Press releases

MINSK, 10 January (BelTA) – Belarus’ MAZ-SPORTavto crew led by Alexander Vasilevsky finished the seventh leg of the 2016 Dakar Rally in 11th in the truck category. Sergei Vyazovich was 32nd to cross the finish line due to some problems with the compressor, BelTA learned from Alfa Bank, a partner of Belarus’ team.

The seventh stage of the rally took the trucks through mountains, altitude changes, and water barriers.

The crew of Alexander Vasilevsky had a successful day as they cleared the stage in 4h9m31s and finished in 11th. They lost 15 minutes to stage winner Russia’s Eduard Nikolayev, and currently sit in 14th overall.

MAZ-SPORTavto’s Sergei Vyazovich faced technical issues with the compressor. The maintenance crew led by Vladimir Vasilevsky accompanied their teammates to the finish line. Sergei Vyazovich placed 32nd, Vladimir Vasilevsky 34th.

Dakar 2016 organizers made a decision to deduct 53m30s from Sergei Vyazovich’s overall time. The crew lost the time due to a GPS device fault during the sixth leg of the rally.

The race will resume with Stage 8 from Salta to Belen in Argentina on 11 January. The 2016 Dakar Rally is running across the mountains and deserts of Argentina and Bolivia. It kicked off on 3 January and will finish on 16 January.