KAMAZ-master is still the top dog at the Silk Way Rally, even if this year was more due to unfortunate circumstance befalling their rival.

As is usually the case, the SWR was a back and forth between KAMAZ and their Belarusian counterpart MAZ-SPORTauto. With mechanical issues holding back his teammates, Siarhei Viazovich was left to fend off the KAMAZs by himself in the overall, and he had been doing a solid job at that courtesy of three stage wins. However, while narrowly ahead of Anton Shibalov in the dogfight going into Stage 9, disaster struck when he hit a pair of gullies that were not marked in the roadbook and rolled.

Although Viazovich’s accident assured KAMAZ would win for the 12th time in the SWR’s 14-year history, his adversaries were frankly disappointed by the development. Eduard Nikolaev conceded his exit was “pretty sad” because it made the race “boring”.

On paper, there was still an exciting battle for the lead even with Viazovich out since Shibalov and Nikolaev were separated by just 49 seconds. In reality, however, that duel only lasted a few kilometers into Stage 10 before Nikolaev hit a rut that damaged his suspension. Shibalov pulled ahead by 26 minutes as a result, and one leg remaining was nowhere near enough time to make up the gap.

With both his main competition out of the picture, Shibalov played it safe on the final day to secure his second Silk Way Rally title after previously winning in 2019. Nikolaev finished second with Almaz Akhmedov and Dmitry Sotnikov tailing to complete a KAMAZ 1–2–3–4 overall. Bogdan Karimov probably could have helped contribute to a top five sweep as he won two stages, but suffered from a rash of mechanical failures that prevented him from making any ground.

“This is a real rally raid,” Shibalov stated. “The whole team, the truck didn’t let us down, the mechanics worked great, the tactics worked out correctly. Of course, I’d also like to say hello to my wife, my family, and all our fans.”

The Moto outright picture had similar beats to its four-wheeled counterpart. Ilya Shcheglov drew first blood before Murun Purevdorj picked up the pace as the rally crossed onto his home soil in Mongolia. Shcheglov retired in Stage 8 due to a crash, and with his next closest opponent Ivan Li being over 39 minutes back, Purevdorj just had to play it safe for the final three stages.

After finishing runner-up in 2024, Purevdorj became the first Mongolian overall winner in Silk Way Rally history and just the third non-Russian to do so on a bike after Sam Sunderland in 2019 and Matthias Walkner in 2021. The victory also added to a dream 2025 for him as it came six months after his Dakar Rally debut.

“I was competing with Ilya Shcheglov at the beginning, and our rivalry was very exciting,” said Purevdorj. “But then he crashed and then there were too many hours between us. After that, the race shifted into ‘be careful and just finish’ mode.

“It feels great to be first this year. Dreams do come true!”

Similarly, Ivan Li led the G-Moto Challenge for riders competing malle moto until he retired in Stage 9. His and Shcheglov’s exits opened the door for Ekaterina Zhadanova to take the victory.

Anton Kruglov joined Zhadanova and Oleg Pavlenko on the G-Moto podium. Kruglov and Anton Rene co-operate BN Racing, an adaptive motorcycle team that debuted at the SWR with Evgeny Ozol and Alexander Makarov. Given their conditions (Makarov has a prosthetic left hand while Ozov uses a hip prosthetic), their goal was simply to reach the finish, one that they ultimately achieved.

Despite losing two of its most prominent names in Sergei Kariakin and Anastasiya Nifontova to early retirements, T3 saw the closest battle among those for class trophies. Nifontova initially led before crashing, after which Dmitry Cherkesov and his brother Alexey entered the picture. The former won four straight stages before defending T3 winner Romain Rusinov tried to make his presence known.

Entering the final leg, Dmitry was clinging onto a two-minute advantage over Alexey and 4:36 on Rusinov. Rusinov, the former FIA World Endurance Champion, tried to close the gap in Stage 11 and was showing good pace before his tire went down, costing him a shot at the overall even though he set the fastest T3 time for the day. Dmitry beat Alexey by 1:36, who in turn held off Rusinov for the runner-up spot by 12 seconds.

Other classes were more lopsided. For example, T1 went from Andrey Rudskoy taking the first two stages to Pavel Andreev sweeping the rest of the way, including beating Rudskoy by five-and-a-half hours and even being faster than the trucks in Stage 7. Andreev notched Toyota’s second victory in the SWR after Nasser Al-Attiyah in 2019.

Dmitry Voronov scored a third-place finish in Open in the first race for the Lada Niva Sport Turbo, while his teammate Mikhail Mityaev was fifth. The pair combined for five stage wins.

Alexey Zverev and Dmitry Kalinin completed the race as the sole entrants in the Quad class for Russkaya Mekhanika. Zverev, the lead design engineer for the company, even set the fastest Moto time outright in Stage 2. RM is the first Russian manufacturer to win the SWR’s Quad category, which had only been claimed by Yamaha and Can-Am in years prior.

RM general director Leonid Mozheiko released the following statement to congratulate the team:

Dear friends and colleagues!

Congratulations to everyone on the successful completion of the international Silk Way Rally! Both quads of the RM SPORT team safely crossed the finish line, which was the result of the perseverance and professionalism of the entire team.

Alexey Zverev took first place in the ATV category. Together with rider Dmitry Kalinin, he demonstrated courage and determination, demonstrating not only driving skills but also strength of spirit. Special thanks to the mechanics: Alexander Kopeykin, Trukhin, and Zverev. Deep appreciation to Yulia Andreeva for the impeccable organization and preparation. Without your energy, the team would not have achieved its goals.

I thank the Russkaya Mekhanika team for their work and support. This achievement is the result of our collective effort and dedication. Challenges like the Silk Way Rally strengthen team spirit and open up new horizons. This is our shared story, our journey, our tireless pursuit of future achievements.

Stage winners

Stage	Auto	Time	Moto	Time
Stage 1	Bogdan Karimov	5:43	Ilya Shcheglov	6:27
Stage 2	Siarhei Viazovich	34:05	Alexey Zverev	42:06
Stage 3	Anton Shibalov	2:30:07	Ilya Shcheglov	3:03:15
Stage 4	Dmitry Sotnikov	2:16:01	Murun Purevdorj	2:48:49
Stage 5	Siarhei Viazovich	1:48:23	Murun Purevdorj	2:12:42
Stage 6	Dmitry Sotnikov	3:17:22	Murun Purevdorj	3:58:55
Stage 7	Pavel Andreev	2:28:14	Ilya Shcheglov	2:54:25
Stage 8	Siarhei Viazovich	4:41:34	Ekaterina Zhadanova	6:29:49
Stage 9	Almaz Akhmedov	2:58:20	Murun Purevdorj	3:52:19
Stage 10	Anton Shibalov	2:29:58	Murun Purevdorj	3:07:06
Stage 11	Bogdan Karimov	1:27:05	Murun Purevdorj	2:14:28

Auto

T1

Finish	Overall	Number	Driver	Navigator	Team	Total Time	Margin
1	9	204	Pavel Andreev	Gleb Mokeev	404 Racing Team	30:22:19	Leader
2	11	202	Andrey Rudskoy	Dmitry Karpov	NG-Energo Rally Team	35:50:20	+ 5:28:01
3	12	201	Alexey Ignatov	Evgeny Pavlov	GAZ Raid Sport	36:45:03	+ 6:22:44
4	21	203	Alexander Semenov	Dmitry Okhotnikov	GAZ Raid Sport	62:16:57	+ 31:54:38

T2

Finish	Overall	Number	Driver	Navigator	Team	Total Time	Margin
1	20	214	Merdan Toylyev	Shokhrat Toylyev	Federation of Automobile Sport of Turkmenistan	61:28:24	Leader
2	24	216	Meylis Abdullayev	Italmaz Charyyev	Federation of Automobile Sport of Turkmenistan	68:26:42	+ 6:58:18
3	30	215	Maksatmyrat Danatarov	Didar Orazmedov	Federation of Automobile Sport of Turkmenistan	168:17:25	+ 106:49:01

T3

Finish	Overall	Number	Driver	Navigator	Team	Total Time	Margin
1	5	209	Dmitry Cherkesov	Vladimir Prostakov	Dmitry Cherkesov	29:31:45	Leader
2	6	207	Alexey Cherkesov	Artem Shevelev	Alexey Cherkesov	29:33:21	+ 1:36
3	7	205	Roman Rusinov	Dmitry Pavlov	G-Drive Racing	29:33:33	+ 1:48
4	18	212	Ruslan Guryev	Vladislav Shevel	Motorace	50:05:29	+ 20:33:44
5	29	211	Tatyana Sycheva	Alexander Alexeev	Xesha Motorsport	123:02:57	+ 3:31:12
6	31	208	Andrey Novikov	Alexey Goryunov	G-Force Motorsport	202:10:17	+ 172:38:32
DNF	DNF	206	Sergei Kariakin	Anton Vlasyuk	SNAG Racing	DNF	N/A
DNF	DNF	210	Anastasiya Nifontova	Pavel Emelin	G-Drive Racing	DNF	N/A

T5

Finish	Overall	Number	Driver	Navigator	Mechanic	Team	Total Time	Margin
1	1	305	Anton Shibalov	Alexander Kupriyanov	Daniil Telepov	KAMAZ-master	25:15:53	Leader
2	2	303	Eduard Nikolaev	Evgeny Yakovlev	Vladislav Glukhov	KAMAZ-master	25:39:25	+ 23:32
3	3	307	Almaz Akhmedov	Ivan Malkov	Ivan Tatarinov	KAMAZ-master	25:50:50	+ 34:57
4	4	301	Dmitry Sotnikov	Sergey Krenev	Ilgiz Akhmetzyanov	KAMAZ-master	28:48:44	+ 3:32:51
5	8	308	Yuri Naiman	Aleksandr Shmelev	Andrey Stanislavchuk	Ural Motorsport	29:39:56	+ 4:24:03
6	14	310	Alexey Popov	Kirill Vorotnikov	Dmitry Utev	Ural Motorsport	38:20:31	+ 13:04:38
7	16	306	Pavel Murylev	Siarhei Sachuk	Artsiom Chalevich	MAZ-SPORTauto	46:02:49	+ 20:46:56
8	19	311	Anton Kushnikov	Dmitry Bersenev	Ivan Korolev	Ural Motorsport	60:50:02	+ 35:34:09
9	22	312	Mikhail Shklyaev	Alexander Sheludko		GAZ Raid Sport	64:35:23	+ 39:19:30
10	23	304	Bogdan Karimov	Dmitry Nikitin	Aydar Bigashev	KAMAZ-master	67:49:35	+ 42:33:42
11	25	314	Vladimir Moiseev	Alexander Laguta		GAZ Raid Sport	75:05:22	+ 49:49:29
12	27	309	Vitaliy Murylev	Aliaksandr Shved	Yauheni Tsiunel	MAZ-SPORTauto	118:30:52	+ 93:14:59
DNF	DNF	302	Siarhei Viazovich	Pavel Haranin	Andrei Krahelskiy	MAZ-SPORTauto	DNF	N/A

Open

Finish	Overall	Number	Driver	Navigator	Team	Total Time	Margin
1	10	223	Anatoly Kuznetsov	Alexey Smolin	Anatoly Kuznetsov	34:54:44	Leader
2	13	221	Evgeny Frezorger	Kirill Shubin	Sibir.SDE	37:07:29	+ 2:12:45
3	15	217	Dmitry Voronov	Kirill Enikeev	Lada Sport Auto Finance	45:52:20	+ 10:57:36
4	17	225	Sergey Shalygin	Nikita Erzhenin	Sergey Shalygin	49:36:09	+ 14:41:25
5	26	220	Mikhail Mityaev	Egor Okhotnikov	Lada Sport Auto Finance	85:47:21	+ 50:52:37
6	28	218	Amartuvshin Khasagkhuu	Khatanbaar Buyantogtokh	Rally Mongolia	122:11:12	+ 87:16:28

Moto

Motorally 450

Finish	Overall	Number	Rider	Team	Total Time	Margin
1	1	11	Murun Purevdorj	Team Mongolia	32:07:41	Leader
2	10	32	Ilya Shcheglov	Doc 32	122:43:59	+ 90:36:18
3	12	50	Nail Khubbatullin	Naikom Extreme Motocross	135:53:53	+ 103:46:12
4	13	42	Rustam Satrudinov	SWD Racing	137:46:58	+ 105:39:17
5	14	39	Pavel Bortvin	SWD Racing	145:00:45	+ 112:53:04

Motorally Quad

Finish	Overall	Number	Rider	Team	Total Time	Margin
1	4	176	Alexey Zverev	RM Sport	43:03:23	Leader
2	11	129	Dmitry Kalinin	RM Sport	125:56:05	+ 82:52:42

Motorally Open

Finish	Overall	Number	Rider	Team	Total Time	Margin
1	15	59	Grigory Lein	SWD Racing	165:57:21	Leader

G-Moto Challenge

Finish	Overall	Number	Rider	Team	Total Time	Margin
1	2	30	Ekaterina Zhadanova	DRC Racing Team	35:12:48	Leader
2	3	1	Oleg Pavlenko	MMK	40:29:15	+ 5:16:27
3	5	57	Anton Kruglov	BN Racing	54:05:16	+ 18:52:28
4	6	21	Alexander Abarkin	Alexander Abarkin	63:42:08	+ 28:29:20
5	7	17	Anton Rene	BN Racing	80:42:06	+ 45:29:18
6	8	29	Evgeny Ozol	BN Racing	89:23:56	+ 54:11:08
7	9	58	Alexander Makarov	BN Racing	90:18:04	+ 55:05:16
DNF	DNF	73	Alexey Shvetsov	Alexey Shvetsov	DNF	N/A
DNF	DNF	71	Ivan Li	Ivan Li	DNF	N/A

Featured image credit: KAMAZ-master