DAKAR RACERS ARRIVED IN BOLIVIA

12 January 2018

KAMAZ-master's Press Attaché Eric Khayrullin is reporting from La Paz (Bolivia),

"The cold weather in the Bolivian capital was more than outweighed by a great welcome from the citizens of La Paz who were greeting the Dakar racers today. There was an impressive crowd of people on the street. The crews arriving there ran through the live corridor lasting from the outskirts of the city to the very bivouac. 

After the start in Arequipa, Peru, the crews had to cross the Andes, then a special section alongside famous Lace Titikaka, after that procedures on the Peruvian-Bolivian border, and finally the finishing section of the special.

As opposed to previous results, the first ten trucks rank actually within 10 minutes. Federico Villagra in IVECO was first, followed by Martin Kolomy in Tatra. The top three was rounded out by Ton van Genugten in IVECO. Dmitry Sotnikov's crew is on fourth position, Nikolaev's crew is sixth, Mardeev's crew is eighth, Anton Shibalov finished the special section eleventh.

Head of KAMAZ-master Vladimir Chagin commented on today's results.

"Vladimir Gennadievich, how has today's stage passed?"

"The weather changed sharply. When we reached the altitude of more than 4.5 kilometers, it was as if we entered the Russian winter. It was snowing, hailing. Ahead, there were slippery winding and therefore very dangerous roads, as there were cliffs and canyons on the right and on the left. Today, it was important to endure and adapt to new conditions, not losing positions. It's impossible to win today – you saw that the participants had arrived at the finish line in one group. Everybody was waiting for the day of rest, but it has welcomed us with the cold weather. But the main thing is that the day has passed for us well. I'm not saying that we've managed to raise some of our positions, but, what's important, we haven't lost them."

"The mountains of the Bolivian Altiplano are a new challenge after the Peruvian sands, aren't they?"

"The altitude has become rather high. It's difficult not only for the vehicles, but for the racers as well. There is a lack of oxygen. The racers can't breathe easily. And the engines suffer too. It's very important to prepare the engines for the highlands. Especially on the Bolivian terrain. And we are definitely happy that the new straight-6 in Dmitry Sotnikov's truck is working well. Hopefully, the motor will go on in the same way in the future."

"What tasks are set for the team on the day of rest?"

"This will be a day of maintenance and repair. We must replace details which can break down in the second part of the race due to late-in-life failures. We should bear in mind that the first stage after the day of rest – from La Paz to Uyuni – is a marathon. So, we have to load our trucks with necessary spare parts, check everything, the assistance team will prepare the vehicles for two days ahead, because they won't have access to the trucks at the bivouac in Uyuni. They will go from La Paz directly to Tupiza."

Dakar-2018. Truck Category. Results of Stage 6

Position

Crew

Country

Truck

Time

Variation

1

Federico Villagra

Ricardo Torlaschi

Adrian Yacopini

Argentina

IVECO

03:22:23

-

2

Martin Kolomy

Jiri Stross

Rostislav Plny

Czech Republic

TATRA

03:25:09

00:02:46

3

Ton van Genugten

Bernard der Kinderen

Peter Willemsen

Netherlands-Belgium

IVECO

03:25:21

00:02:58

4

Dmitry Sotnikov

Ruslan Akhmadeev

Ilnur Mustafin

Russia

KAMAZ

03:26:01

00:03:38

5

Martin Macik

Frantisek Tomasek

Michal Mrkva

Czech Republic

 

LIAZ

04:26:26

00:04:03

6

Eduard Nikolaev

Evgeny Yakovlev

Vladimir Rybakov

Russia

KAMAZ

03:27:48

00:05:25

7

Siarhei Viazovich

Pavel Haranin

Andrei Zhyhulin

Belarus

MAZ

03:28:44

00:06:21

8

Ayrat Mardeev

Aydar Belyaev

Dmitriy Svistunov

Russia

KAMAZ

03:34:47

00:12:24

11

Anton Shibalov

Dmitrii Nikitin

Ivan Romanov

Russia

KAMAZ

03:42:58

00:20:35

12

Aliaksei Vishneuski

Maksim Novikau

Andrei Neviarovich

Belarus

MAZ

03:45:47

00:23:24

14

Artur Ardavichus

Serge Bruynkens

Michel Huisman

Kazakhstan-

Belgium-Netherlands

IVECO

03:48:25

00:26:02

Dakar-2018. Truck Category.  General Classification after Stage 6

Position

Crew

Country

Truck

Time

Variation

1

Eduard Nikolaev

Evgeny Yakovlev

Vladimir Rybakov

Russia

KAMAZ

19:27:27

-

2

Federico Villagra

Ricardo Torlaschi

Adrian Yacopini

Argentina

IVECO

20:20:07

+00:52:40

3

Siarhei Viazovich

Pavel Haranin

Andrei Zhyhulin

Belarus

MAZ

21:52:09

+02:24:42

4

Martin Macik

Frantisek Tomasek

Michal Mrkva

Czech Republic

 

LIAZ

22:41:45

+03:14:18

5

Dmitry Sotnikov

Ruslan Akhmadeev

Ilnur Mustafin

Russia

KAMAZ

23:26:40

+03:59:13

7

Ayrat Mardeev

Aydar Belyaev

Dmitriy Svistunov

Russia

KAMAZ

23:45:41

+04:18:14

8

Ton van Genugten

Bernard der Kinderen

Peter Willemsen

Netherlands-Belgium

IVECO

23:57:26

+04:29:59

9

Artur Ardavichus

Serge Bruynkens

Michel Huisman

Kazakhstan-

Belgium-Netherlands

IVECO

24:11:26

+04:43:59

13

Anton Shibalov

Dmitrii Nikitin

Ivan Romanov

Russia

KAMAZ

26:40:27

+07:13:00

14

Martin Kolomy

Jiri Stross

Rostislav Plny

Czech Republic

TATRA

28:02:30

+08:35:03

15

Aleksandr Vasilevski

Dzmitry Vikhrenka Anton Zaparoshchanka

Belarus

MAZ

30:38:14

+11:10:47

18

Aliaksei Vishneuski

Maksim Novikau

Andrei Neviarovich

Belarus

MAZ

49:43:57

+30:16:30

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