EDUARD NIKOLAEV'S CREW IS FIRST AGAIN

KAMAZ-master's Press Attaché Eric Khayrullin is reporting fr om San Juan de Marcona (Peru),

"A huge sun-drenched beach and hundreds of vehicles on the sand. Exactly like Lac Rose in Senegal. The starting point of Dakar's Stage 4 reminded the racers of this cult and sacred finishing place of the Dakar that had been held in Africa till 2009. The organizers made it a real show having arranged a group start in all categories – the trucks went off in a line by twos. The first to start were Eduard Nikolaev's and Federico Villagra's crews. Although the sand had been loosened by the cars, they both took the maximum pace at once and in a minute they were already hidden in the boiling mirage of the coastal line.

It was no later than yesternight when people began telling that that 330km stage was the most challenging in the Peruvian part of the route.  The racers found it true having left two hundred kilometers of the track behind. The route developers warned with good reason that much would depend on co-drivers. One of traps was waiting for the crews in front of a huge and difficult-to-pass dune at the 227th kilometer of the route. As the road book told, the way point to reach was located on its peak. But, in fact, it was to be "taken" lower, and there was no need to storm this obstacle.  This is largely a matter of chance, and it's often crucial from where this or that crew is running to a way point to take it. Fortunately, Eduard Nikolaev's crew crossed this point almost without delays.

But the rest of the KAMAZ-master racers lost time here. At first, Anton Shibalov stopped to rescue Ayrat Mardeev's trapped truck. They didn't have to pull the truck out with ropes, they just helped to dig under the truck and laid tracks. After that Mardeev's crew drove on. In total, Mardeev's crew lost more than an hour there. The crew running fast from the very beginning faced a technical problem at that – a generator failure. Luckily, in store for them there was a crossing of the track with a paved road (270th km) wh ere it was allowed to arrange a service zone, and the mechanics could help the racing crews there. However, time spent for repair wasn't to be returned back. Mardeev ran on accumulators to that place, and the generator was replaced for nine minutes.

Meanwhile, things were moving in due course at the 227th km. After helping Mardeev's crew, Anton Shibalov had to put Dmitry Sotnikov's truck on the wheels (it should be noted that Sotnikov's crew ran there later than the rest, because he had to replace two wheels at once which had been punched in a narrow mountain gorge. It took more than an hour to put the truck on the wheels.

Generally, it should be noted that Anton Shibalov's crew is coping with their function as an emergency crew flawlessly. By the moment of misadventures at the 227th kilometer, he had been running at the pace of today's top five leaders and all subsequent time losses were connected only with help rendered to the teammates. For the last two days Anton Shibalov have always been in the right time at the right place.

The Russians' rivals weren't lucky either. Almost immediately after the start, Belarusian Siarhei Viazovich's crew stopped: their turbocharger entry was punched. With the help of Aleksandr Vasilevski's crew the problem was solved. Another Belarusian crew of Aleksandr Vasilevski (by the way, it has been ranking third till today in the general classification) has punched a sump and got stuck on the track together with his helper Vasilevski. Artur Ardavichus (IVECO) hit the dune and broke a power steering. The clash was so strong that the handle the co-driver holds on to in the cab was torn off. It became known that yesterday Martin Kolomy lost much time due to a problem with electricity. Today another Czech Ales Loprais has stopped on the track because of technical troubles. According to preliminary information, he faced an engine failure. To give a complete picture of today's continuous apocalypse, it's necessary to add that Martin van den Brink virtually swept the front suspension of his RENAULT. Mechanics tried to help him at the pit stop, but all their labour was in vain. In order to save time, he tried to run on, but stood still 60 kilometers before the finish line.

As a result, the best time at the stage was scored by Eduard Nikolaev. He built up his dominance over his follower in the overall ranking Federico Villagra to 37 minutes. This will work for the next days of the race, first of all, psychologically.

Today, on Wednesday, January 10, the Dakar racers will pass Stage 5 from San Juan de Marcona – Arequipa. This time, the organizers offer the racers two separate, absolutely different routes. Bikes and quads will travel their 770 km, including 264 km of special. Cars and trucks will have to run longer: the total length of the route will be 932 km for them, including 267 km of special. The race will start at daybreak. There will be the sands of Tanaka and 30 or so kilometers of mountain dunes, and then a long road to Arequipa... The organizers warn that there may well be some late arrivals at the bivouac. Good luck to our racers!"

Dakar-2018. Truck Category. Results of Stage 4

Dakar-2018. Truck Category.  General Classification after Stage 4