The third Dakar in Saudi Arabia maintained the contents that made it legendary even without the dispute from the Marathon stage but with the addition of great navigation difficulties, often harshly criticized by the participants for some secret way-points that cannot be found or poorly marked on the roadbook.
In the trucks there was the absolute domination of the Kamaz Master team who literally monopolized the 44th edition of the raid with a poker that sanctioned the undisputed superiority of the Russian army. To find a similar result you have to go back to 2011 but in the meantime the brand from Naberezhnye Chelny has collected the 19th victory among heavy vehicles.
Dmitry Sotnikov wins the Dakar for the second time in a row
Photo by: ASO
In the modern era of the race conceived by Thierry Sabine, Russian trucks represent the backbone of the appointment reserved for heavy vehicles: the success of Dmitry Sotnikov, the navigator Ruslan Akhmadeev and the mechanic Ilgiz Akhmetzyanov has never been questioned because the crew # 500 took command of operations immediately after the prologue and never gave it to anyone.
![Nikolaev's Kamaz K5 second behind Sotnikov's](https://cdn-2.motorsport.com/images/mgl/2QznG8vY/s8/505-kamaz-master-eduard-nikola-1.jpg)
Nikolaev’s Kamaz K5 second behind Sotnikov’s
Photo by: ASO
Yet it was not an easy feat because Eduard Nikolaev finished second in less than ten minutes (9’58 “in a race that offered over 41 hours of special stages diluted in 12 days): Dmitry Sotnikov, who replicated the first success of last year, the last stage that brought the caravan from Bisha to Jeddah did not experience it as the triumphal arrival on the stage, but with the fear that a small inconvenience could deprive it of a well-deserved result:
“The raid was very demanding, certainly very different from the two previous editions in Saudi Arabia. It is true that the team dominated, but the rivalry for the victory was renewed every day and, believe me, until the last kilometer it was impossible for me to relax ”.
![Kamaz mechanics work to restore Karginov's truck to the bivouac](https://cdn-6.motorsport.com/images/mgl/63vAjqwY/s8/509-kamaz-master-andrey-kargin-1.jpg)
Kamaz mechanics work to restore Karginov’s truck to the bivouac
Photo by: ASO
For “Dima” the key to success was the adoption of the new K5 generation truck:
“We have a new vehicle, the whole team has been working hard on developing this truck over the past year. We are grateful to all those who supported us, because this victory is the fruit of the work that has been done ”.
Two K5s chased each other for almost two weeks on the dunes and the inaccessible Arab canyons without particular problems: they raised the threshold of competitiveness that the old 43509s have already preserved. Anton Shibalov, third, paid for more than an hour from the more compact and agile K5, a sign that the competition cannot sleep if it has the ambition to challenge the Russians in the future.
![# 503 Big Shock Racing Iveco: Martin Macik, Frantisek Tomasek, David Svanda](https://cdn-5.motorsport.com/images/mgl/Y99ApwLY/s8/503-big-shock-racing-iveco-mar-1.jpg)
# 503 Big Shock Racing Iveco: Martin Macik, Frantisek Tomasek, David Svanda
Photo by: ASO
Today it seems an impossible undertaking: Martin Macik with the Powerstar pushed to maximum power yesterday tried to break the Kamaz hegemony in the last short special of 164 km, but that attempt also failed. The Czech paid only 38 seconds from Sotnikov, aware that he had no tools to reply to the Russian superiority.
![# 504 Petronas Team De Rooy Iveco: Janus Van Kasteren, Marcel Snijders, Rodewald Darek](https://cdn-3.motorsport.com/images/mgl/0rGgWNy2/s8/504-petronas-team-de-rooy-ivec-1.jpg)
# 504 Petronas Team De Rooy Iveco: Janus Van Kasteren, Marcel Snijders, Rodewald Darek
Photo by: ASO
On the plate there was the new K5 conceived starting from a smaller and more agile quarry vehicle, but Janus Van Kasteren, pilot of the Petronas De Rooy team, fifth at the finish as “first of the others” found that there is also an engine difference in which the Kamaz claims a much more efficient turbo response.
![# 508 Instaforex Loprais Prague: Ales Loprais, Petr Pokora, Jaroslav Valtr](https://cdn-8.motorsport.com/images/mgl/0mb9mNX2/s8/508-instaforex-loprais-praga-a-1.jpg)
# 508 Instaforex Loprais Prague: Ales Loprais, Petr Pokora, Jaroslav Valtr
Photo by: ASO
![# 511 Tatra Buggyra Racing: Ignacio Casale, Alvaro Leon, Tomas Sikola](https://cdn-5.motorsport.com/images/mgl/0rGgzEm2/s8/511-tatra-buggyra-racing-ignac-1.jpg)
# 511 Tatra Buggyra Racing: Ignacio Casale, Alvaro Leon, Tomas Sikola
Photo by: ASO
The Dutchman based his race on regularity, not on performance: Ales Loprais’ Prague and Ignacio Casale’s Tatra were certainly faster than the Powerstars, but they paid off being alone against the Kamaz.
The battle was really uneven because Vladimir Chagin’s men were able to absorb any difficulties with their proverbial organization (they brought Andrey Karginov back to fourth place who had … crashed in the group after a difficult day) also sharing the stage wins: 5 Sotnikov, 4 the Tsar, 3 Karginov and 1 Shibalov, while the opponents at the first important difficulties came out of the limelight and ended up in the dust of the caravan.
The great defeat was Iveco which brought six trucks to the top 10, but all behind the four Kamaz. The Italian company seems to be the only one with the potential to aspire to the role of challenger to the Russians, but a lot of development work will be needed if the hope is to break Naberezhnye Chelny’s hegemony.
It is true that the official Petronas De Rooy team was killed by COVID-19 before the start and Vick Versteijnen proved to be a good replacement after a first week of acclimatization. The very young Mitchel van den Brink also performed well in tenth place with a Trakker who performed the assistance fields. The family also celebrates the sixth place of father Martin, who achieved his best performance in his 14th Dakar. But it is clear that to put salt on the Russians’ tail, something else is needed.
![At the bivouac the assistance of the Petronas De Rooy team](https://cdn-8.motorsport.com/images/mgl/6l94eaK0/s8/531-team-de-rooy-iveco-michiel-1.jpg)
At the bivouac the assistance of the Petronas De Rooy team
Photo by: ASO
And why not build an Italian crew by raising it among our young people?
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