News

14.11.2016

KAMAZ-MASTER TRUCKS STARTED FOR DAKAR-2017

On 13 November trucks of KAMAZ-master team started out the rally-marathon Dakar-2017".   Traditionally it was preceded by the review of the team on the test track in Tarlovka. Participation in the event was attended by the President of the Republic of Tatarstan - Rustam Minnikhanov.
11.11.2016

PILOT ANDREY KARGINOV TOOK PART IN THE EVENT OF VTB BANK “WORLD WITHOUT TEARS”

The event took place in the Children’s clinical hospital in Perm named after P.I.Pichugin on 10 November 2016. VTB financed the purchase of video gastroscope for diagnostic department for 1 500 000 rur.  
11.11.2016

VLADIMIR CHAGIN IS THE PERSON OF THE YEAR IN MOTORSPORT!

On November, 10 Vladimir Chagin, the project director of Silk Way Rally and director of KAMAZ-master Team, became a winner in the most prestigious nomination within the Russian Motorsport Forum, held these days in motor-racing track Moscow Raceway. He became the person of the year in motorsport. 
11.10.2016

KAMAZ-MASTER ANNOUNCED CREWS FOR RALLIES DAKAR-2017 AND ARFICA ECO RACE-2017.

On the press-conference, that took place in KAMAZ-master team’s sport center on 10th October, the team leader Vladimir Chagin announced the crews that will go to rallies DAKAR-2017 and Africa Eco Race-2017.
23.09.2016

Vladimir Putin met with KAMAZ-Master team and organisers of the 2016 Silk Way Rally.

On September,22 in Kremlin the Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated crews of Airat Mardeev and Dmitry Sotnikov with their win in the Silk Way Rally-2016. On the meeting also were present the Chairman of the Management Committee (CEO) of PJSC Gazprom Alexey Miller and the General Director of PJSC KAMAZ Sergey Kogogin (PJSC Gazprom has become a general partner of the Silk Way Rally for three years. PJSC KAMAZ also was a partner of this project).   
09.09.2016

KAMAZ-MASTER TOOK PART IN MOSCOW INTERNATIONAL MOTOR SHOW

Now Moscow motor fans could see an absolutely new program of synchronic truck drift, the first performance of which was on 30 August in Kazan.  KAMAZ drivers Airat Mardeev and Eduard Nikolaev performed their know-how at Moscow International Motor Show.
31.08.2016

SYNCHRONIC DRIFT AT KAZAN KREMLIN WALLS

On August, 30 KAMAZ-master team took part in Kazan City Racing motor show. The event is traditionally correlated with the “Tatarstan Republic Day” and held at Kazan Kremlin walls. Everyone could come to see demonstration runs and hear sound of real race engines. Despite the rain, a lot of people came to see the show, but to the start of the runs the clouds scattered and the sun dried the pavement and cheered drifters. 
18.08.2016

KAMAZ AND VOLKSWAGEN POLO: CATCH ME IF YOU CAN

Ouninpohja, Finland, - this WRC special section is so impressing that the Scotland rally racer Colin McRae named his horse after it. But recently on that section there was a competition between other horse powers.
09.08.2016

AIRAT MARDEEV TOOK PART IN IX SPORTS FESTIVAL OF VTB

On 6 August 2016 IX Sports Festival of VTB took place on the territory of Locomotive stadium. The regular corporate event collected VTB teams from 7 countries. This year more than 900 sportsmen took part in team and individual competitions. All in all 4000 people visited the event.
25.07.2016

KAMAZ-MASTER TEAM ADDED A COUPLE OF WHITE TIGERS TO THEIR COLLECTION OF BEDUINS AND CAMELS

Crews of Airat Mardeev #306 (1 place) and Dmitry Sotnikov #300 (2 place) got long-desired trophies for their win in the race. Now two bronze white tigers will join the collection of “Blue Armada”. The symbol for the race has a reason behind it. You can meet white tiger in Russia and in China as well. The tiger symbolizes bravery and strong spirit. This symbol inspired and protected sportsmen during the whole adventure.  
23.07.2016

CREW OF AIRAT MARDEEV WINS THE SILK WAY RALLY

Тill the last day of the race it wasn’t clear who would win in the truck category. The 14th stage promised to put the things right. For the final leg the caravan was to go across the desert, endless dangerous dunes. Sportsmen were surprised that the sands spread for 70 km without a single oasis. All the contestants found the stage perfect for the final.
22.07.2016

WITH RENEWED ENERGY TO THE FINISH

KAMAZ-master crews have never been so close to win on the Silk Way Rally. Today, on the 13th leg between Chinese cities Alashan and Wuhai they consolidated their leading positions finishing one by one and showing the best time. Eduard Nikolaev #310 showed the best result of the day. Airat Mardeev #306 was second and Dmitry Sotnikov #300 took the third position. 
22.07.2016

ANDREY KARGINOV TOLD ABOUT HIS DESERT ADVENTURE

Andrey Karginov’s crew № 314 returned to the race only after three stages. You recall that he overturned his truck on the 9thleg in Urumqi.
21.07.2016

KAMAZ-MASTER RETURNS THEIR POSITIONS IN THE SWR

Alashan sands brought good luck to KAMAZ-master team. After a day of emergency delete of SS because of the sand storm, the crews continued the battle with new efforts.
20.07.2016

THE 11TH LEG WAS CANCELLED BECAUSE OF THE SAND STORM

Silk Way Rally authorities had to cancel the 11th leg due to the sandstorm in the Gobi Desert. Strong wind and sand didn’t permit the helicopters to fly.
19.07.2016

ANDREY KARGINOV AND HIS CREW HELP CARS STUCK IN SANDS

Today the special was quite short, only 340 km long. The route Hami-Dunhuang consisted of dirt tracks and caves, sharp stones were the main danger. The temperature was high – around 40 degrees, but lower for 10 degrees than yesterday. At the end of the special the caravan moved up for 2000 metres above sea level - ears even popped on driving.
18.07.2016

The crew of Airat Mardeev celebrates victory, the crew of Andrey Karginov lays in dunes.

After the 9th leg the whole podium in the truck classification was taken by KAMAZ-master crews. Airat Mardeev was first to win challenging dunes and impassibility from Urumchi to Hami at 50 degrees of heat.
17.07.2016

AIRAT MARDEEV: “EVERYTHING WAS THE WAY WE LIKE!”

KAMAZ-master had a difficult day today. The team spent its birthday in the field, travelling from one Chinese city to another. At night in Bortala the time was changed for local (difference with Moscow +5 hours), the sportsmen had to wake up much earlier than usually in order to get on time for the start. The second week is becoming more challenging. Day by day it becomes harder for the contestants to move forward. Racers passed a serious distance 900 km long to get to the bivouac, 256 km of them was a special section.
17.07.2016

Bad luck has befallen the crew of Eduard Nikolaev

The yesterday leader of general classification Eduard Nikolaev #310 descended to the 7th position after the seventh leg. A serious breakdown on the route from Almaty (Kazakhstan) to Bortala (China) made Eduard finish the 21st.
15.07.2016

RUSSIAN-CHINESE CREW UNDERSTANDS EACH OTHER WITHOUT WORDS

Good positions on the Silk Way Rally takes the Russian-Chinese crew that performs on KAMAZ. Pilot Hou Honging, navigator Shen Xin and mechanic Andrey Karginov, well-known for KAMAZ-master fans as an experienced navigator and mechanic, entered the top-ten among trucks. The crew is on the seventh’ position and follows five KAMAZ-master crews and the Martin von den Brink from Mammoet Rallysport Team. 
14.07.2016

DANGEROUS SAKSAUL

Only at 6 a.m. mechanics could finish their work on July, 14. The ”Blue Armada” could leave for the start of the 6th SWR stage right on time. They passed 300 km on usual roads to the special. They went round Lake Balkhash then drove deeper to the steppe. A strong wind raised swirls of dust and roughed up the lake. You could even feel salt on your lips.
13.07.2016

Heat, steppe and attacking sparrows

Race truck of Eduard Nikolaev #310 came to the finish of the SWR stage on a high speed. A black colour of the test bonnet truck was hardly seen under dust and birds’ feathers. Eduard went out of the cab wet as if after a shower and immediately asked for water. 
10.07.2016

A WARM WELCOME AT HOME

The weather strongly influenced the plans of the Silk Way Rally authorities. Because of the heavy rains they had to delete the second special that linked Kazan and Ufa. The rain washed out the road and nobody was sure that the participants would overcome the mud. 
10.07.2016

MERCEDES-BENZ – IN DESERT, MOUNTAINS AND STEPPS

-Speed, adrenaline, big challenges – only reliable vehicles can manage with extreme conditions of races like Dakar and the Silk Way Rally. That is why off-road Mercedes-Benz vehicles, well-known for their reliability in any situations, safety and comfort became an official partner of a famous KAMAZ-master team, the strongest in the race truck category.
09.07.2016

KAMAZ-MASTER ON THE STARTING LINE

The crew of Dmitry Sotnikov (co-pilot Ruslan Akhmadeev and mechanic Ivan Romanov) was first to go to the ceremonial start of the Silk Way Rally on the Red Square which start was given in the evening of 8 July. This right was given to the sportsmen as they won the race with the route Moscow-Astrakhan in 2013. By  the way, 2013 was a lucky year for Sotnikov’s crew. 
08.07.2016

A PANCAKE PARTY

Pilots of KAMAZ-master Eduard Nikolaev and Sébastien Loeb, Stéphane Peterhansel and Cyril Despres from Team Peugeot Total gave a master-class for journalists “how to make pancakes”.
07.07.2016

KAMAZ TRUCKS WERE CHECKED FOR COMBAT READINESS.

KAMAZ-master team finished administrative checks for the Silk Way Rally. After the race trucks were left behind the enclosure on Vasilyevsky Spusk in Moscow. Now pilots will be able to seat at the wheel of their vehicles only several minutes before the start on the Red Square on 8 July. 
05.07.2016

AHEAD FOR TROPHEYS OF THE SILK WAY RALLY!

Today KAMAZ-master crews took the course for Moscow, where the international Silk Way Rally is going to start on Red Square on 8 July.
04.07.2016

ON KAMAZ TO THE UK

This year KAMAZ-master team took part the second time in the Goodwood Festival of Speed. Ayrat Mardeev travelled 4500 km on a race truck! The winner of Dakar 2015 crossed Russia, Finland, Germany, France and the UK at the wheel of 10-tonnage KAMAZ-4326, went down a London street and got a parking ticket.
17.05.2016

TOTAL IS A NEW TECHNICAL PARTNER OF KAMAZ-MASTER TEAM

TOTAL-VOSTOK, a sub-company of Total corporate group delivering lubricants and special liquids to the Russian market, and KAMAZ-master racing team signed a long-term agreement.
17.05.2016

VLADIMIR CHAGIN: “IN THE NEW SEASON WE MUST TEST OUR NEW CONVENTIONAL TRUCK TO THE MAXIMUM”

Almost a year ago KAMAZ-master team introduced a new conventional truck, created on the ground of КАМАZ-4326 chassis. This revolutionary development was motivated by last trend of off-road race discipline development: main rivals of the team, performing on conventional trucks, show its benefits especially on fast special stages of rally-marathons. 
01.05.2016

ANDREY KARGINOV WINS RALLY “GOLD OF KAGAN”

The second stage of Russian Rally-Raid Championship “Gold of Kagan-2016” in Astrakhan region finished. KAMAZ-master crews took first three places in the standings. Andrey Karginov’s crew won in standings in the truck category and among all vehicles. The previous day judges made recalculation of the results and it turned out that Ayrat Mardeev, a leader of all preceding days, got only the second place in the overall. The third position in the standings was taken by Anton Shibalov’s crew.   
29.04.2016

CREW OF AIRAT MARDEEV WINS THE THIRD LEG OF “THE GOLD OF KAGAN-2016”

29 April, Astrakhan. 266-kilometer special sector of the 3rd leg was laid along the right bank of the Volga river. In order to reach the start of the SS contestants passed a 100-km liaison to the north, in the direction of Volgograd. Landscapes of this part are extremely difficult – a strong shaking exhausted crews and were destructive for vehicles. Right steering damper was pulled out on Airat Mardeev’s truck.  However, it didn’t prevent them to become first in the general classification. The crew of Eduard Nikolaev had to reach the finish with broken rear springs and shock absorbers that were torn off on one of the jumps.
29.04.2016

GOLD OF KAGAN-2016. DAY 2.

Two big sand drifts “Africa” and “Big Brother” should mix traditional terrific Astrakhan route of the second race day. However, the planned route had to be corrected during the race. Its length was cut from 280 km to 226 km. And unfortunately the reasons were not very positive.  All sportsmen were still on the track when the race officials announced that the race finished on “Africa” sector because of the incident on “Big Brother” sand drift. One spectator got under wheels of MAZ #307 on “Big Brother” and broke his arm. He was helicoptered to the hospital. The race director Vladimir Korolev also told that the day results would be tabulated till “Africa” sand drift, because the race went well before that point.
28.04.2016

BONNET TRUCK AND INTERNATIONAL CREW: KAMAZ-MASTER ON GOLD OF KAGAN-2016

The second stage of Russian Rally-Raid Championship “Gold of Kagan-2016” started On April, 27 in Astrakhan. KAMAZ-master traditionally refers to this race as to the beginning of a new sport season. 
07.04.2016

KAMAZ-MASTER TEAM PREPARES SURPRISES FOR GOLD OF KAGAN-2016

KAMAZ-master team has prepared two sensational news for the start of the second round of the Russian Championship for cross-country rallies “Gold of Kagan-2016” in Astrakhan, 27 April. Russian-Chinese crew, long-awaited start of KAMAZ bonnet truck and other news were discussed with the leader of KAMAZ-master and the SWR-project director Vladimir Chagin.
18.03.2016

KAMAZ-MASTER TEAM TOOK PART IN THE VTB-BANK CONFERENCE FOR CLIENTS

On 17 March the tenth international conference for clients “Move to Success. Be Ahead of the Time. Cancel the Distance." was organized by VTB-bank in Kazan.
12.02.2016

Vladimir Putin meets members of KAMAZ-master team.

On 12 February the Russian President Vladimir Putin during his trip to Tatarstan visited KAMAZ plant and congratulated employees and veterans of the company with the 40th anniversary of the first KAMAZ vehicle production.
17.01.2016

Airat Mardeev and his crew get silver medals on Dakar 2016.

The task of the last SS Villa Carlos Paz - Rosario was to stay concentrated from start to finish. Not a single incident could prevent the participants from keeping their positions in the race and reach the finish line. All the sportsmen were extremely careful on the short and fast timed section of 180 km long. Making a huge loop on the South American continent, the Dakar Rally came back to Rosario. 
16.01.2016

Dakar 2016 is on the final straight

Villa Carlos Paz, 15 January
15.01.2016

Airat Mardeev: “It is important to preserve a status quo until the end of the race”.

San Juan, 14 January  “From start to finish it was a good special section, where good driving skills were essential. There was traditional for the area fesh-fesh and dangerous for wheels thorny bushes. Today we set a goal to keep the second position in the general classification, the gap between us and Villagra is not very big. We realize that on last two stages, which are more like fast classical rally routes, the Argentinian will drive fast. Also, Cordoba is a familiar place to him. Therefore, it is important to use the challenging and usual for us stage to increase the gap and preserve a status quo.
14.01.2016

De Roy increases the gap, Mardeev starts the ‘chasing’ race.

La Rioja,13 January Start of the 10th stage of Dakar Rally was promising for Russian rally viewers. After yesterday’s stage the gap in the standings between .the Netherlander Gerard de Rooy and Eduard Nikolaev, following him, was 27 min. In order to make it more entertaining, start of today’s stage was organized the following way: the start was given to first 10 motor riders together, then – to the first ten car drivers and later to the first five best trucks.  
13.01.2016

A short road in dunes

Belen, 12 January Dakar Rally organizers had to cut today’s 285 kilometer loop of the special section Belen-Belen. Intense heat was the reason of heat stroke of many race participants. 
12.01.2016

Gerard de Rooy wins his first sand stage on Dakar

Belen, 11 January By the start of the 8th rally stage, there were 47 trucks from 55 started on 2 January in Buenos-Aires. That is an excellent statistics. Earlier after the rest day the percentage of participants, who ended the race due to technical problems, was higher. It proves again that the route of the first half was less harsh for people and their vehicles. 
11.01.2016

Africa Eco Race – Finish at Lake Retba!

Today the liaison of 230 km long awaited for the crews. The route went along picturesque villages of Senegal, on the road between huge baobabs.
11.01.2016

Dakar 2016: The blue armada forces the pace.

Salta, 10 January In the end of the first part of Dakar 2016 “KAMAZ-master” team seems to have got its act together after the onslaught of their rivals. The rally-marathon turned to have an unexpected fast start. On January, 9 the race left Bolivia. Eduard Nikolaev was the best on the stage Uyuni – Salta. Airat Mardeev showed the second time.
10.01.2016

The Second win of E.Nikolaev on Dakar 2016.

The seventh stage of Dakar Rally 2016 finished in Argentina on January, 9. The participants came to Salta, where they would have a rest day.  
10.01.2016

Crew of Anton Shibalov are winners in Africa Eco Race 2016!

On 9 January the 11th stage of Africa Eco Race took place. It was the last stage counted in the standings. The previous day the team faced with technical problems of Kuprianov’s truck (#403). The repair continued until morning. It was a time-consuming process, but the truck was ready to the start. 
09.01.2016

Stage uyuni – Uyuni: Hans Stacey returns the lead in the general classification

Uyuni, 8 January The 8th January became the last day of Dakar in Bolivia. Tomorrow the caravan will go to the south, back to Argentina. Citizens of Bolivia welcomed heartily the sportsmen. Springs of people were standing along the roads, greeting them. 
09.01.2016

Africa Eco Race - Stage 10 - Difficulties go on.

Sergey Savostin, the leader of “KAMAZ-master” team in Africa: It was a challenging stage yesterday. Unfortunately, technical problems didn’t pass us by. Engine clutch of Sergey Kuprianov’s truck couldn’t stand hard usage conditions.
08.01.2016

Africa Eco Race-Stage 9 – misfortune and mutual aid.

We thought we had a hard day yesterday… We were mistaken again! The race stated quite well. At the beginning of the special the crews passed dunes together and successfully, though a number of cars fell into sandy traps.
07.01.2016

Dakar 2016: determined rivals of “KAMAZ-master”.

“It will not rain today,” – said confidently Stéphane Le Bail, a famous developer of rally routes and road books, passing by “KAMAZ-master” bivouac. The Frenchman points to the mountain ridges, where today’s stage is laid and stormy clouds are really much lower than sun-drenched tops.
07.01.2016

Africa Eco Race – stage 8, the challenge increases!

Today the race organizers prepared a hard stage for the participants. Assistance didn’t move, the route was circular. We were joking n the morning: why lunch was prepared only for assistance on the bivouac, not for racers? The track was only 387 km, we could easily finish by lunch! But it was not to be… Starting from the very centre of the Mauritanian village, where local people surrounded us, sailing knick-knackery, the race track led us to big rocky ridges. Only for 160 km the sportsmen had to drive round big and medium rocks and stones at the low speed. 
06.01.2016

Dakar Rally is poured down with rain.

San Salvador de Jujuy, 5 January Once again the fourth day of Dakar changed plans of the organizers and the sportsmen. Due to heavy rains the race director Etienne Lavigne decided yesterday to shorten today’s special for car and truck categories from 314 km to 190 km. Trucks started at 12:58, but just at 13:16 the race authorities informed about the special shortening because of bad weather conditions and impossibility for trucks to go.on. However, on bivouac nobody could tell exactly from what point the results will be counted.
05.01.2016

Africa Eco Race. Stage 7 was a hard “working” leg.

After yesterday’s fast and comfortable special section, race organizers prepared a big and difficult day for the sportsmen. Everyone –pilots, co-pilots and mechanics - had to work hard. Not high but insidious and cragged dunes interchanged with ‘taxiways’ among vegetation and big plateaus.
05.01.2016

Vladimir Chagin:”The more serious the rivalry, the more interesting the fight is”.

On the third day after the start in Buenos-Aires caravan of Dakar Rally 2016 reached Termas de Rio Hondo, a place known for its healing thermal springs and the route for the World Moto Racing Championship. Yesterday the sportsmen looked like seamen without sails catching breeze, because due to well-known reasons the first real sports day was only today. As a reminder, the prologue of Dakar 2016 didn’t happen because of the accident, on 3 January the special section was neutralized due to heavy rains, which had washed out the route.
04.01.2016

Caravan of Africa Eco Race successfully reached Mauritania.

Today in the early morning crews and assistance trucks left bivouac in Dakhla. We had to cross the border of Morocco /Mauritania, which had stretched on late last time and the stage had been neutralized. What was our surprise at finding that the formalities at the two  borders took us not more than 40 minutes, rather than 6 hours as last year. 
03.01.2016

Dakar 2016 has started in Buenos-Aires

 2 January, Buenos-Aires. Russian “KAMAZ-master” team started on Dakar Rally 2016 in Buenos-Aires on 2 January. The start ceremony took place on the territory of a specialized exhibition “Technopolis” near the capital of Argentina.
02.01.2016

Africa Eco Race: Super-fast Special Stage before a Rest Day.

Seeing a starting bulletin for today, we were very surprised. Taking into consideration the kilometrage of the special stage and liaison (454+240), one might expect an early start. But organizers set a start of the first vehicle only at 9. However, on the route we realized the reason.
01.01.2016

Africa Eco Race: the Day of a Tyre Fitter.

Stones, stones, stones, a lot of stones and punched wheels – this is the 4th day in Africa. It was almost impossible to save tyres. Anton Shibalov’s crew had the third win of the special stage today. His truck got two flats, Anton had one wheel changed, and he managed to endure to the finish with the second one. Hybrid KAMAZ of Sergey Kuprianov (the 3rd position) had to stop four times on the special stage. 
01.01.2016

“KAMAZ-master” team passed all the technical and administrative checks on Dakar 2016

31 December, Buenos-Aires On January 2 the start of the 38th Dakar Rally will be given in Buenos-Aires. By the morning of 31 December “KAMAZ-master” team, flying to the race in groups, reached the capital of Argentina. All the day was spent in technical and maintenance preparatory works, as the next morning our sportsmen were expected to pass administrative and technical checks. The checks are obligatory before the race. Sportsmen have to go through a number of all tests and other procedures, from taking photos of contestants and assembly of navigation tracking tools, to checks of race vehicles conformity to the race technical regulations – more than ten stages in general. 
01.01.2016

Africa Eco Race: the challenge increases!

The length of special stages in Africa increases, there are more dunes and sand. Today the route was 450 km long, one third of which consisted of sand elements – tough beds of dried-up rivers, high and small dunes. Approximately one fourth were stony roads, passes, blind creeks. The rest of the route had fast ground roads with hard surface. There also were plenty of holes and bumps on them. Crews were shaking in cabs for five hours and a half, but came satisfied to the finish. We spent the day in one breath, without failures and problems, but constant change of the route type kept us on our toes.
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