Press releases

MINSK, 4 July (BelTA) - MAZ-Sport Auto Team will take part in the 2016 edition of Silk Way Race, which includes 15 stages. The Belarusian team will use two new trucks with modern engines in the race, BelTA learnt from the team.

MAZ-Sport Auto Team will field three trucks for the race. Two new trucks are equipped with 12.5-liter engines designed by the Czech team Buggyra, based on Caterpillar. The trucks have been successfully tested at a site near Minsk. If the engines do well during the Silk Way Race, the team will probably use them in Dakar next year.

Sergei Vyazovich’s crew will drive the new truck. The crew includes pilot Alexander Vasilevsky and Aleksei Vishnevsky, Belarus’ three-time champion of drifting.

“In the world of motorsport MAZ-Sport Auto Team is well-known and respected. Now our goal is not just to develop but also show high results. Recent practices have shown that the trucks and racers are ready for any challenge. It is a common knowledge: the races of such level are not just a sport. It is a chance for the Belarusian equipment to enhance the country’s image abroad,” team pilot Sergei Vyazovich said.

The 2016 Silk Way Rally will kick off from Moscow’s Red Square on 8 July and finish in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square on 24 July. Racers are expected to take part in 15 stages, two stages more than in Dakar. The marathon will cross 15 cities, the Gobi Desert, Tien Shan mountain ranges. One of the stages will bring its participants to Balkhash Lake. Partaking in the rally will be 24 trucks and 100 offroaders.

Minsk Automobile Plant (MAZ trademark) is a sponsor of the MAZ Sport Auto Team. Belarusian racers are regular participants of the Dakar Rally and other big races. Belarusian crews make part of the best crews both in separate stages and the overall standings.