Press releases

MINSK, 5 January (BelTA) – The crews of the Belarusian team MAZ-SPORTavto came 10th, 31st, and 58th in the T4 truck class of the 2015 Dakar Rally, BelTA has learned.

The crew comprising pilot Sergei Vyazovich (race number 510), co-pilot Pavel Garanin, and mechanic Andrei Zhigulin finished in the 10th place. It clocked the best time of 1h32m49s among the Belarusian participants in the 175-kilometer opening stage. Last year's Dakar winner Andrei Karginov (KAMAZ-Master, Russia) came 11th.

The Belarusian crew led by Alexander Vasilevsky (race number 535) finished 31st (1h47m21s) losing 16m38s to the leader. The third MAZ crew, a maintenance crew, experienced mechanical issues itself. In the end, Vladimir Vasilevsky’s crew finished 58th (5h37m25s). A total of 62 teams are taking part in the rally.

Sam Sunderland (KTM, the UK) won the Dakar bikes opener. Ignacio Casale (Yamaha, Chile) assumed the lead in the quad race, and Orlando Terranova's crew (MINI, Argentina) became a front-runner in the car category.

The second stage of the Dakar Rally will run from Villa Carlos Paz to San Juan. The competitors in trucks will have to travel 646km. Some 8,200km will be covered by trucks and over 9,000km by bikes, quads, and cars during the 13 stages of the rally that runs through the territory of Argentina, Bolivia, and Chile.