Honging, navigator Shen Xin and mechanic Andrey Karginov, well-known for KAMAZ-master fans as an experienced navigator and mechanic, entered the top-ten among trucks. The crew is on the seventh’ position and follows five KAMAZ-master crews and the Martin von den Brink from Mammoet Rallysport Team.
As a reminder, the initiative to create the international crew belongs to the General Partner of the Silk Way Rally, GAZPROM. Thanks to their support the project came to life.
The sportsmen got acquainted last December on the presentation in Beijing. The first time they participated together in the Russian Championship in Astrakhan in April this year. Neither before the race nor after it they didn’t have a chance to train together. So only on the Silk Way Rally they started to build relationship.
It is surprising that the Chinese sportsmen don’t speak Russian and Andrey Mokeev doesn’t speak Chinese but they manage to find a common ground.
Hou Hongning and Shen Xin learnt Russian words “let’s go”, “to the left”, “to the right”, stop, “ok” and “thank you”. Andrey Mokeev learnt the same words in Chinese.
- I go with the road book and help the navigator when there’s a need to turn, therefore words “to the left”, “to the right” are the most important, - says Andrey Mokeev.
Andrey has a huge experience in navigation. Ten years ago his first teacher became the famous KAMAZ racer Ilgizar Mardeev. Since that time he always drives together with pilots of the team. In 2009 he won the Silk Way Rally in the crew of Firdaus Kabirov. Shen Xin is only gaining experience that is why his help is very important. The Chinese sportsmen absolutely trust him. Now they are one team.
- I think that Hou can drive much faster but he tries to save the truck and go the Silk Way from the very beginning till the very end, - said Andrey Mokeev. – All crews have one aim – to win. But safety is first. The Chinese sportsmen are awaited at home, therefore we must drive and we cannot leave the race and get on a plane. Hou understands it and says: “ok!”
The Russian-Chinese crew goes on the legendary KAMAZ-4326. It was created in 2007 specially for Vladimir Chagin. Later he would win Dakar on it. The race truck is still in a perfect condition. Now KAMAZ-master team trains and participates in Championships on it. Hou Hongning understands that the car is legendary, and how big trust of the team is.
- I think that KAMAZ is the best race truck, - says the Chinese pilot. – I have never driven on such a splendid vehicle before. It was my big dream to sit at the wheel of KAMAZ and I am very grateful to the team that they gave me such an opportunity.
Hou Hongning is famous in China. He drives a race truck for 14 years, has titles of a winner and prizer at all national competitions. But it is the first time when he can take part in an international race.
- I have a lot of friends at home who support me, - says the sportsman. – Here on the race I feel support of Chinese sportsmen who say “You drive not bad.” But this is just the beginning. In China there will be a lot of challenging special stages, a lot of sands and dunes. The most interesting part will begin. It is going to be really difficult in the sands near Alashan town, there are the biggest dunes China and it is really difficult to climb them. I know it very well. However I don’t have any benefits comparing with other sportsmen. Of course, I feel better at home and know a lot there, but leading teams of the world take part in the race and they have a huge experience in the most challenging races.
According to Andrey Mokeev, the first part of the race is like an exercise:
-It was a good opportunity to start, to feel the truck. Legs in Kazakhstan reminded me Astrakhan routes. Hou reminded me how we drove there together. China is going to be a real challenge.
The navigator Shen Xin also says that the first part is more like an exercise:
- I want to have something more difficult. The truck is brilliant, we went to the Silk Way to learn from a legendary KAMAZ-master team. Believe me, not everyone gets such an opportunity.
The sportsmen became friends and they don’t have problems in communication. Even the translator is not always needed. Andrey calls Hou “Hariton” and Shen – “Zhenya”. And they learnt to pronounce his name – “Andley”.
