2011 Dakar Rally - Trucks - KAMAZ (Russia) - [10-Time Winners, World Record] - Highlights

1) Vladimir Chagin (RUS); Sergey Savostin (RUS); Ildar Shaysultanov (RUS) - Kamaz - 48h 28’ 54“ 00’ 00“ 2) Firdaus Kabirov (RUS); Aydar Belyaev (RUS); Andrey Mokeev (RUS) - Kamaz - 48h 58’ 58“ 30’ 04“ 3) Eduard Nikolaev (RUS); Viatcheslav Mizyukaev (RUS); Vladimir Rybakov (RUS) - Kamaz - 51h 49’ 11“ 3h 20’ 17“ 4) Ilgizar Mardeev (RUS); Vladimir Demyanenko (RUS); Ayrat Mardeev (RUS) - Kamaz - 54h 13’ 50“ 5h 44’ 56“ Russian Kamaz team is ten-time Dakar winner Vladimir Chagin, one of Russian pilots in the KAMAZ-master team, won the Dakar-2011 rally to become the seven-time winner of the race that finished in Argentina on Saturday. In all, Chagin`s truck came first 63 times during his career. Konstantin Garibov reports. He earned the KAMAZ-master team from Russia a worldwide fame. This is the tenth time when Russia wins the world`s most prestigious race. The KAMAZ-Master team comprised four crews. They were leading throughout the entire race, having won eight out of thirteen rounds. The team grabbed all awards plus an extra fourth prize. Russia wins the Dakar rally for the third consecutive year. Firdaus Kabirov came second, Eduard Nikolayev and Ilgizar Mardeyev were third and fourth respectively. ’Tsar’, as foreign colleagues often call Vladimir Chagin, stepped on the leadership path after the eighth round and never lost after. When reached the finals, his Kamaz truck`s tyres were all worn out and there was a deep dent at the forefront of the car. The team`s spokesman Erik Hairullin thinks that was a victory of willpower... “Participating in a rally is always a challenging task both in terms of race itself and living conditions. The rally`s major leg, the Atacama desert, is a place with severe climate and landscape conditions. This is the driest place on the continent, with average summer temperatures at 40 degrees Celsius.“ Maintenance team contributed greatly to this victory. Chief engineer Mikhail Arsenyev comments. “The crews are very reliable but cars are just machines, you know, and the only thing we could make was to design our trucks as best as possible to ensure successful race for our pilots.“ The President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev congratulated the Kamaz-master team in his blog on Twitter. “I congratulate the Russian KAMAZ-Master team and Vladimir Chagin on the spectacular victory in the Dakar Rally. Good boys!“ the president wrote. Nasser Al-Attiyah of Qatar won the race in the Car category, while Marc Coma of Spain came first in the motorbike category. It is his third victory in Dakar rally. Argentine pilot Alejandro Patronelli won the quad bike category. At the start of the Dakar-2011 rally there were teams from 51 countries: 67 trucks, 170 bikes, 30 quad bikes and 140 cars. Only half of them reached the finals. First time the Dakar rally was held in 1978, a year after French racer Thierry Sabine got lost in the desert and decided that it would be a good location for a regular rally. Originally, the rally was from Paris, France to Dakar, Senegal. However, due to politics and other factors, the course, including origin and destination, has varied over the years. The 2008 Dakar Rally was canceled on January 4, 2008 amid fears of terrorist attacks. In 2009 the event was organized in South America and has stayed there since then.