Overall results in the Silk Way Rally

In Friday evening, the Organizers of the Silk Way Rally announced information about the penalization of the eighth stage of the rally. For the breach of neutralization rules, Dmitry Sotnikov received penalty- 3 minutes 6 seconds. So, KAMAZ-master team after yesterday's stage was replaced from the first place to the third, the winner of the day in truck classification became Andrey Karginov, who had to open 118 km special stage on Saturday.

Before the start of the ninth stage, the leaders of all standings, except the truck classification, sustained a great advantage and could drive at a comfortable pace and without any risk to lose the win at the last km of the race marathon.

The sole intrigue of the thirteenth edition of the rally was keeping at the trucks standings. The crew of Andrey Karginov had to rely not only at his fautless passing of the hardest section, but at slow mistakes of the first place occupying Sergei Vyazovich on MAZ. Ten minutes behind on the rain-slick black earth track, full of puddles, fords and mud traps, was not easy to win back - the truck of the KAMAZ-master team under number 301 had to "draw" the road for all the other participants in the rally.

As a result, Andrey Karginov's crew made minor mistakes in navigation, and also punctured the front wheel. At the finish, the riders from Naberezhnye Chelny showed only the seventh result of the day and lost the second position in the general classification, giving way to the crew of Eduard Nikolaev, who won the ninth stage.

Andrey Karginov, pilot of crew No. 301: “In rally-raids, you cannot relax until the last meters of the race. We went first in trucks, opened the way for everyone else. In one place we left a little bit, then another, but quickly got our bearings. We missed Sergei Vyazovich, went with him to the wrong place. Getting out of a difficult place, touched the right front wheel. The crew of Dmitry Sotnikov drove up and helped us quickly replace him. Then we tried to go quickly, but reliably. On a slippery road, it was easy to fly off the road, the tracks of the trucks showed that they were going to the left, then to the right, trees were mowed down.

Results? It's a race, you have to be able to lose. We will analyze and wait for new races. We have a new co-driver Ivan Malkov, this is the first race for him. During the rally, the leadership in the team passed to us, and this was a high responsibility to everyone. I think that the race turned out to be cool, for each member of the crew it is a serious experience. The mechanics did a great job, getting the cars ready every night. Thanks to the organizers for this Silk Way.

Eduard Nikolaev, pilot of crew No. 303: “The main task was to fight until the last kilometer, because anything could happen. Andrey Karginov was standing with a wheel, this could have affected both Sergey Vyazovich and me. Our team strove for a common victory, and the second me or the third is not so important. The main one was the first place "KAMAZ-master". Congratulations to our rivals on the victory that they find the opportunity to come to the race. We are fighting and pulling ourselves up so that when the Dakar comes again, we are all in shape. And next year we will try to return the main prize of the Silk Way.

The winner of the Silk Way Rally 2023 for the first time became the crew of Sergei Vyazovich (MAZ-SPORTavto). On Saturday, he finished with the second result, taking back to Eduard Nikolaev almost 3 minutes.

Sergey Vyazovich, pilot of crew No. 302: “A long way in 13 years for us. MAZ took part in the Silk Way for the first time in 2010, and today we finally became the winners of this most difficult race in difficult weather conditions. We, as always, chose unconventional tactics and went on the attack today on a slippery road. We never slipped anywhere, we didn’t make a mistake, we received Andrey Karginov very quickly at the 40th kilometer, passed it and kept a good pace until the very finish.”

Sergey Kuprianov, following the results of the final stage, showed the seventh time. The crew of the gas-diesel KAMAZ stopped to help Alexei Murylev, who was stuck in a swamp, and the minutes spent on rescuing the MAZ from captivity were worth the sixth place in the general classification.

Sergey Kupriyanov, pilot of crew No. 305: “After the finish, there is a feeling of a well done job and received pleasure from it. I would rate the result as normal”.

Hou Hongnin, pilot of the chinese-russian crew “One Zone-One Road”, repeated his 2016 result in Generale, having finished the fifth. Belarusian Aleksei Vishnevsky was the sixth, 7 minutes ahead of Sergei Kuprianov. The winner of the last two Silk Way rallies, Dmitry Sotnikov finished Silk Way Rally in the fourth place.

Hou Hongnin, pilot of crew No. 307: “I have been in Russia for more than 10 days and now I can relax. I am extremely tired for these days. I am glad and thankful, that I was able to reach the goal – to see the finish. If “KAMAZ-master” and the Я уже больше десяти дней в России, и наконец-то смогу отдохнуть. Очень устал за эти дни. Рад и благодарен всем за то, что у меня получилось достичь цели – дойти до финиша. Если «КАМАЗ-мастер» и «Шелковый путь» дадут мне такую возможность, я обязательно вернусь. А если гонка вернется в Китай, то это будет просто замечательно».

Dmitry Sotnikov, pilot of crew No 300: “After one of the brods, we saw, that Andrey stopped. We helped him to change the wheel, it was hard because we could not lift the  truck due to it was wet and muddy. It took us 7-8 minutes, realize that we lose the time. After it was raining, it became muddy and dusty. The weather was strange. It was slippery, but we had to get the finish. The section was short and alongside so tricky, which could change all the standing at the end of the rally. We are tired a little bit, we want to have a rest and sleep very well. We will make analysis and conclusion, and at the other starts we will be more strong”.

In the evening, at Red Square there will be the ceremony of triumphal finish, where the athletes will receive their honored prizes. Driving over the podium at Vasilievsky Slope will start at 7.00 p.m at Moscow time.

The trucks standings. The results of the ninth stage.

Thetrucksstandings. General classification.