MAZ-SPORTauto is now a single-party team. On April 2, all of the team’s personnel including its drivers pledged to join the Belaya Rus party.

Belaya Rus is the largest party in Belarus by membership and legislative representation, holding nearly half the House of Representatives and a majority in the Council of the Republic. Its platform centers on supporting President Alexander Lukashenko, sentiment shared with the other three officially registered parties.

Party chairwoman Olga Chemodanova visited the team’s shop on Thursday to issue membership cards.

“Everyone unanimously supported the decision to join the party,” team head Siarhei Viazovich. “The choice was simple and unequivocal for every single person; no one hesitated.

“For us, this shows our support for the course along which Belarus is currently moving. We view this as a distinct honor, the opportunity to become an integral part of a unified whole alongside those who are now our fellow party members.”

While certainly a big commitment, it isn’t surprising that the entire team would join the dominant party together. The other parties are far smaller but also have ideological differences like the Communists versus the conservative Liberal Democratic Party and socialist Republican Party of Labour and Justice, whereas Belaya Rus touts itself as centrist or a big tent. In the broader picture, however, it gets the team further in line with Lukashenko.

MAZ-SPORTauto’s parent company Minsk Automobile Plant is owned by the Belarusian government. This connection resulted in the team being turned away from the 2022 Dakar Rally because MAZ was under Western sanction related to the crackdown on employees protesting the 2021 presidential election. Viazovich, the 2023 Silk Way Rally winner and 2021 Dakar runner-up in the Truck category, backed the government response; he called the protests a “mania” and felt that, while unfortunate, the violent response by Lukashenko’s regime was justified if it “managed to keep the situation under control.”

The team has remained barred from Dakar since, and the restriction only tightened shortly after the 2022 race when the FIA banned Belarusian and Russian teams from races under its jurisdiction in response to the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. While Belarus hasn’t sent troops like North Korea, it is Russia’s closest ally and firmly backs the “special military operation”. While certainly hoping for the FIA to lift its ban, Viazovich has said the team won’t beg for a return and is insistent that the federation let them fly the Belarusian flag if they’re allowed back.

In the meantime, MAZ-SPORTauto and rival KAMAZ-master have been going blow for blow in the Russian Rally-Raid Championship and SWR. In May, both teams will compete outside Russia for the first time since the start of the invasion when they enter the Taklimakan Rally in China.

With the company’s ties to the state, getting everyone on the team politically involved is a major step and an easy way to curry extra favor. Even KAMAZ, which is owned by the Kremlin and whose team members are registered for mobilization into the Russian military, doesn’t enjoy this luxury.

“Through your example, you show that MAZ-SPORTauto is a team of like-minded people,” Chemodanova told the team. “These are people who also share a civic stance. In doing so, you show trust in your state, which supports every sector including industry and sports. Belaya Rus represents all people, Belarusians, fellow thinkers. Every party member will always support their own. As a result, the team will gain even more fans.

“We wish the team victory in all of its races. MAZ-SPORTauto represents our country today and is a flagship of Belarusian mechanical engineering. That is why I wish you strength, success, and good luck. As a political party, we will unquestionably support the initiatives that come from this team.”

Featured image credit: пресс-службы Минского автомобильного завод