Dakar 2016: be with us!

December 24, 2015 sports team "Maz-Sportavto" in its entirety went to Latin America to participate in the most difficult and prestigious race on the planet – "Dakar-2016".

The MAZ-Sportavto team will take part in Dakar for the fifth time. At the race, Maz will present three sports trucks – two main crews and a" quick technician " for emergency assistance during the races.

The team expects to get on the podium, that is, to enter the top five of the best crews.

At the same time, the minimum task is to drive the entire route and stay in the top ten.

The honor of the plant will be defended by three crews:

Crew # 507:

• pilot-Sergey Vyazovich;
• navigator-Pavel Garanin;
• mechanic-Andrey Zhigulin

Crew No. 512:

• pilot-Alexander Vasilevsky;
• Navigator-Valery Kozlovsky;
• the mechanic is Anton Zoroshchenko.

Crew No. 541:

• pilot-Vladimir Vasilevsky;
• Navigator-Dmitry Vikhrenko;
• mechanic-Alexey Neverovich.

The cars on which the crews will start the race have already been sent to Argentina. The equipment is prepared, taking into account the experience of participation in the rally raid of previous years. The team has done everything that depends on it to perform well at Dakar 2016, and Maz-Sportavto is aiming for high places.

The Belarusian team relies on speed, professionalism, competent strategy and quality of equipment. Efforts of designers and mechanics of the enterprise were directed to improvement of designs of cars and improvement of their technical characteristics. The American Gyrtech engine, modified by the Czech company Power Tech Systems, is installed on the combat vehicle, which will be driven by Vladimir Vasilevsky at the race. Engine power is 930 HP, torque-4200 Nm. Its installation allows you to reduce the total weight of the car by 300 kg. The engines on the other two combat vehicles remained the same: the Yaroslavl plant on the car of Sergei Vyazovich and tutaevsky on the car of Alexander Vasilevsky.

Rally Raid "Dakar-2016" will be held on the territory of two countries – Argentina and Bolivia. The race will start on January 3 in Buenos Aires and end on January 16 in Rosario. During this time, the riders have to drive 9385 km in off-road conditions, steep ascents and descents (of which 4,331 km - length of special stages). In the truck class, 59 crews will take part in the marathon.

At the Dakar Rally 2015, the crew of Alexander Vasilevsky (Navigator-Valery Kozlovsky, mechanic-Anton Zoroshchenko) of the MAZ-Sportavto team took 10th place in the overall truck class standings. This is the highest result of the Belarusian team in the history of Maz participation in the races. The Belarusian team was represented by three crews and all of them reached the finish of the most difficult race in the world. In two weeks, the participants of the car marathon in 13 stages overcame more than 9 thousand kilometers. Of the 63 participants of the rally, 20 crews at different stages left the route.