To be in time for the start, "KAMAZ-Master" left the bivouac in Tambov at seven a.m. Crews had to drive on public roads, so the organizers limited the speed for crews, allowing them to drive up to 90 kilometers per hour. Moreover, it was not allowed for competitors to overtake each other on liaisons, in order to avoid accidents. At this time KAMAZ assistance cars destined for Volgograd. In order to have time to take a place on the bivouac, located at the airport of hero-city.
Start of the first stage, which should be finish in Volgograd, was given directly into the open field. However, fans surrounded the place from the early morning. When "KAMAZ-master" crews arrived, the audience rushed to the team for autographs. But, crews did not have time to communicate with fans. The guys came out of the cabin to warm up after a long liaison, and again took their places. There was difficult road ahead. In addition, the situation was aggravated by intense heat. In Volgograd, even in the shade it was above forty degrees.
At the beginning of the special stage organizers proposed to competitors a simple zone in the central part of Russia with roads that are well read from the road-book. So theoretically the crews had chance to see the beauty outside the window. In fact, everything was different. Almost at the start one SUV came into a pit, the pilot urgently needed a medical assistance and he was sent by helicopter to Volgograd.
A serous obstacle for the competitors was a Pereschepkovsky ford in the Volgograd region. Jeeps passed it by the old bridge, but the trucks had to "wet feet." All "KAMAZ" passed the water as on dry land, triggering applause from the locals. After thanking the fans for the warm welcome with a loud signal, blue armada moved towards the sands.
In spite of the fact that Ayrat Mardeev was the first who passed the river, Andrey Karginov (№ 305) was the first at CP. He was ahead of his team-mates - the crew of Eduard Nikolaev only for 23 seconds (№ 303). But at two p.m. situation has changed in trucks category - from that moment the race was headed by Anton Shibalov (№ 309), and his closest pursuer was a Czech Jaroslav Valtr on LIAZ.
By three p.m. the trucks crossed the equator of the stage. There were only few miles before dunes of Archeda. It is impossible to underestimate the Archeda. The height of the sand dunes sometimes reaches 10-12 meters. Ayrat Mardeev was the first who overcome sands, but in dunes the main rival of "KAMAZ-master" Czech Ales Loprais on TATRA caught up with him. Behind them Anton Shibalov and Eduard Nikolaev passed the sandbox.
Andrey Karginov (305) had a failure, and he had to stop.
At half past five the first to cross the finish line was Shibalov Anton, he was ahead of Ayrat Mardeev by 2 minutes 5 seconds. The fourth was Eduard Nikolaev. The time difference with the leader was 10 minutes 22 seconds. Between Mardeev and Nikolaev there was Ales Loprais. According to the Czechs, he had problems with the windscreen wipers, and he drove six miles in the dust, not seeing anything in front of him.
Andrey Karginov took ninth place at the first stage, Dmitry Sotnikov - at the eleventh place.
Tomorrow, July 8, crews will leave the bivouac; all the assistance cars will stay at place. For the competitors convenience the stage was looped around Volgograd to shorten liaisons.
Start will be given two kilometers from the bivouac, after that riders will set a course for Kalach-on-Don. The first part of the route has a length of 80 kilometers - normal terrain with beautiful ravines. The second half of the stage is called by organizers - the slalom course, since the route is laid on the steep banks of the Volga with the valleys.
Anton Shibalov: "We do not expect to win today. In the second special stage we passed the crew of Karginov and Nikolaev, who had technical problems. We had problems with the navigation equipment, after the first special stage GPS stopped working, then the second one also. We started the second special stage without any GPS. For our navigator Robert Amatych it was very difficult to navigate without this device, but he coped with his task. "
Ayrat Mardeev: "We started first, the whole day we were the first. We did not see trucks behind. But jeeps that were ahead did not let us pass. Moreover, there were our compatriots. It was dangerous to overtake them on the side, because there were a lot of ravines. We were stopped for 40 seconds on the first special stage because in front of us "Gazelle" laid in its side. The pilot did not see the mound. We stopped next to the crew and made sure that everything was Ok with them. At the ford we had a problem with our new electronics on the brakes. But on the second special stage it starts working, after we turned off the engine. Experts told us that brakes are not "friendly" with water, and there can be problems. To know all this we test the truck. "
Eduard Nikolaev: "Today's route is familiar to us. We just rolled into the race, after that we saw Loprais who raised the dust. Then there were field roads, and it was impossible to approach to him. Jeeps also did not let us pass nearly 20 kilometers.
At the second special stage we caught up with Loprais, but we had a problem due to overheating of the fuel, the engine has failed, affected by heat and pace. The track was bumpy, sometimes sandy, in general it was very difficult and as I like. "
