Cross-country rallies have been stopped for a variety of reasons, whether it be inclement weather or even land mines (yes, land mines). Those competing in last weekend’s Ural Frontier can also add livestock to that list.

While the field prepared for the start of the first stage, they noticed a bunch of cows standing and walking around the course. As it turned out, they were being overseen by a local shepherd and searching for a place to graze.

“They were looking for grass, and we were looking for the track,” remarked race director Alexander Grachev. “The shepherd was confused, but a member of my stewards’ team moved him along and drove the herd to the side. He was on a horse, I was in a car.”

Once they moo-ved out of the way (sorry), things got underway.

The Ural Frontier is a new addition to the Russian Rally-Raid Championship. As the name suggests, it is located in the Ural Mountains between Miass and Magnitogorsk in Chelyabinsk Oblast, while also running through the Republic of Bashkortostan.

Given the new territory, perennial favorite KAMAZ-master took some time to get used to the forest layout and very slick grass from the rain. Yuri Naiman seized their learning steps to win the Prologue for hometown Ural Motorsport.

However, the KAMAZs got back in form afterward to sweep the truck podium. Bogdan Karimov won by over 23 minutes on Nikolaev and 24 on Almaz Akhmedov. Nikolaev got stuck early in SS2 after his truck sank into a mud bog created by the rain; Akhmedov and Naiman came by to help pull him out. Akhmedov ultimately held off Naiman for third by two minutes.

While KAMAZ walked away with a podium lockout, Nikolaev still tipped his hat to Ural Motorsport. Ural is currently in their third year of operation, and hopes to continue their momentum into the Silk Way Rally after a disastrous showing in 2024.

“We have strong rivals,” said Nikolaev. “The Ural team showed themselves well. It is clear that the guys can keep a good pace. I think the Silk Way will be especially interesting this year when Ural team also joins our fight with MAZ.”

Brothers Alexey and Dmitry Cherkesov recorded a 1–2 finish for cars with their Can-Am Mavericks. Alexey Ignatov’s GAZelle was third and 52 minutes back of Alexey.

Cars

R

Finish	Overall	Number	Driver	Navigator	Team	Vehicle	Total Time	Margin
1	3	204	Alexey Ignatov	Evgeny Pavlov	GAZ Raid Sport	GAZelle NEXT	8:24:44	Leader
2	4	205	Aleksandr Semenov	Dmitry Okhotnikov	GAZ Raid Sport	GAZelle NEXT	8:31:55	+ 7:11
3	7	206	Denis Nazarkin	Andrey Nikiforov	Denis Nazarkin	Toyota Land Cruiser 80	9:45:37	+ 1:20:53

T2

Finish	Overall	Number	Driver	Navigator	Team	Vehicle	Total Time	Margin
1	6	207	Andrey Sushentsov	Aleksandr Shchanov	S&A Racing	Toyota Land Cruiser 200	8:57:00	Leader
2	8	208	Leonid Petrov	Anton Pletenev	RUS	Nissan Patrol	9:48:40	+ 51:40

T3

Finish	Overall	Number	Driver	Navigator	Team	Vehicle	Total Time	Margin
1	1	201	Alexey Cherkesov	Artem Shevelev	Alexey Cherkesov	Can-Am Maverick XRS	7:32:12	Leader
2	2	202	Dmitry Cherkesov	Vladimir Prostakov	Dmitry Cherkesov	Can-Am Maverick XRS	7:45:54	+ 2:42
3	5	209	Tatiana Sycheva	Aleksandr Alekseev	Xesha Motorsport	Can-Am Maverick XRS	8:26:24	+ 53:12
DNF	DNF	203	Aleksandr Mironenko	Andrei Mokeev	Truck Garage Racing Team	Yamaha YXZ1000R	DNF	N/A

T5

Finish	Number	Driver	Navigator	Mechanic	Team	Vehicle	Total Time	Margin
1	301	Bogdan Karimov	Dmitry Nikitin	Danil Telepov	KAMAZ-master	KAMAZ-435090	6:53:22	Leader
2	302	Eduard Nikolaev	Evgeny Yakovlev	Vladislav Klukhov	KAMAZ-master	KAMAZ-435092	7:16:34	+ 23:12
3	303	Almaz Akhmedov	Ivan Maikov	Ivan Tatarinov	KAMAZ-master	KAMAZ-435090	7:17:23	+ 24:01
4	304	Yuri Naiman	Aleksandr Shmelev	Andrey Stanislavchuk	Ural Motorsport	Ural-43206R	7:20:02	+ 26:40
5	305	Mikhail Shklyaev	Aleksandr Sheludko		GAZ Raid Sport	GAZ-C41R13 / Sadko NEXT	9:01:53	+ 2:08:31
6	306	Vladimir Moiseev	Aleksandr Laguta		GAZ Raid Sport	GAZ-C41R13 / Sadko NEXT	9:30:47	+ 2:37:25

Featured image credit: Ural Motorsport