“The capabilities of MAZ-SPORTauto are much more modest than those of KAMAZ-Master, but we will defeat them.” Interview with Sergei Viazovich

There is just under a month left before the start of the International Silk Road Rally. There is no noise at the base of the current race winner in the MAZ-SPORT automobile truck category in Minsk, and the team leader and driver Sergei Vyazovich meets correspondents in civilian clothes – pants and white shirt. The day we arrived (July 6), the famous runner was in his office.

— Sergei, we thought we would find you in the stands that we had wanted to visit for a very, very long time. Show me your goods?

“Everything here is very modest,” said Viazovitch, smiling and embarrassed. – But if you want, let’s go on tour. Just keep in mind that our territory is more modest than your expectations. It’s good that we are opening new premises soon, there will be more space to work.

We go out into the street through a large and spacious box in which construction work is taking place. In the new building, with six-meter ceilings, the almost floor-length panoramic windows and a sports truck that was driven in from the street after pouring the floor stand out. Next to it is a small room, more reminiscent of an auto repair shop on the outskirts of a small town. It is the base of MAZ-SPORTauto, one of the world leaders in rally raids.

“Compared to the KAMAZ master, you are poor relatives,” we joke, looking around the workspace of the Minsk team.

– We are happy to have what we have. Although you are right: we live modestly, but we try to develop. Even in such conditions, the team won the Silk Road for the first time in history and won prizes at the Dakar. Our capabilities are several times more modest than those of our colleagues at KAMAZ, both financial and human, but we impose competition and defeat them. And that’s worth a lot,” Viazovich noted, not without pride for the team.

Finally, Sergei shows exhibits for the future (the team has a desire, but no possibility) of the museum – trucks that won test competitions and became Dakar silver medalists. We will then talk about the next summer race, which will take place in Russia and Mongolia from July 5 to 15.

— What is the level of preparation of the team? What will be the composition of the crews for the race?

— We plan to send three crews under the command of Sergei Vyazovich, Alexey Vishnevsky and Vitaly Murylev. We will make a decision about mechanics and browsers later. We are still in process, the spring program of the Russian Championship turned out to be very busy and there was little time left to prepare for the race. The work does not stop, it continues every day and we are not yet ready to send the cars to the start of the rally in Tomsk.

— Is Alexander Vasilievsky’s career as a sports pilot over? We see him more and more often in the role of a mechanic.

— No one has made the decision to end their career. When the team fell under the restrictions of the European Union in 2021, we decided together: if we still go to the Dakar, then Sasha will take part in it, especially since he and I stopped at 9 races of the Dakar everyone, and it would be nice for him to finish after the birthday begins.

Even if there is no Dakar, our decision remains in force, and now Alexander Vasilevsky is helping the team train new crews. But it would not be entirely correct to go to the stages of the Russian Championship with the main team and not give young crews the opportunity to grow. I have repeatedly said that in the Republic of Belarus we do not have the opportunity to organize training – there are simply no free territories where comprehensive testing could be carried out. Therefore, the only way out is to take part in Russian races and gain experience there.

Will it be possible to return to the Dakar? Nobody knows. We would really like Sasha to complete his tenth Dakar of his career.

“But without training, it will also be difficult to maintain combat fitness. RIGHT?

— A good question to which there is no answer yet.

— Does he drive during exams?

— I haven’t sat down yet this year.

***

— Have you managed to resolve the financial problem with the Dakar organizers?

– No. Understanding that the Minsk automobile plant is under sanctions, our federation in 2021 took on the role of a candidate team for the race and payer of fees. Unfortunately, ASO’s response is as follows: “We suspect that in case of return, the money will be credited to the account of the company under sanctions, and we are ready to return it only when MAZ is released from restrictions.”

– Trial?

— We have not started the trial. I think in the current realities of the political system, it’s wasted money. Few believe in a fair decision by European courts regarding Belarus.

— Is the amount estimated in hundreds of thousands of euros?

– She’s quite impressive.

— What does the federation think?

– It’s regrettable.

***

— On the “Silk Road” you have to get to Tomsk on your own. Are there any difficulties in this regard?

— The only thing is that we have to leave a little earlier than our rivals. As a result, there will be less time for preparation. The team itself will fly by plane, the materials will be delivered by public roads – it will take about a week. I don’t see a problem with that.

— Given the lack of testing of crews, will an early departure have an impact?

– This will have no effect. But so far there is nothing to practice on. The equipment is in a partially dismantled condition. In July we have a very important start ahead of us, the guys pay close attention to all the details – there are no trifles on the Silk Road.

— In the days following the presentation of the course, were you able to study it in more detail?

— There are sketches on the table. We don’t spend a lot of time on this issue so as not to exhaust ourselves before departure. Today we have an excellent truck, quite experienced crews, including mine and Vishnevsky, capable of coping with any complexity of the route.

The most difficult thing is the length of the rally and the characteristics of the marathon stage. Considering these factors, it is necessary to develop the right tactics from the start of the race. It makes no sense to talk about tactical formations for every rally day, because after several stages, tactical adjustments occur daily.

We are now thinking more about how to travel the Russian part of the Silk Road; it will be quite short with terrain closer to a rally. Next come the rocky, sandy and fast sections in Mongolia. And here a dilemma arises: how to start a marathon – with an offensive or saving style?

– Thoughts?

— To be honest, in the sands we should have a weaker position compared to the master KAMAZ, because they have more experience, more training. I know the guys have now organized a training camp in the UAE, while we don’t have such an opportunity. One option is therefore to create a temporary handicap from the start, which can be used at the end of the race. But to do this, you have to take risks. And if you take risks, there is a good chance that you will make a mistake and give your opponent the opportunity to maintain their result from start to finish. And to force experienced Russians to make mistakes, you need to be several minutes away from the standings – this is the only way to create tension that can lead to their mistakes. Here are several types of tactics, and I don’t know which one to choose (spreads arms to the sides).

On the 11-day course, we have weak points and strong points. We think of everything. And we’re not going to reveal all our cards.

***

— The marathon stage will be the final stage of the race. Additional complexity?

– Yes. It is important to distribute your forces correctly. The stages around 400 km don’t scare us, we have covered them many times. We will use tires from a Belarusian manufacturer, I hope this will be an advantage for us on rocks and fast and hot roads. I know that the guys from Naberezhnye Chelny do not have the opportunity to receive new batches of Goodyear tires; I’m sure in racing they use wheels from deliveries two or three years ago. New tires should therefore be our advantage in the race.

If we focus on the race as a whole, I will highlight the experienced crews of our rivals. Yes, Bogdan Karimov is showing good speed this year, but in short stretches. And they are physically difficult for him – he leaves the cabin exhausted. And when the special stages of 400 kilometers or more begin, the main danger for us, I think, will be posed by the crews of Dima Sotnikov, Eduard Nikolaev, Andrei Karginov – those who already have the experience of devoting their forces to the marathon set. I wish Bogdan success, but he will find himself in the most difficult position among his colleagues.

— You are the leader of the team, the one who sets the pace. Do you think that the same Murylev wants to relegate you to the background?

– I’m delighted. Vitalik is a true athlete by nature and today he wants more than he can do. That’s good, it reminds a little of my ambitions. But for the team it sometimes plays a negative role in terms of the final result. Vitalik has good speed, a good car, but somewhere he lacks a little experience to recognize one or two difficult places of the stage, so as not to have problems. On training and testing days, that’s exactly what we work on with the guys, so they can get close or beat me in rhythm. Anyway, time passes, and you simply have to pass on the experience. During training, we change crews and study cockpit recordings.

I’ll be honest: I only have experience on my side at the moment, and there are times when the guys go faster than me. But I would say that recognizing the terrain and dangers on the highway is my asset. I prefer to go through difficult and dangerous sections a little slower, but move away from them in other places. In the same place where pure aerobatics is practiced, Alexey Vishnevsky and Vitaly Murylev display a speed not inferior to mine. I am sure that if we had the Dakar, participation in it would have played a huge role in their growth – these two weeks in January are comparable to the experience gained throughout the season at the Russian Championship. And when we were competing in the Dakar, there was no six-month break, which is also important.

— Santa Claus can only grant one wish for the New Year. What did you wish for the team, what resources would you like to receive?

– The richer you are, the happier you are. In terms of resources, we have almost everything we need to grow. So I would just like to wish you good luck this leap year. For us, 2024 has started with difficulty, we want luck to return and the guys to travel the entire “Silk Road” without a single stop on the route.

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