DMITRY SOTNIKOV WINS SILK WAY RALLY

Sotnikov’s crew won the general and truck standings of the 2022 Silk Way Rally, reports press attaché of the KAMAZ-master team Erik Khayrulliun.

The twelfth edition of the International Silk Way Rally has come to its end. On Saturday, the final stage was held, and the names of the winners and prize winners of the race became known.

The tenth stage of the rally turned out to be rather short – only 120 kilometers of the special after which the racers had to travel 300 kilometers on a liaison from Lipetsk Oblast to Moscow. In order to keep their positions, the leaders had to take only reasonable decisions. But several fords were fraught with danger – yesterday’s story with several damaged trucks when crossing a river reminded the participants they shouldn’t relax.

From the first kilometers, the organizers of the race gave the navigators an opportunity to show their skills. To try to find the right direction, the crews had to run at a pedestrian speed. They were detained by the underbrush which hid the roads. The fastest to cope with all tasks was Andrey Karginov’s crew, the winner of the last stage of the Silk Way. They were followed by Eduard Nikolaev and Dmitry Sotnikov. Aspiring to the top position, Siarhei Viazovich had to replace the wheel at the finish and lost almost 20 minutes to the first place.

The minutes stored for thousands of kilometers during the race which had started in Astrakhan on July 6 helped Sotnikov finish on Saturday smoothly. As a result, the best among trucks is the crew of the KAMAZ-master team consisting of pilot Dmitry Sotnikov, co-driver Ruslan Akhmadeev, and mechanic Ilgiz Akhmetzyanov. This victory is the racer’s second in a row and fourth in his SWR career. No one won more victories in the history of this rally. Another fact: a truck crew has never won in the general standings of the Silk Way before. The second place of the race was taken by another crew of KAMAZ-master consisting of Eduard Nikolaev, Yevgeny Yakovlev, and Bogdan Karimov.

During the race, the gas and diesel KAMAZ steered by Sergey Kupriyanov showed itself to be good. The fast, reliable and eco-friendly truck built specially for the rally took third position on specials twice and second place once.

On Saturday night, the Luzhniki Olympic Complex hosted a bug concert, a finish podium and an award ceremony for the winners and prize-winners of the Silk Way Rally.

Dmitry Sotnikov, Pilot of Crew 300: “Our victory is the work of the whole crew and the team, and it was on a higher level. Everybody – mechanics, co-drivers – had a lot to bear at this race. I’m very happy. There were times when mechanics worked till the morning. At the second stage, we had a cardan torn off, we got stuck in the sand, and I thought: well, that’s all, we’ll try just to get to the fnish, but at that moment, something changed, and we solved the problem really quickly, and then things started looking up. We felt that we could fight, and the race was very difficult. We were lucky to win the “overall”. We are very glad about it.”

Eduard Nikolaev, Pilot of Crew 302: “I can’t believe that the race is over. Tomorrow we will start again, to come back home this time. This year’s race is super. I’d like to thank the organizers who managed to find an opportunity to carry out such a rally in our tough times. The route is very interesting, eventful, letting us learn more about our vehicles and ourselves. So, we are happy that everything worked out very well, that all guys are at the finish line.”

Truck Category. Results of the 10th Stage

Truck Category. General Classification