266-kilometer SS of the second stage on the rally “Gold of Kagan” was laid along the left bank of the Volga. In order to get to the start of the special section, the race contestants overcame about 90 kilometers of the liaison up the map towards Volgograd. Local landscapes have always been considered extremely heavy, destructive for vehicles and even dangerous to health of athletes.
Hilly sandy-clay surface, covered with grass, stretching from horizon to horizon and rare roads, driven by gas workers and local cattle-breeders - this is what today's special stage was like. Approximately 70 kilometers before the finish, contestants entered zone of barchans, some of which were given funny names by the organizers. For example, Lyolik and Bolik. These two large sandy ergs with cartoon names did not cause any problems to KAMAZ crews. It can be said that the race contestants were happy with the opportunity to get on the soft sands “blown” by spring winds, because all the rest of the time on the route they mostly had to endure severe shaking, sparing neither people nor vehicles.
On Sergei Kuprianov’s truck a gearbox failed on the 80th kilometer. When it became clear that the crew could not get to the bivouac on their own, an assistance truck was sent to tow it. At the end of the day, the judges of the race set a penalty to the crew.
The crew of Andrey Karginov on the 60th kilometer replaced a broken high-pressure hose of the steering booster. Closer to the finish he started having problems with shifting gears. On the bivouac mechanics will have to solve this problem.
At the beginning of the stage crews of Eduard Nikolaev and Airat Mardeev managed to compete with each other. But after the service area, on the second part, when a strong impassibility began, Airat Mardeev’s crew could fully use advantages of the bonnet truck. As said Eduard Nikolaev, who has a wide experience of driving on this truck — tough killing tracks are just the element of the bonnet truck.
Quotes
Andrey Karginov, driver of the crew No 301: “The track was difficult and tough, I remember the part of about 60 kilometers, which was a solid hill, our KAMAZ probably looked like a soccer ball from the outside, which, of course, took a toll on the vehicle and people".
Anton Shibalov, driver of the crew No 303: “After Dakar, the trucks mostly have the same units and aggregates that were used in South America. And continuing to load them, we check their resource. We are working on the suspension. We try modifications in the engine, decisions on its configuration are made for the next Dakar. Weak points are educed in the design of the truck. "
Dmitry Svistunov, co-driver of the crew No 304: “For the first time I participate in a competitions on the bonnet truck. I would like to note that such design of a race truck may especially be good for such amplitude and hard tracks, that the Astrakhan track certainly is. The suspension of this truck dampens vibrations after jumps much faster. The feeling is that it “clings” to the road with wheels.”
Dmitry Sotnikov, pilot of the crew No 302: “Following yesterday’s prologue and according to the decision of the team management, our crew went to the special stage first. It would seem an advantage to start first and not swallow dust behind the cars in front. But 50 km after the start, GPS of organizers on their truck has suddenly disconnected. We were caught up by following crew of Vladimir Vasilyev. He drove in front of us and became a good guide. In the hilly areas, we caught up with him quickly, but it was better for us to go after him.”
Eduard Nikolaev, pilot of the crew No 300: “On today's special section we have already been many times during previous races. There are some adjustments from the organizers, but in general we remember that this is one of the most difficult special sections in the Astrakhan region. It is very difficult to drive it from start to finish at a super-fast pace. The driver and crew begin to get physically tired. Today, the problem was aggravated by the fact that after driving through the service zone on the second section of the SS, I suddenly felt strong blows when braking, up to knocking out the steering wheel, I even injured a hand. We stopped, saw that the steering mechanism was damaged - the bolt was cut off from shaking and the damper was torn out. Unfortunately, it was impossible to keep the maximum pace without it.”
Aleksander Kuprianov, crew navigator No 305: “Before the problems with the gearbox began, we drove the first 80 kilometers rather quickly. We overtook 2 buggies, "Gazelle", went well, the pace was good. Classical Astrakhan route. Problems with navigation also did not occur. I liked the actively cheering farmers.”
Sergei Uspensky, pilot of the crew No 306: “I am going at my pace, which is significantly lower than the pace of the crews of the KAMAZ-master Team. I don’t have an aim to win in this race. The main target is to get acquainted with this wonderful truck and I will remember this acquaintance for a lifetime. I feel very comfortable in this truck in terms of managing it. Everything is absolutely ergonomically arranged: it is comfortable to sit, change gears and generally many important things, that influence the driving, are provided and they are easy and simple to change on the go.”
