Kozlovský finishes sixth at the Silk Way Rally

6.7.2021

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It is over. The 11th edition of the Silk Way Rally had a very unusual development this year and will go down in history for several reasons. The race course was shortened by half, Russian Sotnikov got third historic victory. However, the North Bohemian truck from MKR Technology has not been forgotten, as it jumped to the final sixth place after the final 5th stage.

"It is a pity that it is over. The race was really beautiful despite all the ups and downs. We were all excited about the Russian environment, which is incomparable to Arabia at all. Hills, trails, rivers, forests were beautiful and a joy to drive through. Unfortunately, it is a home turf for  Russian Kamaz trucks. We simply could not compete with this blue army," summed up Daniel Kozlovský from Roudnice, the on-board technician of pilot Martin van den Brink's truck.

In the final 5th stage, the competitors had to cover the last 587 kilometers, after which they could start celebrating at the foot of the Altai Mountains in the Gorno-Altaisk bivouac. The final part was dominated by Belarussian Viazovich, who disrupted the dominance of Kamaz trucks with his MAZ., Shibalov, Sotnikov and Nikolaev lined-up behind him in the stage rankings. The Dutch-Czech crew of the Mammoet Rallysport team lost less than eight minutes on eighth position. However, in the overall ranking the team with the Roudnice technician Kozlovský improved when they moved to the final sixth place. After 3,108 kilometers, this year's winner of the Dakar Rally Russian Dmitry Sotnikov, is the first driver to win the Silk Way Rally for the third time.

According to the original schedule, this year's Silk Way was to have ten stages. In the third stage, they were to cross the border and continue into Mongolia. But the crews didn't go there. Due to the deteriorating covid situation, the organizers have made a fundamental change. The rally would remain only in Russia and be shortened to five stages and would end on Tuesday in Gorno-Altais.

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