The Manager of the team Eduard Nikolaev answered to the questions of the newspaper “Vechernya Kazan”
- What is KAMAZ-master doing now?
- The team is actively preparing for the 2024 season. We have 4 stages of the Russian Championship ahead of us, the Silk Way rally-marathon, and, of course, we do not shut the door on possibility to participate in the Dakar rally. It depends on how the circumstances will be. We have to be in good shape so that as soon as the chance will be given, we could immediately return on our own terms and prepare as if we participated every year.
The main race nowadays is the Silk Way rally-marathon, which will take place in July. The Organizers promise a very interesting route. Three countries: Russia, Mongolia and China. We know that there will be serious dunes, and thus we are thinking about where to hold training for our crews in the sands.
The closest sands to us are in Astrakhan, but they are not the same as those that await us in China in the Gobi Desert. Accordingly, we are looking for options where the team could hold training in similar conditions.
We are seriously preparing for the Russian Championship. It is traditionally the first stage - Astrakhan, then the second - Volgograd, the third - as part of the Silk Way rally-marathon and the fourth - Ulyanovsk.
In general, the team has tasks. We are working hard, preparing, moving forward.
— How much has the life of the team changed, when the team will not participate in the Dakar rally?
— As I have said, we keep going of preparing. For sure, there was assurance, that we will take part, all the mood of the team was dedicated to preparation of the Dakar rally. As well now we have the same mode of preparing to the Silk Way Rally.
Certainly, the Dakar rally is very interesting for us and we are prepared to it. Honestly, all the intensity of the competition in the truck category transferred to the Silk Way rally-marathon. I think that in the nearest future the very teams, as KAMAZ-master, MAZ, URAL will run the show in the truck category.
— Is there any understanding of the future outlook? OrdoesFIAstillremainuncomplying?
— We have personnel from the marketing department working on this issue, and we always look at the nearest competitions that are available and that we can go to. And, importantly, they are interesting to us from a sporting point of view and from the point of view of media efficiency for the team's partners. But, in principle, we have such a busy season and a dense domestic championship that participation in another international race is not an end in itself.
At the same time, it is important to take into account logistical issues, because, for example, everything connected with Europe is excluded for us at the moment. But in the end, we have an excellent Russian Championship with good tracks and sporting intrigue, and this well stimulates the team not just to keep the crews and equipment in a good tone, but to develop and look for new solutions for development.
– Has the preparation to the Silk Way Rally already begun?
– Yes, the preparation has already begun. As I have told, these are the main competitions this year and for the team, and for the partners, and for the fans. We expect that there will be many Chinese athletes. We look forward that the European teams will come as well. At least, we see the much interest from their side to take part in the championship. The Silk Way Rally is expected to be very tensed and interesting. The serious rally tracks, sands wait for us, so we train actively.
- In the current situation, how important is it that the competition will have an international level and end in China?
- Of course, we want to have participants from other countries. It's embellishing, it creates a healthy sporting competition in all class categories. It is important to have them. It's also important for the Silk Way rally-marathon to expand its scope. The Silk Way team is doing this, always looking for something new, new tracks, new regions. And this is great for us now!
The fact that the competition will have an international format and will end in China is also interesting. For several years the competition was held only in Russia, and I know many participants asked the organizers to find a way to expand the geography, because rally-marathons have always had the scale of several countries.
– How is the bonnet truck going on?
– We actively continue working under this project. As a current pilot of this truck I am engaged in this project, I spent a season after Ayrat Mardeev rode on it. We launched many updates, worked on the layout, moved forward and made a good progress. For us, the purpose of the bonnet project is to understand what our competitors, who mostly use bonnet race trucks, are driving. It is great that we have such a vehicle. The project is promising, and we plan to take part in the Silk Way rally-marathon and in Russian championships.
- Andrey Karginov and Dmitry Sotnikov recently talked about the development of children's and youth motorsport at the international exhibition "Russia" at VDNH. Is there already now among young boys who in the near future will be able to take one of the leading places in the team? Not necessarily among pilots, maybe among mechanics.
- Yes, now this direction is gaining momentum within the team. We have a younger generation that is following in our footsteps. The first applicant is already acting as a pilot. This is our pupil Bogdan Karimov, a kart racer from Yelabuga karting school. We also have Dmitry Avdeev, who drove the whole season as a mechanic of the race crew together with me. We are working with him so that gradually he could try the wheel of a truck. We will see how well he will cope with it.
Daniil Telepov, a pupil of our karting school, is doing well. He combines his studies with his work at our school. Young people actively help in assembling trucks, in trips to competitions. We try to pay attention to young guys as much as possible. It is important for them to see prospects and develop.
Ayrat Mardeev works in this direction, he is responsible for working with young people in the team: karting, buggies. It is interesting, a lot of work. We hope that the next generation will adopt our experience and will represent the team well in the future. The interview is published at https://sport.evening-kazan.ru/avtosport/articles/zhizn-bez-dakara-kamaz-master-gotovitsya-k-shelkovomu-puti-i-zhdet-resheniya
