Dakar Stage Seven: Sotnikov Leads Again!

Erik Khairulllin, press attaché of KAMAZ-master, reports from Uyuni (Bolivia):

- Having left the unofficial Bolivian capital, the sports crews and assistance teams went different ways. The former took a start for a special stage from La Paz to Uyuni, and the latter went to Argentina's Salta via Tupiza. The racers should have been left without the mechanics' help to rely on their own strength in case of breakdowns at the bivouac in Uyuni.

Fortunately, all KAMAZ crews didn't face technical problems. The special section the length of which had been reduced by the organizers to 161 km in La Paz the other day has been shortened by 20 kilometers more due to the rain today. Dmitry Sotnikov's crew won the second victory in his racing career at the Dakar stage. The pilot who had been driving at a steadily high speed throughout the day was helped by navigator Ruslan Akhmadeev who had timely suggested a shortcut, which helped to drive around an off-road section along a relatively even road and save time. Unfortunately, Eduard Nikolaev's and Airat Mardeev's crews stuck to roadbook directions and honestly travelled 10 kilometers on terrain covered with hillocks as prescribed. Although there was no point in doing it as there were no control points in this part of the track. Evgeny Yakovlev, navigator of Eduard Nikolaev's crew, assessed his blunder in about 8 minutes of wasted time. In fairness it must be said that the trucks which had started later simply followed the well trodden track and bypassed a difficult section thanks to the crews in front who have paved a quicker way.

The crews are close to one another after seven stages in the final table of truck standings: leading Gerard de Rooy is followed by three KAMAZ crews - Dmitry Sotnikov (+00:02:11), Eduard Nikolaev (+00:05:57), and Airat Mardeev (+00:20:12). The Dutchman is showing enviable psychological stability. Immediately after the finish, he was questioned about how he can withstand the pressure of KAMAZ, and the leader of the IVECO team answered that he felt confidence, but it was too early to relax, especially one needed to be focused on navigation problems. Mistakes come at a price here.

As for navigation, there are two popular themes with the participants at this year's Dakar. The first is the organizers' innovation, the so-called WPC-points - a way point control to reach which was a real challenge for navigators. The second theme are notorious map men - experts whose presence in the stuff isn't recognized by any team. The essence of their work is as follows: immediately after they recieve a road-book of a forthcoming stage, they begin brainstorming and trying to match the legend with the most detailed satellite maps. It is clear that the co-driver, armed with additional information, has a good sense of direction and understands the logic of the route and better solves navigation puzzles from the organizers. Modern technologies, powerful satellite navigation systems have become a real challenge to rally-raids in their classical understanding, and the discipline will have to respond to it in the near future.

Yesterday it was announced at the evening briefing that a part of the eight marathon stage will be reduced for the participants of the truck class. On the route from Uyuni to Salta, its Argentine part will be cut off, and heavy vehicles will have to pass just 174 kilometers instead of the originally planned 490 kilometers. The reason is common. It is already clear: the Dakar-2017 will be best remembered by storms.

Stage Seven T4 Scratch Ranking

Stage Seven T4 General Ranking