Dakar 2013: Russian crews to start
Friday, 28 December 2012 18:51
Presently the event's provisional entry list contains 451 competitors. It was rumored to be 459, but simple math gives 8 entries less: 183 in the bike category, 39 in quads, 154 cars and 75 trucks. In total all these crews represent 53 countries. Unfortunately, presently the number of participants is beginning to reduce even further. For example, one of the main contenders for victory on bikes – Marc Coma – won't be able to start the marathon. The injury, which the experienced rider sustained at the race in Morocco, is still bothering him. Whether there are any more participants to fail to appear at the start, we will know only after the scrutineering scheduled for January 2nd.
The G-Force Motorsport team, backed by the company Gazpromneft-SM (Russian for "Gazprom oil – lubricants") and its premium engine oil brand G-Energy, will be represented by two crews:
It is the team's first appearance at Dakar, and the main target will be gaining maximum experience of competing in the legendary marathon, as was described in details at the recent press-conference held in Moscow on December 12th.
Boris Gadasin: «We won't be trying to show our entire maximum pace right away. Our aim is to set up the team-work, to solve all logistics issues so that everything is well organized and our mechanics don't get behind the crews. In that regards Dakar is an absolutely unique race. The liaisons between special stages are very long, not even close to any other rally-raid in the world. That is why we want to tackle the whole Dakar distance with as many crews as possible. It will provide us with necessary experience for future, so that the year after we can focus on other matters. However, it doesn't mean that we are going to drive slowly. The objective is to follow our own normal rhythm and not care about others. I suppose it should let us finish in around 10-15th position. However, if the situation is in our favor, we can aim for the top-10».
Watching the other Russian competitors in the cars category is also going to be entertaining:
#307 Leonid Novitskiy/Konstantin Zhiltsov (MINI All4Racing)
#365 Sergey Savenko/Denis Maltsev (Buggy)
#436 Roman Briskindov/Konstantin Mestcheryakov (GAZ)
#459 Artem Varentsov/Roman Elagin (Toyota)
In the trucks category KAMAZ counts on its youngsters once again. Last year we were able to make sure how determined to win the team was even in absence of Vladimir Chagin's crew who is now the team's mentor. 4 works crews plus the above-mentioned Ardavitchus are the squad's line-up for Dakar'13:
#501 E.Nikolaev/S.Savostin/V.Rybakov
#505 A.Mardeev/A.Belyaev/A.Mirniy
#510 A.Karginov/A.Mokeev/I.Devyatkin
#532 I.Mardeev/V.Mizyukaev/A.Khisamiev
The previous edition of Dakar grasped our mind thanks to a myriad of events, bright and interesting like new-year confetti and fascinating like a rollercoaster. The charges up through the scoreboard, which could end up in awkward or even tragic (as in case with Loprais' crew who fell asleep on a road section) falls, leave the memories about Dakar'12 fresh, even though all of it is now history. We will recall some of the greatest moments from the last year's marathon in our next article...