15th Silk Way Rally has started
The 15th edition of the Silk Way Rally officially began last Saturday, July 12, with a ceremonial start in Irkutsk, Russian Federation. This year’s jubilee edition will see 101 crews from 15 countries traverse territories in Russia and Mongolia, taking on the Gobi Desert and the Altai Mountains. A notable addition to the route is Lake Baikal.
Mikhail Degtyarev, Minister of Sports of the Russian Federation, read a greeting from President Vladimir Putin, who highlighted the route’s complexity and the rally’s role in cultural and humanitarian ties. Sergey Chemezov, CEO of Rostekh State Corporation, underscored the rally as a prestigious event that unites “countries, people and technologies,” praising the organizers for creating engaging routes.
Irkutsk Region Governor, Igor Kobzev, thanked the organizers for making his region a “capital of world motorsports” once again.
Before the main ceremony, competitors tackled an 8-kilometer Prologue on Saturday morning. Bogdan Karimov from KAMAZ-master dominated the Truck category, winning both the Prologue and the longest jump. Other category leaders included Andrey Rudskoy (T1 prototype), Anastasia Nifontova (SSV), Dmitry Voronov (Open), and Maksatmyrat Danatarov (T2 production).
In the overall Moto classification, Ilya Shcheglov leads, with Ekaterina Zhadanova ahead in the G-Moto Challenge and Alexey Zverev topping the Quad category.
On Sunday, July 13, the rally moved into its first full-scale stage, a 256 km journey through the protected areas of the Baikal Area to Baikalsk, marking the first major test of the event.
