The first in the trucks class started the French crew headed by Philippe Jacquot on MANN, which had won the previous lap. KAMAZ crews of Vladimir Chaghin and Ilghizar Mardeev followed it, persuaded by German Gerhard Walcher on SKAM and French pilot Jean Pierre Lapert on RENAULT.
Inspired by the yesterday’s success – after all, for the first time in his life he knocked Vladimir Chaghin, who was the World Champion of Rally Raid two times - Jacquot hoped for sport luck. But to paraphrase a proverb, this route which must dispose and man sustain. 317 km of high speed area, the most extensive of “Rally Orient”, played its road solitaire, which could be put in an exact trajectory from start to finish only by the most masterly drivers and navigators, cool-headed and physically strong. Two KAMAZ trucks has appeared at the finish of the second lap and caused true rapture of the numerous fans. And it’s not surprising: by this time only about 10 trucks could have reached the final point of the exhausting route.
The culmination of the duel between Chaghin’s KAMAZ and Jacquot’s MANN took place at the 28th km of a high speed section. The race driver from Chelny reached the Frenchman, who lost the possibility to go ahead along the narrow mountain lacet and was forced to stop, and let KAMAZ be first.
“The second lap route, - said Vladimir Chaghin after the finish, - notwithstanding the difficulty, was various and, as a consequence, interesting. Rocky stony road with dizzy turns changed into total lack of roads, as on trial. At some places the route passed along the flat areas, covered by breakstone. So, there was place to gather speed. We stopped only once to change the punctured wheel. We were made to cross a high mountain – more than 2500m and then to drive down during a long time. The breaks were overheated. But the trucks stood all this extreme, there is not any technical problem.”
So, after the second lap race, the crew, consisting of pilot V. Chaghin, navigator S. Savostin and mechanic D. Kamalov, were at the top of the table. MANN of Philippe Jacquot was 29 minutes 37 seconds back from the leader. The second KAMAZ crew with pilot I. Mardeev, navigator A. Belyaev and mechanic A. Mokeev was on the third place. It is 33 minutes 58 seconds back from V. Chaghin.
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