OREANDA-NEWS. November 11, 2008. For the first time in motor transport history a truck won a victory over everybody! And this truck is KAMAZ.

“There was no such a thing at the World Cup stages and at the UAE rally all the more. This rally is still for jeeps. And everybody was surprised that racers on trucks managed to show such a result”, – commented upon the results of the rally Vladimir Chaguin, a pilot of the crew-triumpher.

The “Desert Challenge-2008” rally was very difficult. Two thirds of the route were sands (generally no more than 50%); there were perfidious, loose dunes almost impassable for trucks. And there was blistering heat – 40 degrees above zero. The vehicles and the racers were under trying conditions.

“It was not allowed to run fast – the wheels could burst. But KAMAZ was at its best: it ran well on sand, and during the whole five days there were solid sand dunes. There was torrid heat! The engines got warm. On the second day we took away aftercoolers and a protecting screen so that the engine shouldn’t get hot. High temperature of the engine restricts the speed. We had to constantly look at the coolant temperature pointer”, - shared his impressions of the rally Vladimir Chaguin.

Two KAMAZ vehicles and an Italian crew on IVECO competed in the class of trucks. But on the second day the Italian crew stuck in the dunes and during two days it was getting out of them. In the absence of rivals in the class of trucks the KAMAZ-master crews gave battle to the contestants in the class of jeeps. And for the first time in the history of motor transport they took place on the platform in the absolute event.

“Saying about the tasks of the team in this race, of course, this is a good training before “Dakar”. We expect the same conditions in Argentina. We managed to perfect the co-ordinated work of the crews, check cooling systems, test those assemblies and aggregates which we will use at “Dakar”. In general, we prepared both physically and psychologically. The assigned tasks are accomplished!” – commented Firdaus Kabirov.

Even in such an unhappy year in respect of sport – with cancelled “Dakar” and stopped “Transoriental” – the KAMAZ-master team managed to prove its professionalism. Both experts and fans are sure that our racers are ready for new achievements. We congratulate all KAMAZ supporters, sponsors, friends on the success of the team!