VIDEO Ssangyong's Tivoli joins desert race in Dakar

Tivoli DKR will represent South Korean auto manufacturer Ssangyong Motor in Dakar 2018 in January next year. / Courtesy of YouTube

By Ko Dong-hwan

Ssangyong Motor is joining the world’s most dangerous off-road challenge rally in Dakar for the first time in nine years next January with its Tivoli model.

The Tivoli DKR will travel a 9,000 kilometer course through deserts, sand dunes and wild terrain, starting in Lima, Peru, passing La Paz, Bolivia, and finishing in Cordoba, Argentina.

The Tivoli-based rig customized for the rally has 405 horsepower six-liter V8 engine, that reaches 96 k/ph in 4.4 seconds.

Driver Oscar Fuertes, a two-time Spanish Gravel Rally Champion, won the ticket to Dakar 2018 by winning the Baja Aragon in Teruel, Spain, with Tivoli Rally Raid 4WD in July.

The Dakar 2018 rally runs across tough off-road terrain in Peru, Bolivia and Argentina from Jan. 6 through 20. / dakar.com

Competing against about 500 teams from across the world, DAKAR 2018 is the 40th such event. It also returns to the Central America for the 10th time. The race continues from Jan. 6-20.

“The challenge at the Dakar rally after nine years will promote our brand and technologies to the world,” said Ssangyong CEO Choi Johng-sik, addressing his company as a SUV specialist.

Ssangyong debuted at the Dakar rally in 1994 with the Korando Family, finishing eighth and completing the race for the first among Korean auto manufacturers. It continued the challenge in three subsequent rallies with Musso and Kyron, finishing in the top 10 in all events.