One of the most interesting classifications in rally-raid is of course the T5. Every year, cargo ranking teams come to Baja “Gold of Kagan”, giving the race power and solidity. One of them is the GAZ Reid Sport team, whose green trucks fit perfectly into the spring mood of Astrakhan in April. In addition, there are combat gazelles in the team, which have repeatedly shown their leadership qualities on the tracks of Astrakhan. To our question, what are the goals of the Baja team “Gold of Kagan – 2023” in each of the declared lags, the sports director of “GAZ Reid Sport” Vyacheslav Subbotin answered us.
Vyacheslav Subbotin – sports director of the GAZ Raid Sport team:
GAZ-Reid-Sport arrived at Zoloto Kagan 2023 in five sports cars: three trucks and two cars. For trucks, this is the first appearance in 2023. They did not participate in the Bach Russia-Northern Forest for a number of reasons: firstly, sporty spikes are needed, and secondly, large and heavy cars completely break the track – a winter race is not for trucks. But for the Gazelles, the “Gold of Kagan” is the second race of the season. Both touring sports cars fall into the “Raid-sport” category.
“Kagan’s Gold” is a full-fledged summer rally-raid race. And in the most remarkable place – in Astrakhan! There are sands, steppes and difficult orientation. Astrakhan running is heavy – the traditional “swotting”. What do we want from this race? As always, win!
How trucks cross the steppes of the Astrakhan region: a photo report by Bakha “Gold of Kagan”
In the Raid Sports category, we intend to give a serious fight to everyone who falls into this category. Last year there were serious changes in this category – prototypes with large engines and any gearbox, including sequential, entered it. In order to level the playing field, they were forced to put a restrictor, but still, the capabilities of the cars turned out to be different. As a result, the prototypes won. Now that we have prepared the car, the premiere took place at the “Northern Forest” – our new GAZelle NN with independent front suspension, new EURO6 engine and new turbine. Both GAZelle were equipped with new cam gearboxes with an H-shaped gear selection. Thanks to these solutions, the speed of the GAZEL NN seriously increased. We can do very serious competition with prototypes. The new GAZELLE NN allows you to ride in the top ten of the World Cup and the World Championship. Then, if there are two cars in “Raid-sport”, it is a kind of guarantee to win a prize: if one car breaks down – it breaks down, rolls over – the other will always pick up.
Four days of racing ahead. We like big long races because that’s where we have some advantages. In any race, the skill of the drivers and navigators plays a role, but in a long race, a team of mechanics matters a lot. The speed and quality of service of the machine gives a significant advantage. And our team of mechanics is one of the best in the sport. Not only in our country, but in general in the world.
Now let’s talk about trucks. We have three GAZ SADKO sports. They have very serious opponents – three KAMAZs and one MAZ. They are the winners of the Dakar! They will all win. We rebuilt our cars: we worked on the transmission and gearbox, tuned the engines. Seriously facilitated, in the first quite one on which the crew of Alexei Khlebov performs. This car is a leader. It will run at the level of the big trucks. Yes, we are inferior in acceleration, but in everything else – handling, cross-country ability – no worse. In the sands, he will show himself. We have increased the maximum speed of this truck to 155 km/h. Yes, according to the competition regulations, the maximum speed is limited to 140 km/h, but this means that we have a margin of power and acceleration.
We are ready for Kagan’s Gold and intend to fight hard for prizes!
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