Dunhuang, a shining pearl on the ancient Silk Road, is famous all over the world for its many world cultural heritages, and as the end point of the 9th Silk Road International Rally, it has attracted the attention of cross-country rally enthusiasts in China and the world. This year’s rally started from Irkutsk, located along Lake Baikal, on July 6, crossed Mongolia from north to south, and arrived at Dunhuang, an important city on the Silk Road, on July 16, completing a 10-day race. A total of 5008 kilometers of races, 2593 kilometers of special stages. The brand-new route across 3 countries witnessed the indomitable challenging spirit of the participating drivers. From the coniferous forests of East Siberia, to the endless grasslands of Mongolia, and then to the majestic sand mountains of the Gobi, 22 motorcycles, 43 cars, and 12 trucks not only successfully completed the most important competition this year after 10 days of fierce competition. Challenging cross-country rally, also successfully completed a great journey of discovery.
There was a lot of people, and the champagne was opened. At the grand closing ceremony of the Dunhuang International Convention and Exhibition Center, Li Jianming, the deputy director of the General Administration of Sports of China, and Sergey Koshilov, the deputy minister of the Russian Federation Sports Ministry, and the Chinese Automobile and Motorcycle Sports Zhan Guojun, chairman of the federation, representatives of the FIA and FIM, and provincial and municipal leaders on the way to the rally congratulated the drivers and presented awards to the top three teams in the three groups.
The tenth stage of the day’s race was from Jiayuguan to Dunhuang, with a distance of 556.66 kilometers, of which 255 kilometers were special stages. The entire stage is carried out in the hills, and the degree of difficulty increases continuously in the first half of the race. The participating vehicles cross canyons, grasslands, winding roads and dry riverbeds. After halfway through, the riders reached the valley and reached the finish line after a smooth and high-speed stage. As always, speed, combined with precise navigation, is the key to successfully winning the last stage of this rally and enjoying the cheers and celebrations at the end.
The finish line is in sight, the pattern has been set, and the car group did not open too much distance in today’s high-speed stage. Qatari driver Attia continued his momentum and led the Dutch driver Van Luen by 3 minutes and 15 seconds. He won the stage championship again and perfectly won all the stage championships of this Silk Road Rally so far. This is also the top international cross-country rally. An unprecedented record.
As for the Chinese drivers, from the first stage of the race to the closing of the car, there are always good news, which shows that the standards and quality of Chinese drivers and Chinese motorsports are constantly improving. The Chinese team successfully withstood the test of various terrains. After 10 stages of long-distance competition, 5 Chinese drivers successfully entered the top ten in the overall standings of the car group. Han Wei of the Geely Shell Lubricant Team won the runner-up in the overall scoreboard of the car group. After finishing third in the 2017 Silk Road Rally, he once again set a new record for Chinese drivers to participate in top international competitions. . Drivers Sun Ping, Zhang Ming and Zi Rong from the Shaanxi Yunxiang Club team also contributed wonderful and stable performances in multiple stages of this rally, occupying the fourth to sixth place in the overall ranking respectively. Chen Feng, a driver of Longxingtianxia Rally Team, ranked among the top ten in this competition many times, and finally occupied the seventh place in the overall standings.
Ruan Quan, driver of Qian’an Jiujiang Road Aviation Tire Racing Team, who drove a Hongqi racing car, won the 12th place in the overall standings, and Lian Wu Bin, a driver of Giti Tire Racing Team, who participated in the Silk Road Rally for the first time, ranked 13th in the overall standings. Zhengzhou The Nissan Navara Race Wheel Team participated in the competition with a production car, successfully completed the race and achieved excellent results. Accompanied by the music of the car closing platform and the roar of the engine, the Chinese drivers who successfully completed the race drove past the car closing platform one by one. The flowers, applause and cheers on the scene were all rewards for their courage and persistence.
In the motorcycle group, the Argentine driver Kevin Benavidez of the Honda team galloped all the way and finally won the stage championship of the 10th stage. The French driver Van Beveren of the Yamaha team was only behind by 1 minute and 50 seconds, and the third place was the American driver Andrew Short from the Husqvarna factory team. He and Van Beveren There is only a difference of 2 seconds. In the overall standings, the British driver Sam Sunderland, who led by 20 minutes and 22 seconds, was expected to win the championship. The American driver Andrew Short, who was struggling to catch up in the last few stages, took the second place. The French driver Van Beveren was third.
As for the truck group, in the tenth stage on the 16th, Sparov of the Kamaz Masters team took advantage of the victory to win another stage championship again. Teammate Kakinov chased after him, only 34 seconds behind The second place in the stage, and the third place in the stage is the Belarusian driver Vishinoski from the Manz team. In the overall standings, the Kamaz master team took the top three without any suspense: Sparov won the championship ahead of his teammate Kakinov by 25 minutes and 22 seconds, and Maltif won the third place.
