7 July was highlighted in red in the calendar of KAMAZ-master Team: the international marathon Silk Way Rally started this day.
The first stage of the ten-day race started from Irkutsk to Baikalsk. Before getting to the special section all four KAMAZ-master crews were “in arms” of fans: a few hundred of fans, gathered at the start alignment of the first race part, warmly welcomed members of the Russian team. For almost 15 minutes every one could take a photo with KAMAZ members and get an autograph. A warm meeting “charged” the racers with positive energy.
Corrections into the preliminary plan of passing the forest route were brought by the weather: during all days in Irkutsk, that contestants of Silk Way Rally spent in the city, it was the first time when it was raining heavily at night before the start. Taking into consideration, that the race track was quite narrow and turned into stone surface in some places, it was impossible to risk with the vehicles and health of the crews. During the first days of the marathon, when the fight for top positions in the general standings only start, it is better not to risk: losing a couple of seconds or minutes can’t be compared with a breakdown or an accident.
Andrey Karginov (No300), the current champion of the Silk Way Rally, was first to conquer on already dried a bit route. Then entered the race Airat Mardeev (No302), Anton Shibalov (No303) and Sergei Kuprianov (No305). It should be noted that the truck category starts last, that also made an impact on the road surface, well “ploughed” by the representatives of other categories.
Race KAMAZ-master trucks overcame 51 kilometer of the special section in a different way. The best time (35 minutes 28 seconds) among four crews of the Blue Armada was shown by Anton Shibalov, finishing second after the Belorussian racer Siarhei Viazovich from MAZ-SPORT-auto (34 minutes 23 seconds) – one of the main rivals of the Russian team for victory in the rally.
Driver of KAMAZ-master Anton Shibalov, No303: “Today was a native and favorite route of Siarhei Viazovich. The road was like a typical Karelia: curvy and narrow road, plus forest. As Siarhei has a large experience in WRC, it certainly helped him a lot. We were cautious and tried not to go at a fast pace not to have many problems. Our result was not bad: we drove in a stable way, without stops, did not touch trees, wheels were unbroken.”
Due to results of Irkutsk-Baikalsk stage Andrey Karginov became fourth (37 minutes 59 seconds), Sergei Kuprianov showed the 8th best time (39 minutes 7 seconds) and Airat Mardeev was 12th (43 minutes 3 seconds). The results of the Russian crews prove: Silk Way Rally promises to be challenging and intense sport fight.
The starting stage of Silk Way Rally-2019 became an important event in the career of Sergei Krenev – mechanic of Airat Mardeev’s crew, No 302: “The debut passed well. There certainly was some worriment before the start, as it is a serious race. It is a big responsibility for me, I didn’t know what waited on the track, but all went as planned. There were no technical problems, we went with a big margin of fail-safety, as after the rains the route was very slippery. The crew is supporting me much, helps and explains all things, which are new for me”.
A kind of an award for every contestant of the rally-raid became a 133-kilometer liaison. When the fight heat became a bit lower and the race caravan went straight to the bivouac, a marvelous view opened to the main Siberian pearl – Lake Baikal.
On Monday the second stage of the Silk Way Rally awaits the participants: contestants will say good bye to the Siberian taiga and take the course to Buryatia. The route length will be 410 km and the special section will be 208 kilometers.
TRUCK CATEGORY. RESULTS OF THE FIRST STAGE
Pos. Name Make Time Gap
1 S. VIAZOVICH MAZ 00:34:32 00:00:00
2 A. SHIBALOV Kamaz 00:35:28 00:00:56
3 A. VISHNEUSKI MAZ 00:37:08 00:02:36
4 A. KARGINOV Kamaz 00:37:59 00:03:27
5 M. VAN DEN BRINK Renault 00:38:15 00:03:43
6 P. GARROUSTE Iveco 00:38:30 00:03:58
7 I. HANAWA Hino 00:38:42 00:04:10
8 S. KUPRIANOV Kamaz 00:39:07 00:04:35
9 A. VASILEVSKI MAZ 00:39:10 00:04:38
10 A. KADSHAI DAF 00:39:28 00:04:56
11 B. LEVITSKII Gaz 00:41:19 00:06:47
12 A. MARDEEV Kamaz 00:43:03 00:08:31
Photo D.Galchun, M.Chitka, DPPI
