Zhengzhou Nissan’s tough Nissan Navara pickup has won a difficult stage of the 2018 Taklimakan Rally, an extreme motorsports event in China.
Three Navara trucks began the eight-stage rally in Urumqi, Xinjiang, in China’s far northwest. The trucks followed the old Silk Road for 2,769 km, including the blazing hot and technically challenging Gobi Desert. Of 90 automobiles taking part in Asia’s largest annual off-road endurance rally, only 59 could complete the entire challenge.
Zhengzhou Nissan drivers Ho-Ututunasheng and En Wang – competing in the 215-km SS1 stage from Turpan to Shanshan – drove their Navara to victory in the T2.1 category, while Zhengzhou Nissan also clenched four of the eight “Golden Helmet” prizes.
Navara’s power, reliable performance and durable chassis played a crucial role in the truck’s success. Navara not only topped vehicles in the mass-produced group, but it also put up an unforgettable extreme performance against million-dollar specialty endurance vehicles.
Zhengzhou Nissan was the only team in the mass-production vehicle category to not receive a 100-hour penalty for failing to complete race segments within stipulated times. The Navara, with victory on one of the world’s toughest testing grounds, is a key vehicle in the Chinese product lineup, with the rigorous real-world test at Taklimakan translating into authentic capability for consumers.
