Press releases

MINSK, 16 January (BelTA) - Belarus' MAZ-SPORTavto crews successfully cleared Stage 11 of the 2015 Dakar Rally in 4th, 20th, and 31st places in the T4 truck class, BelTA has learned.

Out of the three Belarusian trucks, Sergei Vyazovich (race number 510), his co-pilot Pavel Garanin and mechanic Andrei Zhigulin performed the best, finishing the 194km special timed section of Stage 11 in 2h10m11s which was 4th fastest, two minutes off the leader’s pace. Alexander Vasilevsky (race number 535), ended the eleventh leg of the Dakar Rally in 20th position, 10m29s in arrears. MAZ's third entry, Vladimir Vasilevsky (race number 560), crossed the finishing line 31st, 23m35s back of the front-runner. Dutch Hans Stacey (Iveco) took the Stage 11 win in the truck category clocking 2h08m11s.

After Stage 11 of the Dakar Rally, Belarus’ Alexander Vasilevsky and Sergei Vyazovich retain their 9th and 34th overall positions respectively. Vladimir Vasilevsky’s crew dropped to 41st in the general classification. Russia’s Airat Mardeev (KAMAZ) continues to hold sway in the cumulative tally of the trucks class. Russia's KAMAZ drivers hold the top three overall positions in the truck category.

Slovak Ivan Jakes (KTM) took the Stage 11 win in the motorcycle class. Spain’s Marc Coma still tops the overall timesheets in the bike category. French Christophe Declerck (Yamaha) scored the stage win in the quad category, while his teammate Poland’s Rafal Sonik (Yamaha) leads the general classification. Qatar's Nasser Al-Attiyah (MINI) secured another stage victory and retains his lead in the overall standings of the cars.

The route of the 1,024km penultimate stage of the Dakar Rally between Termas de Rio Hondo and Rosario will be the same for all the categories.