The international Morocco Desert Challenge Rally runs from April 13th to 20th. Most of the route is laid on the desert and sandy terrain. Unlike other rally-raids, there are no slopes on the track: “combat” segments begin with bivouacs. Riders to overcome 2741 km of special stages, divided into eight stages. Among the obstacles are dunes, soft sands and dry river beds. In the T4 category (trucks), 34 crews went to the start.

The following brands participate in the race: MAZ, DAF, Iveco, MAN, Mercedes-Benz, Renault Truck, Scania.

The new bonnet MAZ-6440RR started the Morocco Desert Challenge rally on Saturday, April 13: Sergei Vyazovich’s crew took the lead after the first control point and showed the best time for the second, having overcome most of the distance of the first stage. However, then MAZ at number 503 abruptly rolled back. What happened?

“Indeed, we were in the lead for most of the distance,” Sergei Vyazovich told the team’s press service after the finish of the first stage. dust. And when they started to overtake them, we flew into this cloud. At the same time, the wind turned out to be fair, as a result, the dust did not deflate either to the side or backwards - it went along with us. roads ... At some point, being in this dust cloud, m We made a mistake in navigation and went away. Because of this, we lost a lot of time. But in the end we found and continued the race. "

At the 49th kilometer (WP), the crew of Sergei Vyazovich was 24 seconds ahead of his nearest pursuer and the future winner of the first stage, Martin van den Brink (Renault Truck, No. 501). At 110 km (CP1), the bonnet MAZ won against the Dutch crew already 1 minute 4 seconds.

Alas, because of the clash with jeeps in the dust and the ensuing navigation error, the Belarusians rolled back and finished the starting stage only at the 14th position. Martin van den Brink’s crew covered the entire 216-kilometer distance in 2 hours 47 minutes 11 seconds. The time of Sergey Vyazovich’s crew is 3 hours 16 minutes 42 seconds (taking into account the 2-minute penalty for speeding on the special stage).

In the crew of Sergey Vyazovich in Morocco, the new navigator - Anton Zaporoshchenko and the new mechanic - Sergey Sachuk, for whom this is generally the first "combat" rally raid.

Well, how did the new Kapot show itself in the race? “There were no problems with the car at all, it’s very easy to drive, it behaves pleasantly on the road,” Sergei Vyazovich said. “It feels like you can drive faster. But while we are driving, we are driving, we are listening to the car, we get used to it ...”

The crew of Alexei Vishnevsky, announced by the team “number one” at the Morocco Desert Challenge, on Saturday finished one position higher than the kapotnik - the 13th. His time is 3 hours 16 minutes 5 seconds.

And in this crew, the crew is also experimental: Pavel Garanin is a navigator, the mechanic is Vitaly Murylev. The car - MAZ-5309RR, in which Sergey Vyazovich spoke at the last “Dakar” (the “Dakar” truck of Vishnevsky himself is undergoing “deep maintenance”).

Morocco Desert Challenge 2019. Truck Offset. Position after the first stage (top 15):

OFFICIAL RESULTS of the first stage of the Morocco Desert Challenge can be viewed HERE.