EVERY SECOND COUNTS

KAMAZ-master's Press Attaché Eric Khayrullin is reporting from San Juan (Argentina),

"There are two specials similar to yesterday's section on the 13th day of the 2018 Dakar: 288 kilometers and 234 kilometers long, and 88 kilometers of "neutralization" between them. There are riverbeds in which it is sometimes difficult to drive, some low dunes, fesh-fesh, stones and a trial. For the participants, the stage Chilecito – San Juan is, perhaps, the last opportunity to avail themselves of off-road in order to somehow improve their positions in the general classification. Indeed, later, on the last two days of the race on the pampas as flat as a table to Córdoba, they will run on high-speed rally straight roads wh ere all participants will be equally fast, and it won't be possible to win back time. It will especially be difficult for KAMAZ's Eduard Nikolaev. Now hundreds of thousands of fans' attention is locked on confrontation Nikolaev vs Villagra. Being a sevenfold winner of the Argentinian National Championship for Classical Rally, Argentinian Federico Villagra, aka El Coyote, knows local tracks like the back of his hand. Of course, much depends on good luck in rally raids. And both the Russians and the Argentinian haven't been so lucky today. Dame Fortune probably decided to keep up the suspense till the very finish.

At the beginning of the "neutralization" zone, the assistance teams unfolded service sites permitted by the organizers. They had to replace a right front final drive in Nikolaev's truck. Previously, a stone flew off and damaged an air system pressure regulator valve on the track of the special. A working regulator was taken from Dmitry Sotnikov's truck (it should recalled that he performs functions of an emergency truck after yesterday's withdrawal of Anton Shibalov's crew). It took donor Dmitry Sotnikov almost 4 hours to restore the broken air system pressure regulator valve. Another KAMAZ racer Ayrat Mardeev was forced to stop on the track due to wheel replacement.

Federico Villagra faced problems with electronic systems in his truck, and also stopped to replace a wheel. Whether he has done it innocently or deliberately – today the Argentinian has refueled his truck from an assistance truck in the neutralization zone, which is prohibited by the regulations of the competition. An advantage gained illegitimately is that the Argentinian's half-fueled truck in the first half of the distance was by almost half a tonne lighter and, consequently, faster than other trucks which had been fueled at the start line reckoning the fuel volume for the entire route. We'll see how the racing commissioners will react to this violation.

Meanwhile, the drama and intensity of the battle among trucks is seen in the general classification topped by Eduard Nikolaev's crew. 1 second! No more, no less! 1 second after 7,518 kilometers of travel separates Nikolaev and Villagra.

There is also a serious struggle among the contenders for third place. Despite the fact that experienced Siarhei Viazovich (MAZ) became a fixture there, the Dakar bronze can technically go to Ayrat Mardeev (KAMAZ-master), Artur Ardavichus (IVECO), and Ton van Genugten (IVECO). Usually provident and cautious Dutchman Genugten surprised everybody at this Dakar – his style became aggressive and pushy. He has run to the finish of the second SS on three wheels today.

Eduard Nikolaev, Pilot of Crew 500, "A second of variation in the "general". It has never happened within my knowledge. I remember though how Andrey Karginov took minutes from de Rooy, but they were minutes. I thought we would take more from Villagra today, but he is very fast. As luck would have it, our pnuematic system broke. The air was coming out of the system. We even knocked on the faulty valve, tried different things. As a result, Dmitry Sotnikov helped us out. We took a detail from his truck. Then we had to replace a side gear system, a consequence of the main gear system's failure at the previous stage and subsequent long run on a lock. But this was already at a pit stop in the neutralization zone, therefore, fortunately, this repair wasn't counted against our time."

Dmitriy Svistunov, Mechanic of Ayrat Mardeev's Crew 507, "We drove to Eduard Nikolaev, he had a problem with pneumatics, we helped him to solve it, having waited for Dmitry Sotnikov's truck, we drove several kilometers and got a flat tire. We replaced it in a riverbed. We lost about 9 minutes to replace it.

Ruslan Akhmadeev, Co-Driver of Dmitry Sotnikov's Crew 502, "Sometimes it's very important to appear in the right place at the right time. Today we've helped Eduard Nikolaev's crew. We took a necessary part of the pneumatic system from our truck. The whole team is currently working on our common result. As for navigation, it has been challenging today. Many traces, many riverbeds. And, to add to this, pilots should have been careful in order not to pierce tires with dry branches and not to cut wheels with sharp rocks."

Today, on January 19, the Dakar will have the penultimate, 13th stage San Juan – Córdoba. The trucks will run 927 km, including 368 km of special. The route will partially be laid on roads like a classical rally, but there will also be a few sand dunes and a little fesh-fesh. The organizers warn about difficulties of the stage: "But there is still more to be lost than gained at this point. Throughout the history of the Dakar, many a competitor has been known to let the title slip through their fingers the day before the finish!" Good luck to our racers!"

Dakar-2018. Truck Category. Results of Stage 7

 Dakar-2018. Truck Category.  General Classification after Stage 11