KAMAZ-master team pilot Dmitry Sotnikov is at the peak of his career, his truck driving is comparable to the painting of Mona Lisa, he is perfect, said team mechanic, double winner of the Russian Rally Raid Cup in the buggy class Igor Chagin in an interview at .
Sotnikov has won the last four major rally marathons in the world – twice “Dakar” and “Silk Way”. The 37-year-old pilot has been part of the KAMAZ-master team since 2008.
— Do you understand that at KAMAZ-master there is the highest competition among pilots and you will have to fight for the right to get a place in the race for many more years?
– The team has such a position: they are actively raising a new generation of riders. Today, Bogdan Karimov and I are among the young people who once traveled the ancient Silk Road as combat pilots. And there must be a third. The team has a lot of trucks, but there are few new drivers, while the competition between experienced drivers and youngsters is always present.
No one knows when the generational change will occur. Look at Dima Sotnikov – he is at the height of his perfection: he has won four races in a row – two Silk Roads and two Dakars. I went with him to training, I told him it’s the most beautiful thing I’ve seen in the world of motorsport. Its piloting is comparable to the “Mona Lisa” painting, it is perfect. Dima can quickly get the truck out of any dead end, chooses the best trajectories. It seems to sing a beautiful song, create a work of art. Simply beauty!
– Andrey Karginov prefers to act differently – he goes straight to the point.
I admire him too. He himself organizes the difficulties and then overcomes them. Everyone thinks Andrey is an aggressive driver. He drives any car they give him, doesn’t bother with very fine tuning of the car. And gives a cool result on any technique. But sometimes there are offensive breakdowns that put an end to his victory. However, any race is a drama, and then everyone remembers how he heroically arrived on three wheels, how he overcame high dunes on one axle or saved a truck in the desert for three days. Karginov is a charismatic man, but Sotnikov’s style is closer to me, to what my father taught me.
Source : MatchTV
