MOSCOW, January 11. /TASS/: Russia’s Kamaz-Master Team crew of Eduard Nikolaev won the 9th Stage of the 2022 Dakar Rally in the truck category, while his teammate Sotnikov’s crew crossed the finish line in 2nd place.
Nikolaev and his crew of Yevgeny Yakovlev and Vladimir Rybakov won the 287 kilometers distance in 2 hours 38 minutes and 43 seconds.
Another crew of Russia’s Kamaz-Master Team, led by Dmitry Sotnikov alongside with Ruslan Akhmadeyev and Ilgiz Akhmetzyanov, finished the 9th stage of the rally in second place clocking the distance in 2 hours 41 minutes and 17 seconds.
The Czech squad of Martin Macik, Frantisek Tomasek and David Svanda from Team Big Shock Racing finished in 3rd place, with only three seconds shy of Sotnikov’s crew, showing the final time of 2 hours 41 minutes 20 seconds.
According to the official website of the 2022 Dakar Rally, the 9th Stage of the legendary race offered the 287-kilometer special stretch, which "climbed to altitudes of between 800 and 1,200 meters with more than half on sand and 14% on dunes for a taste of desert rallying."
The 44th edition of the Dakar Rally is held across the territory of Saudi Arabia between January 2 and 14, 2022, and consists of 12 stages. Since late 1990s, the Kamaz Master team dominated the truck category in the Dakar racing series, winning a record number of 18 prestigious rally raids.
