Moscow/Hanover, 16 February, 2017 –Rally teams of KAMAZ-Master have won the Dakar Rally 2017 and the Africa Eco Race 2017, two of the world’s most challenging desert races, on Continental tyres. Covering thousands of kilometers of dirt roads, rough mountain ridges and desert sand, the premium tyres delivered continuously high performance and optimum durability throughout the different stages of the races.

• KAMAZ-Master racing trucks fitted with Continental tyres as part of new product cooperation
• The premium tyres showed high performance and maximum durability on challenging terrain throughout all stages of both races
• Continental specialists will make use of gained insights on performance for future tyre development

The two cross-border rallies marked the beginning of a product cooperation between German premium tyre manufacturer Continental and the Russian KAMAZ-Master rally team. As part of the cooperation, the KAMAZ-Master race trucks as well as support trucks were fitted with Continental tyres.

Winning driver Eduard Nikolaev and his crew finished the final stage of the Dakar Rally 2017 with a 19-minute advantage, while another KAMAZ-master team led by Dmitry Sotnikov took second place.

“We didn’t experience any tyre problems during the race…”

Nikolaev gives credit to the German tyre manufacturer: “We didn’t experience any tyre problems during the race. It was the tyres that led us to victory after the first week of the race. The second half of the Dakar was the turning point that virtually determined our teams’ first and second places in the truck category’s general ranking. Thanks to the great performance of the Continental tyres, we didn’t lose time on tyre changes like our rivals did.”

The Africa Eco Race 2017 saw the victory of Andrey Karginov’s crew in the truck category, while Sergey Kuprianov’s team finished fourth.

“We are glad that our tyres helped KAMAZ-Master achieve the much-deserved victories. The results of their racing teams are impressive and we are proud to see that our tyres withstood the extreme driving conditions,” said Jaron Wiedmaier, General Director of Continental Tires Russia.

“The tyres proved their special capabilities: resistance to damage and maximum off-road performance. We will now use the data we obtained during the races to the benefit of further tyre development at Continental”,

The KAMAZ-Master rally team was founded in 1988 and is the truck manufacturer’s only team to successfully compete at international races for Russia. The KAMAZ-Master drivers have participated in the transcontinental Dakar Rally since 1990.

This year the team won the challenging race for the 14th time. It is also a three-time winner of the World Off-Road Rally Cup and four-time winner of the Silk Way Rally. KAMAZ-Master is a frequent winner of various national Russian races as well.