5 November 2015
Finally, a combination of years of research and development to produce the ultimate two-wheel drive (2wd) rally raid vehicle have come to fruition for Century Racing. Last night, Century Racing unveiled its custom-built rally cars for Dakar 2016 – the CR5s – at the Century Racing Workshop, north of Johannesburg.
The new and improved vehicle is taking part in the 2016 Dakar Rally in Argentina and Bolivia where a two-car team has been entered for the race. The first car will be driven by Mark Corbett and Juan Mohr and the second by Colin Matthews and Rodney Burke. After completing the 2012 Dakar Rally in an impressive 23rd overall and second in class, Century Racing has its sights set on a stronger finish at the 2016 Dakar Rally. It?s easy to see why that?s the case.
The CR5 is built to full Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) specifications. It boasts a Chevrolet Corvette LS7 V8 7.0 engine (400BHP, 650Nm), it has an upgraded six-speed sequential SADEV gearbox with seamless shift and features hydraulically operated on-board jacks. Compared to its predecessor (the CR4), the CR5 is 100kg lighter “its racing weight is only 1450kg. The CR5 also has 17” forged bead lock wheels which were custom made for Century Racing, a full tubular space frame chassis, full carbon fibre bodywork, an all-new double wishbone suspension front and rear as well as fully uni-sided front and rear uprights, with an integrated tyre inflation system.
“We believe we’ve produced the ultimate two-wheel drive rally raid vehicle. We used our design experience dating back from 2007 when we started building our own cars, as well as our 2012 Dakar Rally experience to develop the CR5 and this time we think that we have covered all our bases,” says Julien Hardy, Century Racing team manager and chief designer.
“We came back from the 2012 Dakar Rally and drew an all-new requirement list for what would become the CR5 ? the third Dakar car version. The three-page brief was essentially pointing to an all- new car, keeping only the basic architecture and the smooth, streamlined bodywork. The CR5 makes use of the latest technologies and custom-made components designed and made in-house specifically for this car,” adds Hardy. The CR5 raced for the first time in 2014 in the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge and was able to claim a class win on its first outing.
Century Racing started building its own cars in 2007. In 2008, the first ever Century Racing car, the CR1, made its debut with Mark Corbett behind the wheel. Unfortunately, the car was never a success due to reliability issues. In 2008, Century Racing decided to build its own Dakar car, the CR2. By mid-2009, the closed-cockpit CR2 made its test and race debut. The team soon discovered there was a lot of work to do in terms of development. After sorting out all teething issues on the CR1 and CR2, Century Racing decided to shift focus to racing the Dakar Rally again. At that time, Century Racing discovered that all the teams were moving to bigger and more powerful engines, and that the chassis rules had changed radically since the CR2 was built. It was then clear to the team that an all-new car was needed to be competitive and along came the CR4. The CR4 was the first big evolution of the Century Racing Dakar car. The car was powered by a Lexus V8 4.6L (as opposed to the Nissan V6 4.0L in the CR2), and had two separate fuel tanks.
“The suspension was virtually unchanged, bar the now integrated “on the go” inflation/deflation system. It featured a much larger nose-mounted water radiator to cope with the extreme heat from the South American continent and overall it was a much quicker package,” says Hardy.
Century Racing competed in the 2012 Dakar Rally with the CR4. While it was the team?s first attempt at competing in the most difficult race there is, the CR4 reached the finish line in 23rd place overall. After noting all the cars shortcomings, the team began working on the newly launched CR5 which they believe has what it takes to tackle a range of terrains and obstacles at Dakar 2016.
Century Racing departs for the 2016 Dakar Rally on 27 December and will return to South Africa on 19 January.
You can follow the team’s journey on these social media platforms Facebook: Century Racing Rally Raid, website: www.centuryracing.co.za