

The truck has a Kerb Weight (that is minus passengers and baggage, etc, but with a full tank of fuel and normal fluids elsewhere) of 10,850 kg. The gross weight, after a full load of people and other items is 12,100 kg. The maximum speed of the Kamaz racing truck is 186 km/h (117 mph) and at that speed it takes some stopping!

The suspension of the truck is capable of sustaining these very fast speeds over undulating and uneven cross-country tracks and provides a surprisingly comfortable ride for the crew.

The acceleration time from 0 - 100 km/hr is quoted as 14.5 seconds.

Typical fuel consumption is 90 litres per 100 km (2.75 miles per imperial gallon). All auto competitors in long- distance rallies need to have a fuel autonomy to drive anything up to 500 kilometres between refuelling points so this means that the Kamaz racing truck has a fuel tank with a capacity in the region of 450 to 500 litres and this is also housed in the bodywork behind the cab.

The Kamaz racing truck is an awesome sight to behold when it is travelling fast across flat open
country. There is a special cab suspension system to prevent the crew from being bounced around too much, but the sheer physical effort of controlling nearly 12 tonnes of truck at speeds well over 150 km/hr on gravel tracks and sandy deserts is gruelling, to say the least.

The Kamaz team made the long journey to Argentina for the Por Los Pampas rally, as it wanted to clinch the T4 Truck category championship for yet another year in the FIA World Cup for Cross Country rallies.

In fact, it was the only truck entry in this event, and by just finishing, it achieved its objective.

The route of the Pampas rally included a wide range of different terrain from high sand dunes to dry wadi beds to gravel plains and tracks across the Pampas to mountain passes and Alpine roads.

The event was run in Mendoza Province in the west of Argentina and, on each of the six days of the rally, the snow-capped Andes mountains formed a superb and magnificent backdrop. The rally was won by Jean-Louis Schlesser, in his Renault-powered Schlesser Buggy, who finished 11 minutes ahead of Jutta Kleinschmidt, in her Mitsubishi Pajero.