On Thursday, Kazan hosted the ceremonial start of the thirteenth edition of the Silk Way International Rally.
Kazan is called the sports capital of Russia for a reason. Recently, the city with more than a thousand years of history has hosted hundreds of sporting events - from all-Russian competitions to the World Cup, which was followed by billions of people around the world. Motorsport, which has the status of one of the most popular in Tatarstan, does not stand aside. The KAMAZ-master team also made a significant contribution to the development of this technical sport in the region, which in a short period of time has gone all the way to the recognized leader in the motorsport world.
The rally-marathon “Silk Way”, which starts on Friday, caused increased interest among local residents. The solemn launch ceremony on the Millennium Square in the center of Kazan on the evening of July 6 became the center of attraction for fans of motorsport and lovers of automotive and motorcycle equipment. Numerous fans gathered at the walls of the Kazan Kremlin had really something to see: dozens of racing cars, all-terrain vehicles and motorcycles designed to conquer extreme off-road conditions of any difficulty level shone under the spotlights.
Warming up the audience before the start of the colorful ceremony was entrusted to musical and choreographic groups, whose compositions were dedicated not only to the rally, but also to the hospitality of the Tatar people, as well as the 10th anniversary of the Kazan Universiade. An almost two-hour concert program closer to 19:00 passed the relay to the main show of the day - the solemn start of the Silk Road 2023 and the presentation of all participants in the race.
Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Sergey Lavrov, Rais of the Republic of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov and the head of the Silk Way International Rally project Vladimir Chagin addressed the racers from the stage with a welcoming speech. Among the invited high-ranking guests, the colorful ceremony was watched by Deputy of the State Duma of Russia Alfiya Kogogina, members of the government of Tatarstan and the mayor’s office of Kazan, representatives of culture and sports of the region, as well as heads of leading Russian automobile plants: General Director of PJSC KAMAZ Sergey Kogogin, President and General Director of the Group GAZ Vadim Sorokin, General Director of URAL Automobile Plant JSC Pavel Yakovlev and President of AvtoVAZ JSC Maxim Sokolov.
Modern KAMAZ-master sports trucks of the K5 family and previous models of vehicles, tested and proven on the horrible tracks of South America and Saudi Arabia, were warmly welcomed by the audience. Among the thousands of fans now and then flashed people in branded equipment "KAMAZ-master" and the flags of the team from Naberezhnye Chelny.
Celebrations near the Kazan Kremlin on the occasion of the start of the Silk Way Rally ended closer to nine in the evening. And then the athletes from 93 crews are waiting for nine stages of a grueling race with a finish near another Kremlin - Moscow.
We remind, that five crews of the KAMAZ-master team will take part in the truck standings of the rally:
• Crew No. 300: Dmitry Sotnikov (pilot) - Ruslan Akhmadeev (co-pilot) - Ilgiz Akhmetzyanov (mechanic);
• Crew No. 301: Andrey Karginov - Ivan Malkov - Vadim Akhmetov;
• Crew No. 303: Eduard Nikolaev - Evgeny Yakovlev - Bogdan Karimov;
• Crew No. 305: Sergey Kuprianov - Dmitry Nikitin - Ivan Tatarinov;
• Crew No. 307: Hou Hongning - Shen Xin - Sergey Krenev.
The route of the Silk Way rally 2023 consists of 9 stages and runs through the territory of 13 regions of Russia, whereas the start is in Kazan and the finish is at Red Square in Moscow. The total length of the competition route is 5247 km, 2277 km of which are sports stages.
The start of the first special stage at the route of Kazan-Ufa is planned at 10:00 at Moscow time. The total length of the stage is 618 km, 142 km of which is a special stage.
