Prologue of the Silk Way Rally 2022 won by Eduard Nikolaev

Thursday divided into two parts for the participants of the Silk Way Rally. In the first half of the day, the racers went to the start of the prologue - a five-kilometer special stage, and in the evening all the crews were waiting for the ceremonial start of the motorsport competition.

The starting point of the first special stage of 2022 is located in a picturesque place on the banks of the Volga river. On the left side of the driver there was sparkling in the sun the water surface of one of the largest rivers of the planet, on the right - numerous spectators and green spaces. However, the conditions for the riders only seemed comfortable - by noon the air temperature had raised up to +37° C. And this is just the beginning. In the capital of the Chechen Republic, where the rally caravan will arrive later, the thermometer promises to rise up to 42 degrees. A real test for people and sports vehicles!

Despite the short speed section, not everyone was able to overcome the first kilometers of the 10-day racing marathon without mistakes. The first to conquer the Astrakhan off-road was the bike rider Oleg Pavlenko, and almost immediately got stuck on a treacherous dune. The highly experienced crew of the owner of the World Cup in Bajas and the Rally-Raid World Cup, Vladimir Vasilyev, who competes in the off-road category, faced some difficulties in navigation. And the debutant of the rally-raid discipline, the former Formula 1 driver Nikita Mazepin, also had a difficult time - the navigation devices failed on his vehicle.

The truck classification in rally-raids always attracts special attention of spectators. On Thursday, gathered along the racing canal fans saw multi-ton vehicles “flying” on countless springboards and bumps. From the outside it seemed beautiful, but the racers noted that they had to feel discomfort in the cab. Do not forget that the first three Astrakhan stages are included in the stage of the Russian rally-raid championship "Gold of Kagan 2022”. The results of all participants in the truck category also go to these standings.

The passage of the special stage itself went in one breath: the winner of the first stage, Eduard Nikolaev from KAMAZ-master, drove along the cunning sandy track in 4 minutes and 4 seconds. This is only 5 seconds slower than Andrey Rudsky's SUV! The high density of results at the end of the day proves a sharp struggle throughout all ten racing stages.

Dmitry Sotnikov, driver of crew No 300: “Today was a classic special stage – a prologue. Here we went many times, as in one direction, so in the other. We tried to drive safely, because there were many hidden holes. All the main struggle will unfold tomorrow, and now it was important to get there without incidents and losses, and we coped with the task. We drove with restraint, we wanted to feel the track, the truck. I think that many people were driving at 70 percent of their capabilities, and then they would look for their limit. The track changes constantly, it was easy not to notice an obstacle, but experienced guys understand everything, they see how to avoid danger.”

Siarhei Vyazovich, driver of crew No 301: “A traditional prologue for Astrakhan, which was driven many times and in different directions. Today the bank of the Volga remained on the left. It was very bumpy compared to the test site, but there were no problems. The shots for the audience will be beautiful – the truck jumped a lot, flew, although the speed was low. From the outside it looked great, but inside we were shaking hard. For us, the alignment for tomorrow was decided today, each crew had its own tactics. There are no technical issues, everything is fine. I’m not sure that someone specially slowed down the pace, because the won special stages also go to the saving box and everyone wants to win all the time.”

Andrey Karginov, driver of crew No 303: “Astrakhan is never easy, even these five kilometers showed a tense struggle. The special stage passed in one breath, we can say that we were fastening seat belts longer than we were driving. The navigator constantly dictated, there were many bindings along the route, countless jumps, mounds and pits, sand everywhere. We tried to go fast. The difference between the crews was a few seconds, but the whole struggle is ahead, although even today one could get into an adventure. The truck shows itself well, I think no breakdowns were brought to the mechanics.”

Sergey Kuprianov, driver of crew No 305: “Compared to last year, our truck has a fundamentally new engine, a gas system redesigned in the direction of increasing reliability. Everything works like a clock. We overcame a small problem that was on the previous engine at constant even throttle and high speeds - the engine did not warm up, but the exhausts were very hot. Now everything is fine, the truck works well on gas, with much higher dynamics than just on diesel. The lack of constant racing has a strong effect on us, especially since the truck has changed. In fact, we are starting from the very beginning, and it takes time to get used to, to roll in.”

Exactly at 18:00 Moscow time, on the square in front of the Astrakhan State Opera and Ballet Theater, the ceremonial part of the Silk Way Rally start began. General Director of KAMAZ PTC Sergey Kogogin and the Governor of the Astrakhan Region Igor Babushkin addressed the participants of the competition with a welcoming speech. They wished the racers good results and a successful finish at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow. The spectators warmly greeted each athlete leaving the starting podium, charging the crew members with a positive attitude for a long and difficult race.

Already on Friday, the caravan rally is waiting for first serious tests - a 227-kilometer loop special stage will abound with dunes, the first on the SWR. The start is scheduled for 9 am.

Truck Category. Results of the 1^st Stage