Sometimes, the slightest adjustment can trigger major changes.
Rainbow Truck Team found this out for themselves when they were ensuring their MAN TGA truck complied with new FIA regulations ahead of the Rallye du Maroc. It was a simple change on paper: the fuel tank needed to be moved slightly further back.
As it turned out, the team had to rearrange quite a decent amount on the rear to accommodate. While they noted the changes were not “too major,” it still demanded “some brainpower and puzzling.”
“Any change to a rally truck triggers a sort of chain reaction,” quipped the team.
One notable change is that the tyre rack has been repositioned so that spares stand upright rather than laying flat on their side. The toolboxes had to be relocated to the rear for better weight distribution; to reach them, two doors have been installed.
Rainbow joked that the doors could also double as an anti-nerfing mechanism.
“Behind them is an innovation: when a competitor gets too close to the rear bumper, these boxes spring open, and using an ingenious spring mechanism, two boxing gloves pop out, pushing the tailgater back to a safe distance,” they remarked.
(There is technically no rule forbidding a car from deploying weapons a la Mario Kart. This is not an endorsement to try it, however, given the FIA’s driver fairness and behaviour policies.)
Although not exactly reinventing the wheel with the modifications, the team was in no hurry to make the changes as Morocco was only their second race of the year after the Dakar Rally in January. Gerrit Zuurmond placed fifteenth in the Truck category, being set back by a Chrono Stage retirement but ultimately reaching the finish. Rainbow also fielded a hydrogen-based Volkswagen Amarok for Dick Zuurmond in Mission 1000 that finished seventh.
The truck will head to Almería in Spain on Sunday, where it will be shipped to Morocco for the rally. Afterwards, Rainbow plans to run the 2025 Africa Eco Race instead of the Dakar to commemorate their tenth anniversary.
“The Rallye du Maroc is a shorter rally, but certainly not to be underestimated,” said the team. “Everything needs to be in perfect order, and you can count on the men who work on the rally truck every week to ensure that.”
The Rallye du Maroc is scheduled for 6–11 October. Zuurmond finished runner-up in class at the 2023 edition.
