The mud stage on the Silk Way Rally ended in favor of Nikolaev

The weather factor has become a key factor at the seventh stage of the international Silk Way Rally 2022.

Downpours seriously damaged the roads in the first part of the special stage. Not everyone could get to the start of the race: representatives of the bike and SUV categories collectively took the opportunity to skip the stage in accordance with sports regulations of the competition. This decision was made due to fears of not reaching the finish line in extreme conditions.

Needless to say, that even trucks could hardly keep on the muddy roads. The crews covered the starting 20-30 kilometers at a minimum speed - it barely exceeded 20 kmh. And if the drivers somehow coped with the broken road, then the wall of the heavy rain blocked the view, limiting any maneuvers.

Fortunately for the athletes, this road challenge did not last long, and the remaining almost 300 kilometers were passed in a very fast way. Dmitry Sotnikov, who started first on the special stage, had to lay tracks for the entire rally caravan, and closer to the end of the sports day, the crew made several navigational mistakes. Taking into account the struggle for the first line in the truck standings, these episodes influenced the position at the end of today's stage - Sotnikov showed the second result at the finish line.

Eduard Nikolaev confirmed the leading positions on Wednesday. From the first kilometers the crew No 302 took a pace that was beyond the power of the rest of the drivers. 310 kilometers of the seventh special stage, the KAMAZ-master sportsman, driving a new truck of the K5 family, went at an average speed of 112 kmh, setting a record for this Silk Way Rally. Unmistakable driving, a clear navigation prompt and competent work of the mechanic allowed the crew to win the third stage and strengthen their superiority over Dmitry Sotnikov to six and a half minutes.

Eduard Nikolaev, driver of crew No 302: “The first kilometers in the rain reminded me of 2018, when we were driving at the SWR on the bonnet truck. Then everyone got stuck in the mud, and we helped each other. After 30 kilometers, such joy ended - it became dry (laughs). The speed immediately increased, we slowly approached the crew of Vladimir Vasilyev, overran him. And then we saw Dima Sotnikov, because of the thick dust we could not drive up to him for a long time, but in the restricted zone we signaled to him and went ahead. The special stage was excellent, I am satisfied with the navigation and the truck.”

Dmitry Sotnikov, driver of crew No 300: “The first part of the special stage was very slippery, it was unpleasant. But then it got better, the rain stopped dripping. Everything was dry by the end. Closer to the finish we left the route several times, there was inexactness in navigation. We saw that Eduard Nikolaev drove up, and before the finish line we let him go ahead. It is better to drive on dry surfaces, the truck is difficult to control on clay. The vehicle reached the finish line safe, but we couldn’t be completely satisfied, because we went first, opened the track and took all the work on ourselves.”

Serious adjustments have taken place in the parallel standings of the Silk Way Rally. On the leader’s vehicle in the car category, Vladimir Vasilyev, the gearbox input shaft broke down, and several cables were torn during towing, one of which damaged the radiator. The crew of Andrey Karginov, who eventually became fifth, helped Vasilyev to reach the finish line for the last 100 kilometers.

The best result for himself at the 2022 race was shown by Sergey Kuprianov, driving the gas-and-diesel KAMAZ. At the finish line, the commissars recorded a half-hour delay from the winner of the stage, Eduard Nikolaev. The driver of the KAMAZ-master team had a reliable sports day and was ahead of two MAZs and Andrey Karginov. Siarhei Viazovich can again complain about tires - the replacement of the wheel immediately affected the pace of the Belarusian crew. Aliaksei Vishneuski lost a lot of time, changing the wheel - a disc burst on his truck, and the wheel rolled away under the truck, which lay on the axle. Dense results were shown by two representatives of the GAZ Raid Sport team - Mikhail Shklyaev and Aleksey Khlebov.

Truck Category. Results of the 7^th Stage

Truck Category. General classification after the 7^th Stage