Dakar: Karginov keeps it in the Kamaz family

Coming from three consecutive victories, Eduard Nikolayev looked like the big favourite to win the 42nd edition of the Dakar rally. However, the defending champion was off the pace from the beginning and ended up withdrawing due to mechanical troubles with his Kamaz truck.

However, Kamaz showed the depth of its team, with 2014 champion Andrey Karginov eventually taking out the truck section of the rally which finished on the weekend.

The 43-year-old bounced back from a lacklustre performance in the opening stage to steal the show with seven stage wins and an incredible pace that left his rivals — and teammates — in the dust. His win was so convincing that runner-up Anton Shibalov finished over 42 minutes behind the leader in Qiddiya despite taking three stage wins along the way.

Meanwhile, Teruhito Sugawara driving a modified Hino 500 Series took out the Under 10-litre class and finished a very creditable tenth of the 41 trucks that started the event.

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Teruhito took over from his legendary father Yoshimaza who has decided to put an end to his Dakar career aged 78 after 36 appearances on the race.

Teruhito first experienced the rally as a navigator in his dad’s truck back in 1999. He was given more responsibilities behind the wheel of a Hino truck as of 2005. He has only finished outside the top fifteen twice in 19 starts.

After equaling his best ever performance by recording a sixth in 2018, the 47-year-old had to settle for ninth last year but once again took out the under 10-litre class (for the tenth time).