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The Dakar 2014 was highly dramatic until the last minute. The clash of titans between Iveco and Kamaz will have been a close one until the very end. But the truth triumphed in the end. You can fall at accident but you will never win at random. At the finish line the overall leader Andrey Karginov is 9’35” behind the Dutchman’s Iveco. Andrey Karginov is for about 3 minutes behind Gerard de Rooy in the general classification. This is the second result. Then we note the information on the official website: a lot of competitors were hindered by an accident during the special. Details appear later. 90 km into today’s special, China’s Zhou Yong made a mistake, sowing chaos as his car crashed and blocked the road before eventually being removed. Gerard De Rooy with his truck №501 passed there touching the damaged car, but he didn’t stop to help the crew. Gerard de Rooy used his starting order to slip ahead. Then the crews of Karginov and Nikolaev arrived and try to put the car on wheels by hand, but it was without success. They managed to set the car back upright just with the help of the truck of Andrey Karginov. The way was unblocked and a traffic jam of race vehicles could continue the way. The need to help the crew 319 is undisputed, and race officials had to deduct some minutes from the time of the KAMAZ №306.

The results of the stage were corrected. Andrey Karginov won his first Dakar by 3′11″ over Gerard de Rooy. Behind them, the other KAMAZes hogged places 3 to 5, with defending champion Eduard Nikolaev, Dmitry Sotnikov and Anton Shibalov.

Even though 22 minutes that the organizers presented to the main rival of the KAMAZ-master Team Andrey Karginov became the winner of the Dakar 2014. It is deserved outcome of the 36th edition and the twelfth team victory on the rally Dakar.

Details of the Dakar rally which is to take place in January 2014 were announced during a press conference of the KAMAZ-master team at the RIA Novosti agency in Moscow.

KAMAZ-master is going to send more racers to Dakar this time – in five “combat” racing vehicles. Besides proven crews of E. Nikolaev – E. Yakovlev – V. Rybakov (the crew’s start number is 500), A. Mardeev – A. Belyaev – A. Israfilov (No. 503), A. Karginov – A. Mokeev – I. Devyatkin (No. 506), there will be crews only debuting at Dakar, but already with trophies from Africa Race 2013: A. Shibalov – R. Amatych – A. Khisamiev (No. 545), D. Sotnikov – V. Mizyukaev – A. Aferin (No. 549). Dmitry Sotnikov’s crew will provide other racers with emergency assistance.

Altogether, there are 71 racing trucks in the starting list of Dakar-2014. Among them are two HINO and two LIAZ, three RENO and three MAZ, four IVECO, eight TATRA, eight DAF and eight MERCEDES, 11 GINAF and 17 MAN trucks, except five KAMAZ vehicles.

Answering the journalists’ questions, Vladimir Chagin, Manager of the KAMAZ-master team, told that all racing vehicles had been updated and tested during the outgoing 2013 year. For example, the trucks received improved electronically controlled Wabco & Knorr-Bremse pneumatic brakes. In 2014, the organizers of Dakar Rally will tighten up emission requirements. Besides, the engine capacity will be limited to 16.5 litres since 2016. Therefore three of five racing tucks which set out to South America to participate in Dakar-2014 Rally are equipped with Liebherr engines. The rest two vehicles are as usual powered with YAMZ engines.

Mr. Chagin said that Nikolaev’s, Mardeev’s and Karginov’s crews had undertaken a challenge to get into the top ten at Dakar-2014. Dmitry Sotnikov’s and Anton Shibalov’s task is to do the whole route, gain experience and test the vehicles. “We hope they won’t disappoint us all,” the manager of the famous team emphasized. “But our competitors have advanced vehicles and fast racers too: about 15 crews will strive for victory.”

By the end of 2013, 96 next-generation KAMAZ-5490 (M1842) long-haul tractors made in cooperation with Daimler AG will have rolled off KAMAZ’s assembly line.

The first KAMAZ-5490 production vehicle the gross combination weight of which is 44 tonnes rolled off the assembly line this October. The conveyor and the whole quality control system were reconstructed specially for KAMAZ-5490 production, and it was the first modernization of such a scale in the company’s history. It is planned to produce 2,000 such trucks in 2014. It should be noted that the first vehicles had been bought already before they rolled off the assembly line, and, in December 2013, all KAMAZ vehicles produced under the M1842 index will be delivered to their owners.

The world’s best technologies were applied to develop the new model range, which enabled to make the brand-new comfortable and safe vehicle with up-to-date electronic equipment. Today’s KAMAZ long-haul tractors are comfortable Mercedes-Benz cabins from the Axor line with air conditioners and heated seats and a modified system of the KAMAZ chassis. KAMAZ-5490 is powered with a Mercedes-Benz OM457LA inline 6-cylinder 428 hp engine meeting the Euro 5 standards (which will be replaced by a motor of the company’s own make in the future).

The new KAMAZ vehicles received new names according to international standards, which will enable to more easily promote them in the markets. In the first place, indices will be changed for KAMAZ-5490, KAMAZ-65206 and KAMAZ-65207. They will be called M1842, T2642 and T2640, respectively.