Dakar 2013. KAMAZ-master is ready to start

04.01.2013

January 3, Lima. The landing of a huge "Airbus" in airport of Lima could not be called soft. After the first hard contact with the land our plane dangerously jumped and only after that by all wheels it firmly rolled down the takeoff runway. "I wonder what his suspension travel will be." - asked somebody very loudly. The cabin was filled only with Dakar public, moreover with competitors of trucks category. It is clear that the joke about suspension travel was appreciated by these passengers: loud international laughter blended into aircraft noise. Dakar 2013 began.

Towards morning of January 2, "KAMAZ-master" team flying to the race by two groups safely gathered in Lima. Peruvian capital for the second time welcomes competitors of Dakar. But if last year the race finished in Lima, this time the organizers decided to organize the start there. Village of Dakar is located near Magdalena along the narrow strip of beach, between overhanging sandy cliffs and the wild waves of the Pacific Ocean. The territory bedizened with flags, the music and welcome speeches, amplified by speakers put spirit into rather gloomy local landscape.

The day before the technical and administrative checks passed in the preparatory works. All potential rivals visited the bivouac of the team. Gerard De Rooy had a long talk with Vladimir Chagin, Ales Loprais, also came to us, especially as the bivouac of the Czech team is located close to KAMAZ. Nimble mechanics from the Japanese team Hino organized even a photo session of Russian "KAMAZ" especially they were interested in the technical aspect of the issue. January 3, our sportsmen had administrative and technical checks. These checks are compulsory before the race, and represent a number of various controls and other procedures, ranging from photography of competitors and installation of navigation equipment to the check of the racing car conformity with technical regulations of the race - in total more than ten stages.

Commissioners are strict, but they are rather friendly, because many of them have worked on Silk Way Rally many times and became friends with Russians. By the way, it is not an overstatement to say that the Russian race became a powerful international sports brand: the commissioners, and the sportsmen and journalists are waiting impatiently announcement of Silk Way Rally 2013 dates.

One of the important innovations of the year in trucks category is the installation by organizers of special belts for suspension travel restriction within the allowed by regulations values. Each belt is sealed after installation. The seal stripped during the special stage or broken belt will be punished by a penalty. This is a compulsory measure, but it will force all competitors to play by the same rules. A hard day is behind. "KAMAZ-master" team successfully passed all technical and administrative checks and is ready for the start, which will be held on January 5.

Eric Khayrullin, Press Attaché of the team