KAMAZ dominates Dakar

Russian truck manufacturer fills all three steps on the podium in the 2015 Dakar Rally

The 2015 Dakar Rally has been run and won, with Russian truck brand KAMAZ stamping its authority on the gruelling South American event with a 1-2-3 finish.

Culminating in the Argentine capital of Buenos Aires on Saturday, January 17, the #507 Team KAMAZ Master truck driven by Ayrat Mardeev (aided by navigator Aydar Belyae and mechanic Dmitry Svistunov) charged across the line nearly 14 minutes ahead of teammates in the #502 truck, driven by Eduard Nikolaev (with co-driver Evgeny Yakovlev and mechanic Ruslan Akhmadeev).

Rounding out the podium was a third Team KAMAZ Master truck, the #500 entry driven by defending Dakar truck champion Andrey Karginov (assisted by co-driver Andrey Mokeev and mechanic Igor Leonov).

Hans Stacey's win at the wheel of his Iveco in the first stage may have seemed a bad omen for the Russians but despite racking up four stage wins, the Dutchman was left in the dust as Mardeev and Nikolaev duelled for the overall.

Nikolaev won six stages and halfway through the race seemed on track to repeat his 2013 victory, but a calamitous stage seven forced him to chase after the super-consistent Mardeev. In the end, and after around 9000 kilometres, Nikolaev simply ran out of road as he lost to his fellow countryman by 13 minutes and 52 seconds in Buenos Aires.

In the other categories Qatar's Nasser Al Attiyah claimed victory in the cars with the Qatar Rally Team's All4 Racing Mini, while Spain's Marc Coma triumphed in the bikes aboard his Red Bull KTM and Poland's Rafal Sonik took the win in the quad bikes aboard his Sonik Team Yamaha Raptor 700.

For full rankings and details visit www.dakar.com, and for a package of video highlights of the truck class check out the clip below...

KAMAZ dominates Dakar

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