Alashan sands brought good luck to KAMAZ-master team. After a day of emergency delete of SS because of the sand storm, the crews continued the battle with new efforts.
Eduard Nikolaev #310 finished the twelfth leg first, and Airat Mardeev #306 took the lead in the general classification.
According to Sergey Savostin now it is necessary to keep the result. “Two more days are left and due to the description they are not easy. The landscapes surrounding us prove it.”
Today’s special was 425 km long and went through Alashan sands and dried up river beds. Pilots who had been in that place told that it was extremely difficult to pass dunes there. According to Eduard Nikolaev it was a great challenge for his crew and his new truck. “Dunes allowed us to get used to the truck. As I said before it is quite difficult to drive a bonnet truck on dunes. But today we managed to do it. In general I am pleased with today’s special section and work of my crew. There were impassibility, curvy roads and sands – easy and hard. There even were hill slopes, where we could check rolls of the vehicle, in order to see its driving on one side. I was satisfied with the suspension. Today I enjoyed the race. I wish there were more specials like that.”
The day turned to be not so hot as before. The thermometer showed +30 degrees. But such temperature is not comfortable for Eduard Nikolaev. “I prefer heat, rain, dirt, sand storms – then a real rally-marathon begins. Such weather you could find in Africa - with heat and difficult sands. All year round our team trains together with the Innovation Centre of Olympic Committee in order to prepare body for difficult conditions. We want to win not only because of our vehicles but strength.”
The crew of Airat Mardeev #306 was second on the SS. His target for the day was to outrun his main rival – Martin van den Brink, and he did it. “We started 4 minutes after him. When I caught him up, his speed was very high - he goes perfectly well on rocky tracks. Moreover, he was very confident. Judging by his trace, he tried to outrun us, but we were faster. When I horned him, he immediately let us go. Then I didn’t see him. On the 140th km we had a wheel puncture, I think, because of a thorny branch. We reached to the finish with air inflating and only then changed the wheel.”
More and more confident becomes the crew of Dmitry Sotnikov #300 and moves up in general classification. On the 12th leg he came to the finish line third, and in standings took the second position. “Today was a real classic rally marathon stage. I remember Chile, where we went 400-500 km in similar conditions. We tried to avoid stones, were afraid to damage our wheels. It was a real challenge but we tried to perform without mistakes.”
This day brought us more good news – Andrey Karginov with his crew finally came back. For several days he helped organizers to evacuate jeeps stuck in sands. Now Andrey jokes that it was the longest leg in his life. Fortunately, the race authorities allowed him to return to the battle.
Tomorrow on July, 22 KAMAZ-master crews will go to Chinese city Wuhai along old mining roads. The way is long – 724 km, including 367 km of special sector. It is important not to miss a single control point which is not simple.
Results of the 12th Leg of the Silk Way Rally. Trucks:
1. E. Nikolaev / Е. Yakovlev / V. Rybakov (КАМАZ) – 5h 24:37
2. А. Mardeev / А. Belyaev / D. Svistunov (КАМАZ) +2:46
3. D. Sotnikov / R. Akhmadeev / I. Romanov (КАМАZ) +5:50
4. М. van den Brink / P.Willemsen / D. Kozlovsky (Renault) +19:51
5. P. de Baar / М. Roesink / W. Rosegaar (Renault) +43:31
General Classification after 12 Legs. Trucks:
1. А. Mardeev / А. Belyaev / D. Svistunov (КАМАZ) – 30h 09:09
2. D. Sotnikov / R. Akhmadeev / I. Romanov (КАМАZ) +7:52
3. М. van den Brink / P.Willemsen / D. Kozlovsky (Renault) +12:33
4. E. Nikolaev / Е. Yakovlev / V. Rybakov (КАМАZ) +53:43
5. А. Shibalov / R. Amatych / А. Khisamiev (КАМАZ) +1h 50:40
