CARS GLOBALMAG August 2016 | Page 71

Our objective was to gain more experience with the car and the crews, to reach Beijing with all three cars and win. We succeeded in ticking all those boxes!” While Peugeot triumphed, MINI also impressed, beginning with Yazeed Al Rahji and Timo Glottschalk. The X-Raid prepared cars were a model of consistency: the Saudi-German duo led the ALL4 Racing effort, finishing 25’51” adrift of Despres and Castera. Russia’s Vladimir Vasilyev and Konstanin Zhiltsov gave Team X-Raid two medalists on the Silk Way podium. The international theme continued with England’s Harry Hunt and Germany’s Andreas Schulz fourth overall, while the Kazakah-Russian pairing of Aidyn Rakhimbayev and Anton Nikolaev gave the German constructor four places in the Top 5. With six trucks entered in the Silk Way Rally, the Kamaz Master Team was looking good for yet another overall triumph. Clearly the Naberejnhye Chelny armada didn’t foresee their two impending rivals: the desert and the allnew Renault ‘Sherpa’ of Holland’s Martin Van Den Brink. Winner of six stages, the ‘Flying Dutchman’ gave the Russian squad plenty to worry about. Edouard Nikolaev in the all-new ‘Kapotnik’ suffered an oil pan issue, Andrey Karginov was slowed in the Gobi and Anton Shibalov had too many mechanical problems to count. But Dmitry Sotnikov and Airat Mardeev kept marching on. The Renault had far too many hiccups; from re-cooling to punctures and electrical concerns, but that didn’t stop VDB and crew from finishing third overall. But in the end, the law of big numbers saw Kamaz do what they now best…win. Airat Mardeev was too strong and too consistent; as he accepted the laurels form the top step of the Beijing podium as his runner-up team mate Dmitry Sotnikov looked on from step two. After seeing their bid for victory end when they rolled on Leg 5, Stéphane Peterhansel / Jean Paul Cottret provided invaluable rear-guard assistance and flawless solidarity to the finish, helping the #102 and #104 Peugeots on several occasions. They felt comfortable in their role and admitted that the fortnight had been tremendous fun and given them a completely fresh take on the sport.