KAMAZ-master crew triumphs for the 15^th time

The anniversary 40^th Dakar rally ended with the victory of the KAMAZ-master crew of Eduard Nikolaev, Yevgeny Yakovlev and Vladimir Rybakov in the truck category. Thus, KAMAZ-master has won the main prize of the competition, the Golden Bedouin, for the 15^th time in its 30-year history. Another Russian crew of Airat Mardeev ended third in the extreme rally.

The race was particularly tense and dynamic: two sportsmen were competing for the victory in the truck category two days before the end of the race. In the general classification, Eduard Nikolaev edged its closest rival Federico Villagra (IVECO) by just 1 second. However, in the pre-last stage, San Juan – Cordoba, the Argentinean was forced to abandon the race due to the gearbox breakdown. Thus, the crew of Belarusian racer Siarhei Viazovich (MAZ) became second in the general truck standing, with the Russian leader winning by almost 4 hours. Eduard Nikolaev confidently ended the last stage, losing only to Dutch Ton van Genugten (Iveco), Czech Martin Masik (LIAZ) and another crew member Dmitry Sotnikov.

Eduard Nikolaev won Dakar last year, also excelled in the most prestigious rally marathon in 2013. Thus, the current success was his third in his career, and this is the 15^th triumph in the famous race for the crew.

Siarhei Viazovich kept the second place in the overall standings, and the third place was taken by another representative of KAMAZ-master – the crew consisting of Airat Mardeev, Aidar Belyaev and Dmitry Svistunov. Dmitry Sotnikov ended tenth in the final classification.