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, where his sons Tomáš and Marko were racing in the Renault Clio Cup’s Clio Cup Bohemia. The Tatra itself was part of the OMV MaxxMotion Grand Prix of Slovakia, where the elder Kazarka did demonstration laps around the circuit.
“I’m glad that Slovakia Ring showed interest in me and my Tatra 815 Puma and that I had the opportunity to showcase it in action. Although, let’s be honest, the Puma very much prefers unpaved surfaces and isn’t too fond of asphalt,” Kazarka remarked. “I’m pleased to see such great interest in experiencing firsthand what it’s like to race in a Dakar special (stage).
“Our Puma will participate in the Africa Eco Race at the end of this year and the beginning of next year, whose tracks are identical to those of the former Dakar Rally when it was still held in Africa.”
Kazarka raced the Tatra at the Dakar Classic, an regularity-based rally for historic vehicles that is held adjacent to the Dakar Rally, in 2022 and 2023. He finished ninetieth overall and thirteenth in the H1T category for trucks at the 2022 edition before cracking the latter’s podium with a third in 2023 and thirty-sixth outright.
The Tatra 815 Puma was one of the most iconic rally raid trucks during the Paris–Dakar Rally era, with which Karel Loprais won the Truck category in 1998, 1999, and 2001. His nephew Aleš Loprais is currently restoring the original Puma to use in the 2025 Dakar Classic, which will take place in Saudi Arabia at the same time as the Africa Eco Race.
The 2025 Africa Eco Race kicks off on 28 December and runs through 12 January.
