THE SEVENTH STAGE IN FAVOUR OF NIKOLAEV

The weather became the key factor at the seventh stage of the International Silk Way Rally 2022, reports press attaché of the KAMAZ-master team Erik Khayrulliun.

Rain showers seriously damaged roads in the first part of the special section. Not everybody managed to start the race: motorcycles and quads took an opportunity to skip the stage, as permitted by the competition regulations. Such a decision was taken over fears they would not make the finish under extreme conditions.

Yes, even trucks scarcely held their track on a waterlogged mud terrain. The crews travelled the starting 20-30 kilometers at the lowest speed hardly exceeding 20 kph. In addition, the pilots somehow coped with the rutted mud, whereas the rain coming down in sheets blocked the drivers’ view restraining them from making any maneuver.

Fortunately for the athletes, such a road challenge lasted not long, and almost 300 kilometers left were covered at a very high speed. Dmitry Sotnikov who had started first at a special had to make a trail for the whole rally caravan, and the crew made several navigation mistakes by day’s end. With account of a struggle for the first position in the truck standings, all these episodes influenced the rating of today’s stage – Sotnikov finished second.

On Wednesday, Eduard Nikolaev took leading positions again. Right from the first kilometers, Crew 302 took a pace too high for the rest pilots. The racer on his new K5 truck covered 310 kilometers of the seventh special at an average speed of 112 kph having set the record of this SWR. The pilot’s faultless steering, the co-pilot’s accurate hints and the mechanic’s competent work let the crew win their third stage and consolidate their advantage over Dmitry Sotnikov with a gap of six and a half minutes.

Eduard Nikolaev, Pilot of Crew 302: “The first kilometers in the rain recalled the year 2018 when we drove on the Silk Way on a bonneted truck. Then we all got stuck in the mud, and we helped each other. Already after 30 kilometers this fun was over – it became dry (laughs). The speed boosted at once, and we little by little ran close to Vladimir Vasilyev’s crew, and outpaced him. Then we saw Dima Sotnikov, couldn’t near him because of a smother of dust for a long time, but in the restricted area we honked at him and ran forward. The special section turned out to be perfect. I’m satisfied with the navigation, the vehicle.”

Dmitry Sotnikov, Pilot of Crew 300: “The first part of the special was very slippery, it was unpleasant. But then it became better, it wasn’t raining anymore. By the finish, everything had got dry. In the end, we several times went away from the route, navigation was inaccurate. We saw Eduard Nikolaev approaching us, and before the finish, we let him take the lead. It’s better to run on a dry road, after all, it is difficult to control a truck on the clay. The vehicle ran to the finish safe, but we can’t be completely happy because we were in the lead opening a trail and taking all responsibility.”

There were serious changes in parallel categories of the Silk Way Rally. A gearbox input shaft broke on Vladimir Vasilyev’s car. And, during towing, several tow wires broke, and one of them damaged a radiator. Vasilyev managed to get to the finish covering the last 100 kilometers with the help of Andrey Karginov’s crew that showed fifth result.

Sergey Kupriyanov on a gas and diesel KAMAZ showed his best result in the race of 2022. At the finishing gate, the judges fixed a half-hour gap to Eduard Nikolaev winning the stage. The pilot of the KAMAZ-master team spent the sports day without failures and outpaced two MAZ trucks and Andrey Karginov. Siarhei Viazovich can again complain about the rubber – the wheel replacement immediately affected the pace of the Belorussian crew. Much time was lost by Aliaksei Vishneuski changing the wheel. A wheel disk broke and ran under the truck that fell on an axle. Close results were shown by the representatives of the GAZ Raid Sport team – Mikhail Shklyaev and Aleksey Khlebov.

Truck Category. Results of the 7th Stage

Truck Category. General Classification after the 7th Stage