Coronado called up for Freightliner Racing duty

In Freightliner, News3 MinutesBy NZ Trucking magazineFebruary 20, 2017

Freightliner Racing has revealed a new-look Commodore Supercar and Coronado prime mover that will haul it to each race.

The Albury-based team has replaced its Freightliner Argosy cabover prime mover with a Freightliner Coronado 114, a model with a set-forward front axle that can haul a 34-pallet B-double trailer set.

The team transporter, nicknamed Stax, is driven by Paul Eddy, who clocks up around 45,000km a year behind the wheel towing a B-double trailer loaded with two cars and mass of spares and equipment.

It‘s not a heavy combination (around five tonnes shy of its 62.5 tonne maximum weight), offering no challenge for the 15-litre Detroit six-cylinder turbo diesel under the bonnet that generates a healthy 560hp and 1850lb-ft Nm of torque.

Eddie has only done few short stints in his new home-away- from-home, but is looking forward to the 16 rounds he will drive it to this season.

“It looks great going down the road,” Eddy says. “It always looks cool if you have a couple of stacks sitting behind the doors doesn‘t it?”

Eddy had driven an Argosy with a cavernous 110-inch sleeper cab for the past few seasons, but will trade off some of that space for a bonnet with the new Coronado, which has a more modest 34-inch sleeper. “The sleeper in the Argosy was so big, it had a double bed and it would take me half an hour to get out,” Eddy says with a smile.  “With this, you lose a bit of cabin space but you get a bonnet.”

Eddy praised the way the Coronado 114 drives.

“Geez, it is nice to drive. Just the way it sits on the road; it‘s great,” he says. 

While the Coronado is available with a fully automated Eaton Ultrashift transmission, Eddy opted for the 18-speed Eaton Roadranger in order to keep up his shifting skills.

Driving the team transporter is just one part of Eddie‘s job description; he also looks after the Freightliner Racing car‘s tyres and works the hydraulic jack ‘spike‘ in pit lane during stops.

The Brad Jones Racing outfit, which runs Freightliner Racing, also uses two Freightliner Argosys for the rest of its Supercars and Dunlop Series racing fleet.

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