Although trucks locked out the top four in Monday’s Silk Way Rally stage, they took a massive beating doing so.
Like Sunday, the 395-km Stage 3 ran through tight forests filled with mud and water. Unlike yesterday, this leg—which started with an uphill climb along a mountain river—had far deeper underwater holes and water crossings that easily obscured driver vision. There was even a bridge at KM 43.33 that collapsed which prevented some cars from getting to the other side, for which the organizers gave them time credits.
Stage 2 winner Siarhei Viazovich, who finished third on Monday, remarked afterward that his pace “had to be determined based on visibility.”
While Viazovich at least managed to finish on the stage podium, his MAZ teammate Pavel Murylev wasn’t so lucky. He drifted off the road and got stuck in a ditch, relegating him to last for the stage while he fell from 13th overall to 31st (eighth to 13th for trucks).
“After a puddle, we were whisked off into the forest,” started his brother Vitaliy, who finished the stage seventh in T5 with body damage. “But we didn’t even have time to get scared because our windshield was flooded and we couldn’t see where we were going. Luckily, our truck is powerful; we put it in low gear, turned on all the locks and drove off.”
Even the stage winner didn’t get away scot-free. Anton Shibalov lost the hood cover on his KAMAZ without even realizing. Colleague Eduard Nikolaev finished four minutes and 50 seconds behind him for P2 after dealing with minor engine issues caused by water getting into the truck.
Shibalov quipped, “With all the dirt and puddles, you could lose anything.”
Yuri Naiman rounded out the T5 top four after battling with Almaz Akhmedov through the forest. Naiman initially let Akhmedov pass him before the latter had to stop multiple times due to overheating caused by tree branches getting stuck. Ural colleague Alexey Popov had to complete the stage without front brakes after they were damaged in the rocks; his windshield wiper also broke, meaning he “drove blindly” when going through water.
KAMAZ’s Bogdan Karimov and Dmitry Sotnikov both encountered transmission failures. Karimov’s gearbox failed at the start which forced him to retire almost immediately, while Sotnikov had to finish in third gear after his transmission jammed 180 kilometers in. Sotnikov placed 11th in T5.
Alexey Cherkesov was the highest finishing non-truck in fifth, though it wasn’t entirely clean for him either. His Can-Am’s radiator belt was waterlogged to the point where he had to stop to dry it. He was able to pick up the pace once the course became drier, and ended up winning after passing Anastasiya Nifontova. Nifontova opted for a safer strategy to protect her tires, and currently sits second and 1:36 behind Cherkesov for the T3 overall.
The T1 side saw a lead change as Andrey Rudskoy was plague by a myriad of problems that sank him third in class and 41 minutes behind Pavel Andreev. After getting the water section out of the way, he hit a large rock that had been kicked out from a truck and punctured a tire. With his jack damaged, he and navigator Dmitry Karpov had to work with their hands.
Stage 3 winners
Auto
| Class | Overall | Number | Driver | Team | Total Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| T1 | 8 | 204 | Pavel Andreev | 404 Racing Team | 2:47:30 |
| T2 | 21 | 215 | Maksatmyrat Danatarov | Federation of Automobile Sport of Turkmenistan | 3:41:51 |
| T3 | 5 | 207 | Alexey Cherkesov | Alexey Cherkesov | 2:40:44 |
| T5 | 1 | 305 | Anton Shibalov | KAMAZ-master | 2:30:07 |
| Open | 10 | 218 | Amartuvshin Khasagkhuu | Rally Mongolia | 3:00:55 |
Moto
| Class | Overall | Number | Rider | Team | Total Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Motorally 450 | 1 | 32 | Ilya Shcheglov | Doc 32 | 3:03:15 |
| Motorally Quad | 12 | 129 | Dmitry Kalinin | RM Sport | 4:08:44 |
| Motorally Open | 11 | 59 | Grigory Lein | SWD Racing | 4:01:03 |
| G-Moto Challenge | 3 | 1 | Oleg Pavlenko | MMK | 3:14:57 |
Leaders after Stage 3
Auto
| Class | Overall | Number | Driver | Team | Total Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| T1 | 8 | 204 | Pavel Andreev | 404 Racing Team | 3:36:58 |
| T2 | 19 | 215 | Maksatmyrat Danatarov | Federation of Automobile Sport of Turkmenistan | 4:39:07 |
| T3 | 5 | 207 | Alexey Cherkesov | Alexey Cherkesov | 3:22:20 |
| T5 | 1 | 305 | Anton Shibalov | KAMAZ-master | 3:12:22 |
| Open | 12 | 221 | Evgeny Frezorger | Sibir.SDE | 3:03:19 |
Moto
| Class | Overall | Number | Rider | Team | Total Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Motorally 450 | 1 | 32 | Ilya Shcheglov | Doc 32 | 3:53:44 |
| Motorally Quad | 11 | 129 | Dmitry Kalinin | RM Sport | 5:03:44 |
| Motorally Open | 13 | 59 | Grigory Lein | SWD Racing | 5:15:43 |
| G-Moto Challenge | 3 | 1 | Oleg Pavlenko | MMK | 4:09:25 |
Featured image credit: KAMAZ-master
131 Off-Road 
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