MINSK, 17 January (BelTA) - Sergei Vyazovich's crew of Belarus' MAZ-SPORTavto team came in third at Stage 10 of the 2018 Dakar Rally in the truck category, BelTA has learned.
After the previous race was cancelled due to poor weather conditions, the Belarusian racer produced a convincing performance at Stage 10 (Salta-Belen), with just 11 minutes behind the pace-setter Ton Van Genugten (Iveco) who clocked 5:31:49. Another Belarusian crew led by Aleksei Vishnevsky came in seventh. Alexander Vasilevsky was 12th.
The third place in the general classification went back to Sergei Vyazovich. He dropped out of the top 3 after he was given a 20-minute penalty, but his rival Martin Macik finished two hours behind the leader and lost the race to the Belarusian.
The 2018 Dakar edition is the seventh for the Belarusian team. The owner of MAZ-SPORTavto is Minsk Automobile Plant (MAZ trademark), the technical partner is velcom. The 2018 Dakar Rally is running through Peru, Bolivia, and Argentina to wrap up in Cordoba, Argentina on 20 January. The race features 3,500 kilometers of high-speed sections, with most of the route running in the highlands.
