Once again the legendary KAMAZ-master team will struggle for the victory in the Dakar-2017 rally which is to start in Asuncion, the capital of Paraguay, tomorrow.It should be recalled that four crew of KAMAZ-master piloted by Eduard Nikolaev (navigator Yevgeny Yakovlev, mechanic Vladimir Rybakov), Airat Mardeev (navigator Aydar Belyaev, mechanic Dmitry Svistunov), Dmitry Sotnikov (navigator Ruslan Akhmadeev, mechanic Igor Leonov), and Anton Shibalov (navigator Robert Amatych, mechanic Ivan Romanov) will participate in the Dakar-2017 rally.
KAMAZ's rivals are Dutchman Gerard de Rooy and Argentine Federico Villagra (IVECO), Dutchmen Hans Stacey and Peter Versluis, and Kazakhstan's Arthur Ardavichus (MAN), Czechs Ales Loprais and Martin Kolomy (TATRA), Dutchman Martin van den Brink (RENAULT), and Sergey Vyazovich, Alexander Vasilevsky and Alexey Vishnevsky (MAZ). In total, 316 vehicles from 59 countries, including 50 sports trucks, will stand on the starting line of the Dakar 2017 rally.
The route of Dakar-2017 crosses the territory of three countries - Paraguay, Bolivia and Argentina. The rally participants will have to travel 8,800 km, 3,900 kilometers of which are high-speed special stages. After starting in the capital of Paraguay Asuncion, the riders will have a short trip in Argentina and head for Bolivia to pass five stages of the marathon. The participants will travel along the shores of Lake Titicaca and spend one holiday in La Paz, at an altitude of 4,000 meters above sea level.
"We'll climb to even greater heights than before, because the rally program includes the unofficial capital of Bolivia, La Paz, located at an altitude of more than 3,600 meters above sea level," said the race director Etienne Lavigne. "In total, there are four brand new stages for the participants who will be surprised both by geographical and climatic conditions, treacherous weather, which can make one day of the race quite contrary to the next one."
His words were confirmed by Dakar Sporting Director Marc Coma, one of developers of the new route to replace last year's one as it was criticized by pilots. "The physical challenge will be an additional incentive for the participants," stressed Coma. "The length of seven special stages will exceed 400 kilometers, and the length of one of them will be even more than 500 kilometers. For six days, the participants will drive at an altitude of 3,000 meters above sea level."
The second week of Dakar will pass in Argentina to finish in Buenos Aires. And for the record, this city will welcome finishing racers for the fifth time.