The Loprais name is long associated with Tatra, and that will continue in 2026 when the team fields three trucks in the Dakar Classic. It is an increase from the two that raced this year’s event and finished 1–2 in the H2T class.

The Classic-winning truck was a Tatra 815 Puma driven by Igor Pazdera with Milan Holáň and actress Olga Lounová riding shotgun. The Puma was modeled after the one driven by team boss Aleš Loprais’ uncle Karel to two Paris–Dakar Rally victories. Jan Čermák, who was Karel’s navigator when he won the 1998 Dakar Rally, was supposed to call the shots for the Puma but withdrew due to health problems.

Another model, the Tatra 815 HAS, finished runner-up in the 2025 Classic with Jiří Husek, Lubomír Dočkal, and Dominik Holáně.

The 815 was one of the most famous brands made by Tatra Trucks. The 158,065th and final unit, an 815-2 Terra for firefighting, was produced in February to end a 42-year run for the family.

Karel Loprais would win the Dakar Rally’s Truck class six times, all with vehicles from within the 815 family. In March 2024, Tatra launched Projekt T 162 “Karel” to build a rally raid version of the Tatra 162 that Karel was supposed to race in 1988 but fell through.

Unlike his team, Aleš Loprais currently races an IVECO in the main Dakar Rally. He finished third in Truck at the 2025 edition.

Featured image credit: Doni Castilho / FOTOP