The Lada Niva Sport Turbo, in essence the first Lada T1 car, will make its debut at the Silk Way Rally in July. Two will be fielded by the Lada Sport Auto Finance team for Dmitry Voronov and Mikhail Mityaev, both in the Open class since it has not been homologated for T1 competition.

Factory-backed Ladas typically race the Russian Rally-Raid Championship in the T2 class for production cars, rather than the prototype T1.

The Niva Sport Turbo, of course, is a departure from its T2 counterpart. It uses a turbocharged 1.6-liter engine from the Lada Vesta, which produces 280 horsepower and 340 Nm of torque, and a six-speed sequential gearbox with a locking center differential. The wheelbase has been extended to 2,550 milimeters with a wider track of 1,680 mm and more ground clearance at 350 mm.

It features an independent suspension on both axles with dual shocks, along with a four-piston brake system with 302 mm discs and forged aluminum steering knuckles. Body-wise

“The Lada Niva Sport Turbo is a symbol of our technological ambitions and sports traditions,” said AvtoVAZ president Maxim Sokolov. “I’m confident this car will confirm the status of the most capable and reliable, and will inspire the team to new victories in the Silk Way Rally.”

Voronov won the Open class at the 2024 SWR, while Mityaev finished fourth in T2.

While the Niva Sport Turbo is Lada’s first T1 car under modern definition, purpose-built Lada rally raiders like the Samara T3 raced the Paris–Dakar Rally in the late 1980s. A Lada T1 also could have happened sooner and on a bigger stage than the Silk Way if not for the Russian invasion of Ukraine: Renault Group had considered reforming a rally raid program with Lada, but the war’s escalation in 2022 led to the company selling its majority stake in the marque back to the Russian government. Renault would ultimately pick Dacia to represent them in the World Rally-Raid Championship and Dakar.

Featured image credit: AvtoVAZ