Today’s stage was marked by Ales Loprais (Tatra), who made up for yesterday’s navigational mistake by beating Kabirov and Karginov’s Kamazs for the win by 14:46 minutes and 18:26 minutes, respectively. This is the Czech’s first win in 2011, and it also allowed him to take the 3rd place in the overall standings from the Dutchmen Hans Stacey (De Rooy Iveco), who suffered from mechanical problems.
As for the general classification, Firdaus Kabirov was able to defend his lead with ease. He now has 45:11 minutes over his teammate Andrey Karginov, who is only 2:40 mins ahead of Loprais.
Tomorrow’s (Thursday) timetable begins with a 55km road section to the start of a 689km special stage in the direction of Stravopol. This will be followed by a short liaison of 21km to the overnight halt. Navigation across the vast Russian steppes will not be easy and water crossings and mountains will be prevalent towards the end of the stage.
Silk Way Rally RESULTS: Stage 4 Astrakhan-Astrakhan Trucks Top 10 Day/All
01) Loprais/Holan/Stajf (CZ) I Tatra Proto I 06:17:20 I 00:00:00
02) Kabirov/Mokeev/Tanin (RUS) I Kamaz I 06:32:06 I 00:14:46
03) Karginov/Mizyukaev/Devyatkin (RUS) I Kamaz I 06:35:46 I 00:18:26
04) Mardeev Jr./Belyaev/Mirniy (RUS) I Kamaz I 06:35:59 I 00:18:39
05) Versluis/Bruynkens/Schuurmans (NL) I MAN TGA I 06:40:21 I 00:23:01
06) Maardev/Sotnikov/Yakovlev (RUS) I Kamaz I 06:45:29 I 00:28:09
07) Stacey/Willemsen/Kinderen (NL) I De Rooy Iveco I 06:56:15 I 00:38:55
08) Valtr/Macik/Macik (CZ) I Tatra I 07:08:26 I 00:51:06
09) Adua/Marco/Busoms (F/E) I De Rooy Iveco I 07:16:55 I 00:59:35
10) Echter/Ruf/Echter (D) I MAN TGS I 07:18:44 I 01:01:24
Top 10 Trucks Overall results after SS04 Astrakhan-Astrakhan
01) Kabirov/Mokeev/Tanin (RUS) I Kamaz I 22:17:51 I 00:00:00
02) Karginov/Mizyukaev/Devyatkin (RUS) I Kamaz I 23:03:02 I 00:45:11
03) Loprais/Holan/Stajf (CZ) I Tatra Proto I 23:05:42 I 00:47:51
04) Stacey/Willemsen/Kinderen (NL) I De Rooy Iveco I 23:40:59 I 01:23:08
05) Versluis/Bruynkens/Schuurmans (NL) I MAN TGA I 24:07:39 I 01:49:48
06) Mardeev Jr./Belyaev/Mirniy (RUS) I Kamaz I 24:43:35 I 02:25:44
07) Van Ginkel/Wams/Van Veenendaal (NL) I GINAF I 24:48:15 I 02:30:24
08) Echter/Ruf/Echter (D) I MAN TGS I 25:07:02 I 02:49:11
09) Elfrink/Hortulanus (NL) I Mercedes Axor I 25:46:01 I 03:28:10
10) Maardev/Sotnikov/Yakovlev (RUS) I Kamaz I 25:53:32 I 03:35:41