Africa Race. Today the longest section of a marathon

Yesterday, for a special stage of a length of 320 kilometers organizers gave 8 hours, but then increased the maximum passing time for one hour. By 19:25 local time, only 18 competitors reached the finish line.

Our compatriot Anton Grigorov arrived to finish second in auto category. At the beginning of high-speed section his power steering got out of order. And there was the longest section of the marathon in 2013 ahead.

Sergey Mishin, co-pilot of the crew № 233: Sand is very loose; you sink into it immediately, as in the snow. Yesterday we had problems with power steering and hydraulic jack. We had to dig out a lot. Machine is a great thing, but man is steadier. Here everything is simple: you can go ahead, good luck to you, but if you can’t - dig, there is no way out. Here in Africa in 2005 there was a stage when we were digging 8 hours, but we arrived at the bivouac, with a big penalization, but we started next morning. Marius Salkans at the 7th stage took out stuck jeeps, and then, not far from the finish of the SS got stopped without fuel; he had very big fuel consumption. Yesterday, he finished after the specified time for 7 minutes. But he could reach the finish! This is a race and it has its own laws. If you stuck, it is meaningless to feel sorry for yourself; you must get out by all possible and impossible ways. Here is how yours got out of dunes yesterday.

Anton Grigorov, pilot of the crew № 233: We have a good team, well organized, everything is clear and optimistic. The most important is the attitude, it is important to understand that it will be difficult, and it is necessary to cope with the difficulties. It is necessary realistically estimate the forces, situation, track. Pay more attention to reality, less to conventions. Even if there are figures in classification; then everything will be Ok. Certainly, we don't forget about figures, we try to improve the result, but we think of it after the finish. On the track there is something to think about. Semen Yakubov is right - moving at your own pace, you win more and more reliable than if you want to overtake everybody. Today organizers promise a very difficult stage, but we know that coming on the road, we will move to the finish.

It is very easy to say. In my opinion, nobody of those who is present here feels himself neither hero nor a superman. All the people here we are talking about resemble, they are ready to move forward, to come to help to each other, to share water and experience. These people at the bivouac, dusty, tired understand about life, something that is not available in the urban jungle.

Svetlana Klimova