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.
Eduard Nikolaev also did a great job on the final stage today with the length of 245 km. The new bonnet truck finally showed its speed, flexibility and reliability, that everyone was looking forward to. Nikolaev’s crew was first today with the lead of almost 10 min from Andrey Karginov, who was second. Though, Ayrat Mardeev’s crew stopped to help to right the overturned vehicle of Evgeny Firsov and Konstantin Zhiltsov.
On the final meeting of the team Vladimir Chagin said about international KAMAZ crew Hongning-Xin-Mokeev, who became a part of top-10 and took the fifth position in the truck category.
Ayrat Mardeev, #301, pilot: “At first everything was ok, we were driving, then Evgeny Firsov overturned and we stopped, to get the guys out of the cab and put it back on the wheels. Their position was dangerous – they overturned behind the hill and on the road. We spent 8 min on it and drove further. Before the finish we got a bit lost, did a loop of extra 10 km. The speed was good, we were driving well. The result did not change much, we kept our position. First three places were taken by KAMAZ as among trucks so in overall – you couldn’t wish for anything better.”
Eduard Nikolaev, #300, pilot: “Today we drove in a stable way, without technical problems. From the very start to finish the route was interesting for our new truck. There were neither navigation mistakes nor technical problems with the truck. We were driving fast. Our main aim was to compare our new model with the “previous generation” of trucks, to see the difference in speed and in general and to put a mark after the competition in general. Coming home we will make the analysis. The route was challenging, intense and at the same time fast and dangerous. At first it looks like a straight road, but there are hills and after the hills there are dangerous places like ravines, deep holes, where one can make a mistake like Evgeny Firsov’s crew today. Fortunately, today our navigator dictated well. All was good.”
Andrey Karginov, #302, pilot: “Today our aims were to show a good result and drive at our own speed. We drove as fast as we could and tried to save our truck. We could drive faster but then it would be risky and that is impossible for us. We tried to drive fast and safe. We caught up with Anton, outran him, he let go. Twice we went off the course, but anyway came first to the finish line. I was surprised to see Ayrat Mardeev behind because he started before us - he was first in the overall. We did not see any prints and thought we were driving in the wrong direction, but Sasha Kuprianov said that we were going in the right course. It is quite unusual do drive with a new co-pilot. We drove with Andrey Mokeev for a long time, we teamed up very well. Sasha has the same “school” as our navigators, therefore, behavior and dictation is very similar. Today in a couple places we went in a wrong direction after jeeps, though my navigator insistently told me that we were driving not in the right course. Sasha turned out more experienced than our competitors and navigators of jeeps. He just needs to be a bit more insistent and confident. I think, he has a promising future!”
Hou Hongning, #305, pilot: “Competitions in China look like Russian ones. But there is one difference – in Russia truck category is very popular, in China it is not so popular yet. That is one of the reasons why I’m grateful for KAMAZ-master – for opportunity to drive their truck and take part in such a competition – there’s nothing like that in China. At first I had to get used to the route a bit, but basic things were familiar. We didn’t have any especial questions, in the internal Mongolia in China terrain is similar. Of course, there is some difference: it is the first time I meet such a difficult route, like in Astrakhan. There are sands, hard surfaces, solonchacks, holes, where you can’t see anything because of the grass. Sands were not difficult for me, I am in my element there”.
Vladimir Chagin, leader of KAMAZ-master team: “A successful final of the competition for the team, good results. I can also put a high mark for our new developed truck. It allows to drive in a good speed. After tests within the competition we know what further developments need to be done. Performance of the Russian-Chinese crew was very good. Only several days ago the driver Hou Hongning was first time at the wheel of KAMAZ, but he is skilled and very talented. He can listen and accept the information, and he is a quick-learner. Andrey Mokeev, a mechanic of the crew, spent a lot of time to prepare this crew. Also Ayrat Mardeev tutored the Chinese driver. The most important is that they came to bivouac every day and they had a small list of works. The pilot treated the truck very carefully, there were no stops on the route and failures in the truck. I can give a high assessment to the work of the crew. We will carry out several trainings in July before the start of Silk Way Rally. I’m sure that Russian-Chinese crew will show a good performance on the Moscow-Beijing route.”
