6 January, Lima
The start of rally “Dakar-2018” was held on 6 January in the capital of Peru - Lima. The sports director of the race Marc Coma promised before the start: “The return to Peru gave us an opportunity to explore new unknown territories. The contestants are awaited by various sand landscapes of the country, which set the highest bar of mastery for the race participants from the very start of the rally. Bolivian part, the menu of which includes staggering on beauty landscapes, is traditionally demanding to the physical preparation of the participants and tests adventure seekers on endurance to the full. But the decisive stages will await the contestants in Argentina, where Dakar with the stage Super Fiambala will reach its most difficult part.” In order to check words of a five-time winner of Dakar, 337 crews from 54 countries set out on a journey more than 8000 kilometers in length. The attention of Russians will be grabbed by the performance of KAMAZ-master Team. Apart from the “Blue Armada” in the car category of the race there are two Russian crews of Sergey and Ivan Shikhotarovs, and in the quad category one more Russian will fight for victory – the current champion of the category Sergey Karyakin.
Despite the heat of the day a huge crowd of spectators, taking up the whole San Borja Norte District, gathered to see off the brave sportsmen to the long and dangerous way. Dakar already was in Lima in 2012 and 2013, and apparently, taking into consideration traffic on the streets of the Peruvian capital and remembering start traffic jams in 2013, the organizers decided to sacrifice the picturesque view of the Pacific coast and moved the podium closer to the city exit. The fans greeted warmly Russian KAMAZ trucks. Appearance of high-powered bright trucks of the “Blue Armada” always cause storm of emotions and delight.
The crews had an opportunity to enjoy views of the ocean on 241-kilometer liaison to Pisco, where was held the first special of the race. The Peruvian part of famous Pan-American Highway brought the caravan to a short 31-kilometer speed section. Gathered fans were not disappointed in their expectations. Tough sands with unpleasant careens and ledges allowed experienced sandy aces show first-rate pilotage, but at the same time they became a problem for novelties. So that some of them managed to brake their cars completely. The problem was also that due to the high sun and shadelessness, dunes visually merged in one sandy mass and it was difficult to estimate the depth of holes and sharpness of dune tops. A mistake of speed selection was reason of at least painful pokes that could bend a rod. In the worst case it could finish in fall from a dune. The special was quite short and of course the results at the finish were quite close. At the finishing gate there even was a kind of a traffic jam of race trucks.Surprisingly, the crew of the Argentinian Federico Villagra lost today more than 16 minutes probably due to a navigation mistake. Not less experienced Artur Ardavichus, not taking one of heaves on the fly, had to move back and overcame the rise only at the second time. As a result the Kazakh lost almost five minutes to the Czech Ales Loprais (TATRA) who showed the best time today. KAMAZ-master crews took a reasonable decision to be accurate – the crew of Eduard Nikolaev was third (+0min29sec), the crew of Anton Shibalov was fifth(+1min18sec), the crew of Dmitry Sotnikov was seventh (+1min48sec), the crew of Airat Mardeev was eigth (+2min11sec).
Quotations
Airat Mardeev (KAMAZ-master, pilot, crew #507): “In 2013 we already started here therefore this section was a bit familiar for us. Seldom in my 9-year career there were so difficult start specials. It was short but you could find adventures on it. But we traditionally start a race quite accurately. Our crew seldom shows a result better than 7th place. Moreover today there were a lot of tracks of local spectators’ cars and it was quite easy to make a mistake and not take a way point.”
Anton Shibalov (KAMAZ-master, pilot, crew #515): “It wasn’t a prologue but a full special, which the race officials usually make in the second half or closer to the middle of the race when the crews already “roll into” the race. The sand was quite tricky. There also were dangerous places. There were a lot of steep-sided dunes where one could jump out with consequences. Therefore we decided that it was better to play safe and pass the stage without risking in vain.
Information. Rally “Dakar-2018” in numbers.
The length of the route is more than 8700 kilometers, including 4154 kilometers of speed sections, 14 stages
337 crews at the start: 105 cars/42 trucks/ 190 motorbikes and quads from 54 countries
7 stages are laid in sand dunes
5 days the race will go at the height of more than 3000 meters above sea level
The race route 2018 includes a marathon stage: between La Pas and Tupiza (7 and 8 stages) contestants of all categories will have to do without technical assistance
TRUCKS. 1ST STAGE
1 A. LOPRAIS (TATRA) 00:25:15
2.M. VAN DEN BRINK (RENAULT TRUCKS) +00:00:22
3. E. NIKOLAEV (KAMAZ) +00:00:29
4.T. VAN GENUGTEN (IVECO)+ 00:01:11
5. A. SHIBALOV (KAMAZ) +00:01:18
6. S. VIAZOVICH (MAZ) +00:01:46
7. D. SOTNIKOV (KAMAZ) +00:01:48
8. A. MARDEEV (KAMAZ) +00:02:11
9. M. KOLOMY (TATRA) +00:02:25
10. A. VISHNEUSKI (MAZ)+00:02:50
11. A. VASILEVSKI (MAZ) +00:03:05
12. T. SUGAWARA (HINO +00:03:23
13. G. HUZINK (RENAULT) +00:03:24
14. M. VAN DEN HEUVEL (SCANIA) +00:04:03
15. M. MACIK (LIAZ) +00:04:23
16. A. ARDAVICHUS (IVECO) +00:04:55
17. S. ROTSAERT (MAN) +00:08:47
18. R. DE GROOT (DAF) +00:08:52
19. J. VAN KASTEREN (RENAULT TRUCKS) + 00:09:57
20. P. SABATE (MERCEDES) + 00:16:13
21. F. VILLAGRA (IVECO) +00:16:37
22.D. INGELS (MAN)+ 00:16:39
23. Y. SUGAWARA (HINO)+00:16:53
24. E. WIGMAN (GINAF ) +00:17:33
25. M. SOLTYS (TATRA)+00:21:04
26.J. JUVANTENY (MAN ) +00:24:45
27.M. BEHRINGER (MAN)+00:30:09
28.A. KADSHAI (DAF)+00:43:23
29.S. BESNARD (MAN)+00:43:58
30. R. GONZALEZ (DAF) +00:49:43
31. P. VRNAK (TATRA)+00:55:00
32.R. RANDYSEK (MAN) +01:06:31
33.N. MONTECCHIO (MERCEDES)+01:17:26
34.P. CALABRIA (MERCEDES) + 01:17:34
35.A. CABINI (MERCEDES) +01:18:02
36. M. SAUMET (MAN)+01:42:12
37. A. BENBEKHTI (MAN) +01:47:59
38.J. COCKBURN (MAN) +02:02:52
39.S. LACOURT (MAN)+02:29:04
40.M. BOUCOU (DAF)+02:40:11
41.A. HERRERO (MERCEDES)+3:33:51
