The beginning of the second, Chinese part of the truck tests before Dakar-2019 became technical and administrative checks in Xi'an. on September 23 here will take place the ceremonial start of the rally. The ancient capital of China has already met participants on the “Silk Way Rally” in 2017. Those, who had a chance to be at the finish ceremony last year, remember well the fierce heat, which the city met with - 40 degrees in the shade is not the most pleasant temperature for walking. Therefore, it is especially pleasant that this year the start is scheduled for a more comfortable time of the year - autumn - and everyone has an opportunity not only to take part in a large-scale sports event, but also to enjoy modern architecture of new districts and preserved heritage of "homeland of the Terracotta Army".
The day of administrative checks and scrutineering is always very busy for the team, but despite the large workload, the team members under the leadership of the manager at the “Silk Way Rally” Sergey Savostin have found an opportunity to go to a special conference in the morning with the team's partners DCEC Cummins ISZ. Together with DCEC, KAMAZ-master Team is testing a new 13-liter engine. Under the very conditions of the most complicated marathon, it is possible to effectively check the engine and obtain the results that the company, all else being equal, would have to achieve for years.
Notwithstanding the fact that it is not a new experience for KAMAZ-master Team to start on the Chinese soil, in this format the race (in 2018 “Silk Way Rally” is divided into two stages: Russian and Chinese) is held for the first time. Those sands and deserts, which are well known to Chinese racers, will be an excellent training and a real test for racing KAMAZ. Also one of the principal differences in this rally for Russian participants will be that all navigation devices and equipment are Chinese and this will also bring a range of novelties for the team.
At the end of the day and successful passage of all technical and administrative checks, the team took part in the pre-launch briefing and press conference and tomorrow the crews will drive on the ceremonial podium that will mark the beginning of the competition.
Sergey Savostin - manager of KAMAZ-master Team on the “Silk Way Rally”:
"Scrutineering was carried out in standard mode. There were small problems at installation of new equipment, but these are work issues, since GPS and Iritrack on this race are not of usual European standard, so we had to install new brackets, new installation kits, connect the power, but it all went quite organized and all issues were solved ".
Andrey Karginov - pilot of crew No 401, winner of the Russian edition of the “Silk Way Rally”:
"This is my first time in Xi'an, as I had to miss last sports year due to a trauma. Our trucks have come a long way to get here. This, certainly, proves that we really want to participate in this serious competition. We hope that the route will be challenging and we will be able to check how prepared our trucks are. We are in anticipation of the start of the competition, glad that there will be a large amount of sand and high dunes. Rally-raids are good for giving opportunity to drive on the dunes. As we say in our team: "You shouldn’t go fast in dunes, you must go safely and overcome them." Training in the Gobi Desert gives us an excellent opportunity, of which, training before Dakar-2019.
