MINSK, 23 July (BelTA) – Belarusian truck racer Sergei Vyazovich of the MAZ-SPORTavto team crossed the finish line of the second leg of the 2018 Silk Way Rally in the 7th position to place 5th in the overall standings, BelTA informs.
The second leg brought the racers to Elista. The 311km route featured steppes with ravines and streams. During the race Aleksei Vishnevsky's MAZ truck returned to help get Alexander Vasilevsky's truck back on track.
Dakar silver medalist Sergei Vyazovich cleared the stage in 3h54m, 28 minutes off the stage winner Russian Andrei Karginov. In the overall standings Sergei Vyazovich's crew placed 5th, 26 minutes behind the leader. “We stopped three times because of a turbine breakdown. Somewhere after 100km we began losing efficiency. Fortunately, we have another turbo compressor. We will replace it within an hour or two and be ready to continue the race,” said Sergei Vyazovich.
Alexander Vasilevsky's MAZ crew cleared the stage in 6h02m. In the overall standings his crew sits 11th, almost three hours off the leader. Aleksei Vyshnevsky came in 11th, falling into the 9th position in the overall standings (2h39m off).
Today the racers will have to cover 332km along steppe roads. The navigators will need to be very attentive not to get lost. The last part of special stage will go across torn sands overrun with shrubs. The stage rounds up in Astrakhan.
This year the 2018 Silk Way Rally covers the territory of Russia only. Overall length is 5,948km. The race started in Astrakhan and will end in Moscow. The obstacles on the route include mountainous terrain, water channels, canyons, and dunes. The race features around 20 truck crews. Last year, all Belarusian crews entered the top 10 in the overall standings.
