Press releases

MINSK, 19 January (BelTA) – Three crews of the Belarusian MAZ-SPORTavto team made it to the top 10 at Stage 12 of the 2018 Dakar Rally in the truck category, BelTA has learned.

Sergei Vyazovich who picked up his first stage win yesterday finished sixth at the 523-kilometer special. Ton Van Genugten (Iveco) was first across the finish line in 7:02:36, 26 minutes 20 seconds ahead of Sergei Vyazovich. Aleksei Vishnevsky of Belarus came in eighth, 35 minutes behind the leader. Alexander Vasilevsky was tenth (39 minutes back).

Russia’s Eduard Nikolaev moved up to first in the general standings, his closest rival is Federico Villagra of Argentina. Sergei Vyazovich is third with 3:26:14 behind the leader. The Belarusian feels quite safe as he has a 2-hour lead over Airat Mardeev (KamAZ) who is ranked fourth.

The 2018 overall winner will be announced after the final stages 13 and 14 between San Juan and Cordoba.

The 2018 Dakar edition is the seventh for the Belarusian team. The owner of MAZ-SPORTavto is Minsk Automobile Plant (MAZ trademark), the technical partner is velcom. This year, Dakar Rally is running through Peru, Bolivia, and Argentina.