12 September, Darwaza
While the move of rally caravan “Amul-Hazar” is deeper into the Karakum, terrain begins to change. The desert is becoming more and more
three-dimensional. Sandy hillocks gradually turn into hills that close the horizon and interfere to choose the path. Hollows appear. There are still no
smooth and clean from vegetation sand dunes, where you can hold a good pace and take the heights by running. Widespread hillocks and clayey knolls do not allow gathering speed. A bush, dried up by autumn, can easily pierce rubber tyres. Engines operate at maximum load. Considering the fact, that the sun heats the sand surface up to 80 degrees in the daytime, mechanics should always be on the alert, monitoring parameters of engines and other systems on their devices. Taking into account that top-pilots wouldn’t be satisfied just to get to the finish in Turkmenbashi, the race is getting hotter and more exciting in terms of sports.
It seems that a huge burning gas crater, a few meters from which the bivouac is located in Darwaza, will only add emotions to the contestants. In 1971, while drilling an exploratory well, the earth under the drilling rig failed. It was decided to set fire to the ground, where harmful to humans and cattle gas burst of. They thought that the fire would blow out after a few days. But since then, it has been burning for 47 years. The thermometer on KAMAZ assistance truck shows 45 degrees, and when from the side of the crater hot wind blows, it creates the feeling that you are near a giant gas stovetop. Working conditions for mechanics are simply unbearable. Fortunately, KAMAZ-master crews did not "bring" any serious technical problems to the bivouac. The crews overcame 230 kilometers of the special stage and 161 kilometers of the liaison without adventures. In Darwaza, they were already awaited by the assistance team. In order to get there, they had to travel for 889 kilometers to the west along the Iranian-Turkmen border through Ashkhabad, and then without an overnight stay in Ikiuazak up to the north.
Departing first among trucks from the start line to the stage, the crew of Dmitry Sotnikov got a difficult part to lay the way. There were almost no traces, therefore the navigator Ruslan Akhmadeev had to work hard with the road book. Soon, the Russians were caught up by MAZ of the Belorussian Siarhei Vyazovich, who was driving in the footsteps of KAMAZ and after both crews were moving together. In turn, they were overrun by Airat Mardeev. To the finish the three trucks came almost simultaneously. After about 15 minutes, two more "MAZ" - Aliaksei Vishneusky and Aleksandr Vasilevsky – came to the finish. One could judge about the road loads by wet through race suits. Thermoses of the crews, filled with ice and water before the start, were empty. According to the sportsmen, today's track was faster than yesterday. Several times they even drove at the maximum speed (the maximum speed allowed for trucks at this race is 150 kmh). At the end of the day, the crew of Airat Mardeev won the stage with the result of 02 h 58 min 35 sec. The second - Siarhei Vyazovich (+00: 01: 23), the third was the crew of Dmitry Sotnikov (+00: 04: 17).
General classification in the truck category after 2 stage:
1. SOTNIKOV 07:08:20
2. MARDEEV 07:09:02 +00:00:42
3. VIAZOVICH 07:10:13 +00:01:53
4. VISHNEUSKI 07:24:08 +00:15:48
5. VASILEVSKI 07:47:58 +00:49:38
Quotes
Dmitry Sotnikov, pilot of crew No402:
"Our task during the race is testing and finishing the trucks for upcoming Dakar in January. Therefore, we are trying to notice everything, to fix the operation parameters of units and aggregates on the race truck in hot conditions of a sandy desert - conditions maximum close to the Peruvian sands. In this sense, our co-driver Ruslan Akhmadeev had two “jobs”. He follows the route and runs his program as a design engineer. This day was more interesting in terms of driving. Fast tracks began to appear, dried-up river beds, sometimes viscous from the sand, sometimes fast in a rally style. Frequent change of speed, straight roads, then curvy places. In this mode it is very difficult to analyze information of the road book and make decisions quickly. But generally on the stage we worked quite well. "
Ilgiz Ahmetzyanov, mechanic of Dmitry Sotnikov's crew No. 402:
"This is my first really serious experience of participation in a race as a crew mechanic. Heavy route. Some places very shaking. Physically, it's not easy. Road book is not very detailed and additional eyes for the pilot will not go amiss. I try to prompt about visible holes. At the same time I follow indication of devices. It is often necessary to change the pressure in tires. The places are quite picturesque. Today we saw a "diamond" river. The dried-up river bed seems to shimmer with the gleam of precious stones. "
Akhmet Galiautdinov, mechanic of Ayrat Mardeev’s crew № 400:
"Hilly roads alternated with drifted paths in the desert. This allowed to go at a high speed in some places and to some extent gave time out between heavy off-road. There were small settlements. People cheered us, it was pleasant."
