Following the final special stage of the race, the KAMAZ-master pilot Dmitry Sotnikov (co-pilot Sergey Krenev, mechanic Ilgiz Akhmetzyanov) took victory, moving up from third to first in the overall standings. Eduard Nikolaev’s second place finish gave the KAMAZ team a one-two victory.
Before the final 220-kilometer stage in the Samara Region, the T5 truck classification was at its height: Eduard Nikolaev was in the lead, but at a disadvantage as he had to open the race for his competitors, Dmitry Sotnikov and Sergey Vyazovich. Meanwhile, the MAZ-SPORTavto leader was only half a minute behind Nikolaev and the same amount ahead of Sotnikov.
By the 69 kilometer of the stage, the virtual standings had flipped: Sotnikov was in the lead, Vyazovich was 13 seconds behind, and Nikolaev was 14 seconds behind. The next checkpoint at 105 kilometer, confirmed the trend: Sotnikov was increasing his lead over the MAZ driver, while Nikolaev, having let his teammate pass him on the track, still held out hope of counterattacking Vyazovich for second place.
And then came the denouenement: in a desperate attempt to hold on to Sotnikov, Vyazovich crashed, his truck overturning. Fortunately, the MAZ crew was unharmed. After this, Sotnikov effectively secured victory, and Nikolaev, despite a broken fan blade, secured the second place. However, the KAMAZ pilots, like all other competitors, had to worry about their vehicles: due to the abundance of grass and the heavy loads, the brakers of their vehicles were on the verge of burning out. However, both Sotnikov and Nikolaev managed to secure the finish-first and second place for the KAMAZ-master team!
MAZ representative Vitaly Murylev finished third in overall standings, while another the KAMAZ-master pilot, Dmitry Avdeev, climbed from seventh to fourth place on the final day of competition. Unfortunately, Almaz Akhmedov did not complete the final special stage due to engine problems.
Eduard Nikolaev, the Head of the team, pilot of crew N303: "I'd like to congratulate our entire KAMAZ-master team on this excellent result. I'd also like to congratulate our KAMAZ plant, fans, and partners on this hard-won victory. I'm very pleased with the team's results. It was an intense, interesting, and exciting race. Right up until the last day, we were fighting for seconds, and I'm very happy for Dmitry Sotnikov's crew. I was very pleased with how they cleared the road yesterday, and they did a great job today. We went the wrong way at one point, knowing we'd only get in Dima's way, so we let him pass and worked hard for the team's result. From then on, we drove together. Then we noticed that the fan blades had broken while crossing the ford. We just drove the rest of the way. Today was a very difficult stage for the brakes. We stop right after the finish, and it is better to have some extra time to cool the brakes. The rear brake pads caught fire, but luckily we managed to put it out. Only after the finish did we learn that Sergey Vyazovich had flipped over. Everyone was taking risks on the last day, and Sergey was unlucky-he must have made a mistake somewhere. Thank good ness the crew is okay. Our two crews finished the first and the second. We had hoped for Almaz Akhmedov to finish, but unfortunately, engine problems prevented Almaz from finishing. Two and a half kilometer from the finish, Almaz stopped; the engine would not allow him to go any further. We will see what is going on with the engine when we get home. We are systematically working to improve the engines, and any competition is a test. It is a shame the engine did not make it, but the crew is not upset; the guys have a great future ahead of them. Bronze will go to Belarus, and we were very pleased with Dmitry Avdeev’s crew, who’s been driving consistently and carefully in the second race, despite having a completely new crew. Congratulations to everyone on a great result; the team is preparing for the future.
Dmitry Sotnikov, pilot of crew N301: "Today was a really interesting day; we haven't driven this special stage before. I was worried the stage would be too fast and it would be hard to make up ground, but it turned out there was plenty of terrain. We started the special stage really aggressively, there was a real sense of exuberance, we managed to find a rhythm and tried to maintain it. Yesterday we changed the suspension settings, and today everything went great. We gained 17 seconds at the first point, then 45, a minute, and 20… It was difficult to navigate, despite Nikolaev's truck being ahead. The grass was really tall, so we had to take risks in some places, and in others we simply swerved blindly, only to end up on the road. Co-pilot Sergey Krenev did a great job today, even though the GPS wasn't working and we could only rely on the odometer, which gave us some error when sliding. We saw Eduard's crew, slowly approached, and somewhere in the middle, they must have made a slight mistake, saw us just before the speed limit, and let us pass. We then drove ahead for half the special stage, just trying to find the road. We probably missed them by only two places, and had to back up. Of course, it was disappointing, but we already knew we were saving time. Also, unfortunately, Sergey Vyazovich had an accident. Obviously, we were slowly making up ground, but it would have been interesting to work until the finish, because the battle was literally seconds long. In the end, we were just grinding it out. The brakes were at the limit; everyone was on fire today! Grass constantly gets clogged in the brake drums, which creates a fire hazard; you can smell it even while driving. Today was a very successful day, and I would like to highlight all the guys, especially those who were in the cockpit with me. Sergey did a fantastic job all day, but Ilgiz took a real beating during the race: I don't think he slept at all the day before yesterday. The night mechanics were also very tired from the long truck washes, so this victory is a reward for all their efforts. We showed that the KAMAZ-master is the strongest team, the fastest on the track."
Dmitry Avdeev, pilot of crew N308: "It was a very eventful day. Toward the middle of the special stage, we saw Sergei Vyazovich's crew flip over. He must have taken a huge risk. Closer to the finish, we saw Almaz Akhmedov's crew, who had some problems. We tried really hard to maintain the pace—you can feel the tension, even after the finish, it's still tough."
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The next round of the Russian Rally-Raid Championship, the Ural Frontier Baja, will be held from September 9 to 13 in the Chelyabinsk Region.
