Opinions & Interviews

Viazovich: MAZ-SPORTauto’s goal is to win at Dakar

Siarhei Viazovich

MINSK, 20 January (BelTA) – One of the leaders of MAZ-SPORTauto Team Siarhei Viazovich summed up Belarus’ performance at the Dakar Rally 2021 at a press conference on 20 January, BelTA has learned.

According to Siarhei Viazovich, next year the team intends to show a more confident performance. “In my opinion, the preparation process for the competition was correct. Both the team and the trucks are making progress. The goal is seek the victory,” he said.

“There were a lot of fast sections at the rally where the battle was really harsh. I would like to see more difficult routes, so that we could fully demonstrate the competitiveness of our truck in the off-road, some difficult sections,” the team leader said.

He also emphaszized high competition on the Dakar tracks this year. “All the crews were going at an equal pace, so a punctured wheel or a serious breakdown at such distances is akin to a disaster. You immediately drop out of the list of candidates for victory at this stage,” said Siarhei Viazovich.

“We have yet to find out what caused the automatic transmission drive failure. There are only assumptions which are still too early to voice,” the head of MAZ-SPORTavto Team said when asked about the possible causes of his truck malfunction.

Siarhei Viazovich and his crew were out of the competition after the fifth stage due to problems with the gearbox. Aliaksei Vishneuski’s crew placed sixth in the general truck classification. The first three places were taken by the Russian crews of KAMAZ-Master Team.

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