“Europeans cry when they see the struggle going on on the Silk Road.” They want to come to us” – head of KAMAZ-master

The head of the KAMAZ-master team, five-time winner of the Dakar rally marathon, Eduard Nikolaev, told Match TV that European racers are sadly watching the struggle on the Silk Road.

The international rally-marathon “Silk Way” in 2024 took place in July across Russia and Mongolia. The overall winner in the truck class was KAMAZ-master driver Dmitry Sotnikov. KAMAZ-master missed the last two Dakars.

— Is KAMAZ-master making attempts to return to the Dakar rally? If yes, what is the position of the organizers regarding the Russian team?

“Like any athletes, of course, we are going through this situation. For us, the Dakar race is the Olympic Games. The team has been taking part in it for many years, is a 19-time winner of the rally, and has won the Silk Way Rally another 11 times.

We are still following the Dakar. We are asking questions, working on a return, but so far we see that the situation is not improving. The organizers are also worried about this, because they are very interested in us. The top team, which the rivals really wanted to catch up and overtake, is not participating. By the way, not only us, but also the Belarusians in MAZs, who also pulled themselves up very well. The race became a bit boring. Nevertheless, we are trying to do everything in our power.

At the same time, we are absolutely in shape, the training process does not stop. Even if they tell us “it’s possible” tomorrow, we will be ready to return as if we didn’t miss anything. Although this is already the third year that we have not been at Dakar. At the same time, we try to meet our opponents on neutral territory.

— If Dakar is the Olympic Games for you, what do you compare the Silk Road to?

– They are very close. You know, all Europeans cry when they see the struggle going on on the Silk Road between KAMAZ-master, MAZ and the Ural team. This is clear from correspondence with them. And let’s not forget about the GAZ team either. Our intrigue is crazy. 12 trucks in the Russian championship is a very good number. At the Dakar last time it was 42-43.

The Europeans say: we want to come to you, otherwise we no longer have such intrigue. And that’s great. The Silk Road’s routes are no easier than the Dakar. I just want to compete with more participants and in more starts,” Nikolaev told Match TV.