Africa Race. Evgeniy Yakovlev: we had three options

08.01.13 Bivouac Koba

At the start there was a trouble at Anton Grigorov's crew - 10 minutes before the start power steering got out of order, they managed to repair it in 35 minutes and they start with a delay less than half an hour, according to the regulations that do not lead to serious penalization. However, this trouble cost to Anton two lines in the classification. Otherwise start passed without incident; the racers were very careful at the stage, already having wholly taken unpredictability of African race. Crews moved to the finish persistently and stubbornly, it's the final stage, which could be decisive. Belgian Van Kauvenberg (№ 204) with a time 2:41:04 became today first in auto category, Schlesser second with lag from the leader of 6 minutes 38 seconds, the third - Yves Fromon 2:49:28. The "KAMAZ-master" crew is a leader in trucks category with result of 2:57:03, the second is Tomecek with the lag of 10 minutes 6 seconds and the third is Kovacs on Scania - 3:12:00.

After the interview and congratulations we moved forward the liaison to Senegal. When we were leaving Nouakchott, the staff of the Russian Embassy in Mauritania met the team with congratulations.

Evgeniy Yakovlev, the co-pilot of the crew №401: "The track today is very similar to Astrakhan; it is sandy, a little bumpy, twisting, with vegetation, camel thorn everywhere. Quiet and high-speed. At one section in dunes, suddenly round the bend, almost on the track there was a civil motorcycle, without any number plate, of course. We had three options: either to lie down sideways or crush the bike, or drive on the dune. We chose the third one. We lost two minutes on it while trying to drive round. He was in a very inconvenient place and does not go away, he was trying to take a picture; we tried to explain to him that he had to go from the route, we were gesticulating... One jeep overtook us here. For jeeps it is easier to do so, and we can't do the same either we will lie down sideways or dig. But everything was OK we could drive round. The stage was quiet calm, in race mode. Liaison was beautiful in Senegal, finally vegetation appeared, and there was something interesting to see. "

So, the last sports day is over. It did not bring disappointment to "KAMAZ-master" team. For the first time the crew was happy when got out from the car. We could say that an important task imposed on the shoulders of young guys was accomplished. The results exceeded expectations: we are the first in the trucks category, we are the second in the overall, and our car is in excellent condition, tomorrow Pink Lake, the first for eight of the twelve "Africans."

Svetlana Klimova