Gas-fueled KAMAZ: conquering Africa
The gas-fueled sports truck of the KAMAZ-Master team will once again take part in the Africa Eco Race, namely its 2017 edition that will start in Monaco on December 31, 2016, and end at Lac Rose (Pink Lake) near Dakar on January 14, 2017.
The Africa Eco Race serves as a key testing ground for the gas-fueled KAMAZ, offering opportunities for trying out NGV technologies under extreme conditions. Fueled by a mixture of gas and diesel, the truck’s engine speeds up at low rpm, which gives the crew a number of advantages in off-road environments.
In the 2017 sporting season, the total distance of the African rally will be 6,500 kilometers. The participants will navigate a route with a minimal number of liaisons, as well as special obstacle-course sections and two loop stages, using a particularly challenging road book. The teams will have to work very hard to complete the race stages, most of which will start directly at bivouac sites.
The KAMAZ-Master team will be represented in the Africa Eco Race 2017 by two crews, one led by Sergey Kupriyanov and the other by Andrey Karginov.
“The Gas-Fueled KAMAZ project is supported by Gazprom and aims to demonstrate that natural gas is a cost-effective and environmentally friendly vehicle fuel. At present, wide-ranging efforts are in place to promote the use of natural gas as a vehicle fuel. The NGV infrastructure is expanding throughout Russia. The NGV fuel now has the brand name of EcoGas,” said Sergey Kupriyanov, Press Secretary of the Gazprom Management Committee Chairman, pilot of the gas-fueled KAMAZ.
Background
The gas-fueled KAMAZ is a special model of a sports truck powered by compressed natural gas. The model was created in 2013 by the KAMAZ-Master team with the support of Gazprom and VTB Bank. The project’s goal is to demonstrate the benefits of using natural gas as a vehicle fuel.
The production and marketing of natural gas as a vehicle fuel is one of Gazprom’s priorities. A special-purpose company, Gazprom Gazomotornoye Toplivo, was established for ensuring the continuous development of the NGV market.
Gazprom Gazomotornoye Toplivo provides marketing support to the gas-fueled KAMAZ in sporting events. The company makes continuous efforts to promote the use of natural gas as a vehicle fuel.
Africa Eco Race is an annual rally that follows the historic route of the Dakar rally through Morocco, Mauritania, and Senegal.
