Press releases

MINSK, 11 July (BelTA) – MAZ race trucks will take part in the Amul-Khazar 2018 Rally (aka Turkmen Desert Race) in Turkmenistan, BelTA learned from Sergei Vyazovich, head of the MAZ-SPORTauto truck racing division of the Belarusian automobile engineering company MAZ, at a briefing on 11 July.

This year has been rather intense for the Belarusian team. After their success at the Dakar Rally the MAZ pilots will participate in the Silk Way Rally in July and the Amul-Khazar 2018 Rally across the Karakum Desert in September.

“Considering the road we will have to travel as part of the rally in Turkmenistan, participation in this prestigious race will be a good test of our mettle before the Dakar 2019 Rally, which will go across sands in Peru in January. At least two MAZ-SPORTauto teams will participate in the race in Turkmenistan in September,” noted Sergei Vyazovich. He stressed that the MAZ teams will try to win in the truck race event. KamAZ-Master and Tatra teams will also take part in the rally.

The Amul-Khazar 2018 Rally will begin in the city of Turkmenabat on 11 September to end in the city of Awaza on the shore of the Caspian Sea on 15 September. The road will be 1,158km long. Cars, quadbikes, and trucks will race over sandy dunes of the Karakum Desert at some stages of the rally.

Representatives of the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, diplomatic missions, top officials of the Belarusian Automobile Federation and the Embassy of Turkmenistan in Belarus took part in the briefing.

The MAZ-SPORTauto truck racing division is already well-known as a participant of international rallies. In January 2018 a team led by Sergei Vyazovich came second during the truck race as part of the Dakar Rally. It is the best accomplishment secured by Belarusian automobile sport.