Nikolaev was first to cross the equator of the Silk Way Rally

The fifth stage of the Silk Way Rally completed the program of the first half of the ten-day race, following which the KAMAZ-master crew of Eduard Nikolaev became the leader in the overall standings.

The loop route in Grozny started in the opposite direction of the Sunday stage and partially repeated yesterday's route through the territory of the Chechen Republic and Dagestan. Thus, the crews traveled along tracks that were still unfamiliar to them, but with new directions. Today two-thirds of the 218 kilometers of fast areas were dirt and the remaining 30% of the road surface was sand.

The beginning and middle of the special stage became another test of strength for the race contestants - killing winding tracks did not allow the drivers to relax even for a second. Off-road also affected the speed of passing the stage - in the truck category only KAMAZ-master crews were able to show an average speed above 70 kmh.

Viscous sands also required a responsible attitude of the crews. Small-looking dunes almost captivated Andrey Karginov, who, after yesterday's difficult repair and late arrival at the bivouac, left for the start in a properly functioning truck. A section of small dunes, stretching for one or two kilometers, looked quite safe from the cab, but the seemingly small top of the sand was followed by a sharp fall. It was this natural trap that crew No 303 drove into - the truck flopped down, fortunately without consequences for the people sitting in the cab.

Andrey Karginov, driver of crew No 303: “We are grateful to our mechanics for fixing the truck. In the morning it was just like new. The task for today was not to win, but to drive safely, try to get closer to the guys in timing, so that tomorrow at the marathon stage we could start tighter. We passed by our yesterday's place where we had broken down, saw our oil trail. It was a difficult track, a lot of off-road. We crossed the river in the zone restricted by 30 kmh. This stream was in the grass, and when we dived, we had doubts whether we had chosen the right way, but everything turned out well.”

Faster than Andrey Karginov on the route Grozny - Grozny was only Eduard Nikolaev, who regained his lead in the general classification at the end of the sports day. And even small technical difficulties with the suspension did not affect the high pace of the crew - the last 70 kilometers Nikolaev kept the truck in a rut.

Eduard Nikolaev, driver of crew No 302: “Something happened to the suspension, we had to fight with it so that it would not sway. There was no smooth ride, the truck was often thrown out, and we had to keep up the pace and be tense to keep it. In general, there were excellent marathon conditions, a real SWR, the way it should be. Heat? This is how it should be in rally raids.”

The MAZ-SPORTauto crew of Aliaksei Vishneusky faced the most serious problem in the truck category at the fifth stage. After several starting kilometers the turbine failed on the truck. The repair costed the Belarusian racers about two hours. But Sergey Kuprianov did not have to complain about technical problems - his gas-and-diesel KAMAZ confidently reached the finish line, showing the fourth result. Fifth at the end of the day was Siarhei Viazovich, who changed wheels twice.

Dmitry Sotnikov, driver of crew No 300: “We smelled oil, then we saw that air was coming out of the pneumatic system. In the dunes, we realized that we could not go. It turned out that we did not have a rear brake. When Eduard Nikolaev drove by, we showed him that we could handle it ourselves. Also rear left shock absorber was torn off. Today there was a strong change of pace, the terrain changed very quickly. We tried to drive as skillfully as possible. The track was killing, maybe fatigue was affecting somewhere.

Truck Category. Results of the 5^th Stage

Truck Category. General classification after the 5^th Stage