Silk Way Rally 2009 : Silk Way Rally

25-11-2009 - Silk Way Summary

You’ll find a summary of the Silk Way Rally when you click here

04-09-2009 - The competitors of the rall Silk way 2009 are ready for the start

Today in Kazan, capital of Tatarstan, the administrative and technical checkings for the international rally Silk Way 2009 took place, the race labeled Dakar Series. More than 60 teams going to participate in car racing and 20 trucks, in general representatives of 20 counties came for take a part in the event. Tomorrow at 15 o’clock they are going to start the first indicative super special section (SS), just made for this ocasion in the center of the city. It extent of 2013 metres and it simbolical, in the year 2013 in the capital of Tataratan going to have place 27th summer Universiada.

Route of the rally for cars and trucks extented for 4 500 km., and crossing Russia, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan from September, 5 till September, 13th. Competitors will faced on the way both easy and quite heavy sands passage and dunes, and navigators have to have proper ability to guide in sections without any roads.

Among favourites of cars crew– Wolkswagen motors with four crews (the favorits - Spanish Carlos Saints, Naser Al Attiha from Qatar, South African Giniel De Villiers American Mark Miller on the Race Touaregs), and also well-known by there results at World Cup FIA Frenchmen Christian Lavieille (Team Dessoude) and Phillipe Gache (SMG).

In truck racing the main challenger for a victory the eightfold winner of Dakar team "KAMAZ-MASTER" raised by Simeon Yakubov, before he headed the Silk Way project. Among the main contenders of Kamaz-Master teams are the Iveco trucks driven by Gerardus and Ian De Rooy and the Tatra that belongs to Ales Loprais. More then 150 TV channels in the whole world will broadcast the rally programm, it will alow millions of supporters to enjoy the competition and the amazingly beautiful landscapes. More than hundred journalists from 15 countries will accompany the race, besides 140 journalists are accredited on the start in Kazan.

EXCLUSIVE ATTENTION OF PRESIDENTS OF FOUR COUNTRIES

Accepting the invitation of the President of Turkmenistan for the last section of rally which will take place in Turkmenbashi the morning of September, 13th, the President of Russian Federation and President of Kazakhstan. president of Azerbaijan will be there. Thus, the project initiated and supported by presidents of three countries is embodied in life. Considering exclusive attention of country leaders, and, willing to give pleasure to the participants of the race, the organising committee has made the decision to adapt the two last stages of the race, keeping the most interesting sites in desert Kara Kum. Finishing ceremony will take place in the evening, September, 13th in Ashkhabad.

27-08-2009 - The competitors of the Silk Way Rally on the starting blocks

On September 4th in Kazan (Capital of Tatarstan, Russia), 62 cars and 21 trucks from 25 countries will enter the scruteenering of the Silk Way Rally. Kazan is working on a spectacular ceremony for the start : a grand sporting event with a 2013m off road super speciale in the center of the city where thousand of supporters will cheer. The length of this stage is a symbol because in 2013, the Tatarstan’s capital will host the 27th Summer “Universiade” (sort of Olympic Games for the students from all over the World).

That rally part of the Dakar Series, exclusively for cars and trucks will take place over 4500km from September 5th to the 13th and will leave from Russia, cross Kazakhstan and finish in Turkmenistan.
The amazing course will offer the best training for the Dakar rally with fast tracks, sand, dunes and also navigation.

On the favorites’ side in the car category, we’ll find the whole Volkswagen team (De Villier, Miller, Sainz and the new recruit Al Attiyah), Christian Lavieille (Team Dessoude) ansd also Philippe Gache (SMG).

In the truck race, the Kamaz are of course favorites on a landscape they know well but the De Rooy (Iveco) and Loprais (Tatra) will give them good competition for sure.

Extended media coverage will allow millions of admirers from all continents to follow the race and discover those amazing landscapes.

Find the competitors’ list here

15-07-2009 - Silk Way Rally : competitors invited by the sponsors

Institutions and sponsors of the Silk Way Rally, looking forward to hosting a great number of participants, have met and decided to take to take the entry fees of all the amateur competitors at their own cost !

This exceptional announcement was made yesterday morning at press conference in Moscow by the head of the rally : Semen Yakubov et Frederic Lequien.

 Only competitors who have sent their application form before July 31st may have the advantage of this invitation. 

Furthermore , the repartition of the prize money for amateurs was announced . The goal is to reward every participant. Indeed, and, for the first time ever in Rally Raid, 5000 dollars will be awarding each amateur team that crosses the finish lane in Asghabat on September 13th.

The rest of the 300 000 dollars rewards promised in April will be shared the following way : 10 000, 8 000 and 6 000 dollars for the first three of each category T1, T2 and T4.

The first Silk Way Rally, labelled Dakar Series in 2009, will take place between September 5th and 13th in Russia, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan and is reserved for cars and trucks. From Kazan (Tatarstan’s capital) to Ashgabat (Turkmenistan’s capital), the competitors who came to get the best Dakar training will compete over 4500km including 3200km of special stages . Volkswagen has already announced the participation of its 4 top cars and in the truck race, Kamaz, De Rooy and Tatra should be fighting for victory .

01-07-2009 - PRESIDENT OF TURKMENISTAN INVITES THE PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA IN ASHGABAT TO ATTEND THE SILK WAY RALLY FINISH

Russian news agency RIA Novosti informs that during the phone conversation that took place on 30th June, the President of Turkmenistan, Gurbanguly Berdymuhamedov, invited the President of the Russian Federation, Mr. Dmitry Medvedev to make a visit to Turkmenistan the day of arrival in Ashgabat of the international off road rally raid SILK WAY 2009.

The presidents of Turkmenistan and Russia have remarked that the significance of this automotive competition surpasses the one of a mere sporting event. According to their common opinion, the itinerary of the race Kazan – Ashgabat, which will take place 5-13th September 2009, is a symbol of continuity of the ties of friendship, which have united the peoples of Turkmenistan, Russia and Kazakhstan from the earliest times.

01-06-2009 - 300 000 DOLLARS FOR THE AMATEURS

Never seen on rallies-raid !

The Silk Way rally amateur competitors who will start on September 5th from Kazan (Russia) and will manage to overcome the challenge of the route written on the old Silk Way to finish in Asghabat (Turkménistan) on September 13th will share 300 000 Dollars of prize money.

More details will be given out later on. One sure thing: each amateur competitor who finishes the race will receive prize money.

26-05-2009 - Recos: the Silk way, thread after thread

It finally took around ten days for the sporting team of the Silk Way Rally to work on the writing of a part of the road book, corresponding to the last four stages of the race that will be held from the 5th to the 13th of September.

Four 4 vehicles as well as a Kamaz truck in its rally design covered the tracks of Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, with the goal to validate on the terrain the choices first done on maps and during the first checks. The caravan including a total or around ten members, led by Sergey Guirya, came back from this expedition carefully respecting the planned dead lines and accomplishing the mission set, as explains Jean-Marc Bonnay: “We designed the road book of the last part of the rally, which basically covers around 1500 kilometres of selective sectors. Despite the knowledge that we had of the terrain, I was often surprised by what we found. There will anyhow be enough to satisfy the drivers as well as the co-drivers”.

In the wide open spaces set by the interior sea of Karabogaz Gol, or in the heart of the Karakoum Desert, the diversity of terrain should favour quite a few surprises in this last part of the race. Those used to off-road rallies will be able to count on their technique and driving skills in the dunes and the co-drivers will have their part to play but will however discover types of deserts that are not that similar to what they usually have on a Dakar. “There are many sandy hills covered with very low vegetation and that are crossed over by tracks that follow the movement of the terrain. Sectors on which the drivers will have fun because the sand is a lot thicker”.

On this type of journey, the participants systematically return with a vivid memory. The one that Jean-Marc keeps in mind can give an idea of the atmosphere of land conquest that will arise from the road of the first Silk Way Rally: “At the crossing of the border between Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, we were the first civilians to have entered a forbidden zone that is now only visited by a few soldiers. On one of the tracks that will be part of a special, we drove for close to 200km in a no man’s land”.

25-05-2009 - Reconnaissance of the Silk Way Rally Dakar Series 2009 route

A little more than three months are left before the start of SILK WAY 2009 rally, and the preparation for it is in full swing. In May, A.S.O. experts, such as the well-known pilot Jean-Pierre Fontenay and the skilled navigator Stefan Le Bail are finishing the tracking of the final part of the rally route on the territory of Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan till the finish line in Ashgabat. Upon the invitation of the Russian Ambassador to Germany the presentation of the Silk Way 2009 rally raid will take place in Berlin on May 26th. The media representatives from all over the world will be able to receive the preliminary information about the peculiarities of the Turkmen part of the route of this off-road race connecting Kazan and Ashgabat September 5-13. The Rally directors will share the information about the reconnaissance results made on the route, which goes through the unique territories and will be a real challenge for the drivers and their vehicles and will also talk about the organizational work done in Russia, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. The press-conference will feature official representatives of the participating counties, competitors and business representatives.

01-05-2009 - SILK WAY RALLY PARIS PRESENTATION

The official presentation of the SILK WAY RALLT that took place in Paris on the16th of April was particularly covered by French and international media.

The cooperation agreement signed a month ago between French company A.S.O. and the Russian organisers of the race already shows results. The preparation of this international off-road rally that received the DAKAR SERIES status has taken off rapidly.

The rally participants and representatives of the media responded to the invitation of the embassador of the Russian Federation, his excellency Alexandre Konstantinovich Orlov.
The project born from an initiative of the Presidents of Turkmenistan, Russia and Kazakhstan, interests the favourites of the off-road discipline.

In the ballrooms of the Hôtel d’Estrée, one could indeed meet four-time off-road World champion and three time winner of the DAKAR, Pierre Lartigue, or drivers and co-drivers such as the winners of the 2006 Dakar Luc Alphand and Pascal Maimon, Isabelle Patissier, Elisabeth Jacinto or Eric Vigouroux…

The managers of Toyota France – Patrick Lardeau, of Team Dessoude – André Déssoude, of Man – Fred Van Putten, or of team Epsilon – Emilio Bosser as well as others came from all parts of Europe.

Frederic Lequien, assistant director of the DAKAR, confirmed the intentions to participate of German teams Volkswagen (with 3 crews) and BMW X-raid, of the American team of Robby Gordon with a Hummer prototype, of team Dessoude, of team Overdrive and of French race structure SMG managed by Philippe Gache.

In the truck class, the following teams have announced their appearance at the Silk Way Rally: MAN, TATRA, GINAF, MERCEDES and of course KAMAZ – master.

The registration documents can be downloaded at www.silkwayrally.com.

The registrations are open from the 16th of April to the 30th of July, but those registering before the 30th of June will have a discount.

The organisers have taken into account the difficulties linked to the World economcal situation and have reduced to a minimum the expenses of the participants by simplyfying the transfers to the start in Kazan and the return trip from Ashgabat after the finish.

The Silk Way Rally will also give out 300 000 USD of prize money that will exclusively be distributed to the amateurs!

Semen Yakubov, rally director also explained that the Silk Way totally corresponds to the spirit of the DAKAR SERIES.

It will correspond to half a Dakar in terms of distance (4500 km including 3200km of specials) and therefore be a perfect training for men and material three and a half months before the start of the 2010 Argentina ChileDakar.

16-04-2009 - THE DAKAR SERIES ON THE TRACKS OF MARCO POLO

Following the announcement of the route and entries now being accepted, the first ever Silk Rally is beginning to take shape four months ahead of the start this September 5th in the capital city of the Russian Republic of Tatarstan, Kazan. This car and truck only event will enrich the sport of rally raid with a new and prestigious event that will run on a section of the historic Silk Road. After crossing Tatarstan then Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan the rally will conclude at Ashgabat on September 13. From pros to amateurs, all will rediscover the founding principals of the sport. Their desires to participate in a world class event, while discovering grandiose and varied lands, will be amply satisfied. 

The « Dakar Series » label ideally corresponds to the Silk Way Rally’s personality, which will be a major endurance test where the physical and technical challenges will be of massive proportions. Over nine days, 4500km, including 3200 against the clock, will be covered. As far as the intensity of the competition is concerned, the terrains the competitors will cross will deliver a non-stop battle for top honours. The final two stages will be run through the vast Karakoum desert, where the art of dune crossing will be the difference between victory and defeat.