From 24 to 27 April KAMAZ-master Team will take part on the stage of the Russian Rally-Raid Championship “Gold of Kagan” in Astrakhan.
The ceremonial start of the race and the first short special section, opening the race, will be held on April 25. Then will follow two days with full stages 266 and 313 kilometers long. Traditionally the organizers choose the most difficult off-road parts – cunning Astrakhan sands more than once became an obstacle for the most titled racers.
The comment on participation of KAMAZ-master Team was given by the Deputy Director for Production and Development, the eight-time champion of Dakar Rally Sergei Savostin, who will act as a team-manager during the race.
“On 21 April the team goes to tests and competitions of the Russian Rally-Raid Championship Stage. Astrakhan tracks are diverse, there are fast sections, sands and tough impassibility where a truck sometimes just skips over bumps.
We consider trip to Astrakhan first of all as vehicle tests, as well as crew training, primarily of novices, whom we are planning to train, as we say “shake”, in order to understand how much a person is ready to stand physical loads in the cab of the truck.
The team goes to the race in expanded composition. It is due to the fact that a lot of objects need checking, they cannot be tested on any one-two trucks, they must be spread in order to get objective results that can be compared and used in the future. If you look at the truck, nothing is changed exteriorly, the same 4 wheels, cab, body – nothing new, but literally the slightest shift of the cab affects the weight distribution, as well as the engine replacement affects the weight distribution, all this further affects the work of suspension which needs rebuilding , monitor all characteristics. All technical issues, that we are planning to implement to participate in the Silk Way Rally and Dakar, we must test, check and be sure that we are well prepared.
To the “Gold of Kagan” go 4 trucks, that participated in Dakar, these are our new trucks with DCEC-ISZ-Cummins engines; also goes the bonnet truck, driven by Airat Mardeev. All five active drivers go with their objective of testing vehicles and running crews.
Apart from KAMAZ two more crews will take part in the race. This is the crew of Sergei Kuprianov on the gas and diesel KAMAZ, as training. This year he hasn’t driven on the truck yet. Also Sergei Uspensky’s crew will take part in the race at the wheel of KAMAZ. It is the most titled motor sportsman in the entire post-Soviet space, a multiple Russian Champion in the WRC, a professional racer, who is interested in driving our truck and we are happy to give him such an opportunity.”
CREW COMPOSITION PARTICIPATING ON THE SECOND STAGE OF RUSSIAN RALLY-RAID CHAMPIONSHIP “GOLD OF KAGAN-2019”
1. NIKOLAEV Eduard – YAKOVLEV Evgeny – KARIMOV Bogdan
2. MARDEEV Airat – SVISTUNOV Dmitry – VAKHRUSCHEV Sergei
3. KARGINOV Andrey – MOKEEV Andrey – MALKOV Ivan
4. SOTNIKOV Dmitry – AKHMADEEV Ruslan – AKHMETZIANOV Ilgiz
5. SHIBALOV Anton – NIKITIN Dmitry – TATARINOV Ivan
6. KUPRIANOV Sergei – KUPRIANOV Aleksandr – GALYAUTDINOV Akhmet
7. USPENSKY Sergei – UPERENKO Oleg – LEONOV Igor
