Victory for the KAMAZ-master team! Dmitry Sotnikov won the Silk Way rally marathon for the fifth time in his career. Silver - Eduard Nikolaev

The final sprint of 320 kilometers on the first day of the week opens the way to the prizes of the most difficult and longest rally marathon in Eurasia - the Silk Way Rally. Almost 2,700 kilometers were left behind, during which the racers had to experience the whole pack of feelings - from joy at the finish of special stages to despair after unsuccessful actions on the track. The route from Mandalgobi to the capital of Mongolia - Ulaanbaatar - in terms of the road surface configuration was largely the same as yesterday's road: high-speed sections with many gravel and dirt paths, and rocky sections. And no rain on the highway. A day earlier, the crews drove the stage quite smoothly, showing solid results. In such conditions, piloting comes to the fore, and it was difficult to expect that the leaders would be able to “give back” the accumulated minutes of advantage.

For the KAMAZ-master team, the victory on the Silk Way Rally became the eleventh.

Dmitry Sotnikov, pilot of crew #303: “Incredible! A very intense race until the last kilometer. Today we started without seeing an opponent. I had to give it my all. Only during neutralization we saw that everything was in order. The day was quite treacherous, there were many places where it was possible to puncture a tire and end up somewhere else. The whole year was intense, we did a lot of work. It’s great that we did it, two crews got first and second places, and KAMAZ got the title again. A well-deserved victory. The entire crew did a great job. Challenge for next year? We will fight for victory, as always.”

Eduard Nikolaev, pilot of crew #302:

“This Silk Way inspired and surprised with its route. We are very happy, the whole team is shocked. For beginners, especially for Bogdan Karimov, this is a very serious experience, since there is no Dakar for Russian athletes. The organizers brought the rally as close as possible to the Dakar, they made an amazing race, thanks them very much. The route is simply fantastic!”

Andrey Karginov, pilot of crew #305: “We finally got to a serious race! The stages of the Russian Championship take place in the Astrakhan, Volgograd, and Ulyanovsk regions, but what the rest of the regions of our country and Mongolia provide us is a completely different matter. We returned to long, complex marathon special stages with different terrain and surfaces - slippery, water, rocks, winding roads, high-speed roads, and fords. There was everything that was possible. Many thanks to the organizers for providing the route. We tested the trucks well and so did ourselves. Even here, at last kilometers, we went the wrong way, although it seemed like the finish of the race. The organizers showed that you cannot relax until the last meters of the route. Cool race, very cool.”

Bogdan Karimov, pilot of crew #306: “The stage went well, we drove well. I think we showed a good result today. I am very pleased that our team is in the first place, we are happy. I would like to thank the Organizers for such wonderful special stages, a very interesting and intense race, difficult. We all made it to the finish line. Go ahead!".

Sergey Kuprianov, pilot of crew #308:“Perhaps this is the most difficult race in the years of competing on the Silk Way Rally. Except, maybe, the very first one, when we didn’t understand anything at all. The race turned out to be very diverse and interesting; there was something new at every special stage. They themselves are quite balanced - there are both fast sections and slow ones. In general, I am completely delighted with the route, with the way we drove. We didn’t stop anywhere, we didn’t have any breakdowns – great!” In the evening, a ceremonial podium and award ceremony for the winners and runners-up of the 14th edition of the Silk Way rally-marathon will take place in Ulaanbaatar.

Truck standings. The results of the 11^th stage

 Truck standings. General classification of the 11^th stage