Silk Way Rally starts in Moscow to finish in Sochi.

MOSCOW, July 9 (Itar-Tass) -- Russian Olympic Committee President
Alexander Zhukov, at the rally opening ceremony on Red Square in Moscow on
Saturday, wished success to the Silk Way Rally 2011 participants.
"The participants will have 4,000 kilometres to go from the capital of
the 1980 Summer Olympic Games to the capital of the 2014 Winter Olympics.
The entire world will watch the rally. We wish a happy way to all the
sportsmen and a victory to the Russian racers," Zhukov said.
The Silk Way is the main rehearsal before the Dakar Rally, Russian
international rally director Semyon Yakubov told a press conference at
Moscow's Luzhniki stadium.
The administrative and technical tests are completed. Everything is
ready for the beginning of the prestigious race, he said, noting that 95
cars and 35 trucks would come to the start line. They will be accompanied
by 135 vehicles of assistants. "It is pleasant to realize that Silk Way
participants number more and more from year to year."
Yakubov said he placed great hopes on Eduard Nikolayev, but he would
be rivaled by the world's leading truck racers. The Russian crew has a new
vehicle. It was tested in Ulyanovsk and will be tried on the route.
Young participant Nikolayev told Itar-Tass about the generational
change in the Kamaz-Master team. The Silk Way has become a tradition for
rally races, he noted. He already participated in the Dakar this year. The
international Russian race is also very important. It will allow preparing
better for the next Dakar competitions. The generational change is
underway in the team, he said. The competition is expected to help adopt
experience from eminent racers.
Noted racer Stephane Peterhansel, the nine-time Dakar winner, said he
was in Russia 20 years ago during the Paris-Moscow-Beijing motorcycle
race. At present he is a BMW team participant in the car race. He said he
would try to show good results.
The Silk Way Rally 2011 started in Moscow from Red Square on Saturday.
The route lies via Lipetsk, Volgograd, Astrakhan, Stavropol and Maikop. In
a week, on July 16, the auto-marathon will finish in Sochi at the 2014
Olympic skiing centre.
It is the third rally in Russia. The first ran from Kazan to Ashgabat
in 2009. In 2010, racers started out from St. Petersburg and finished in
Sochi. The route is changed for the present -- there will be more
high-speed sections in the Krasnodar Territory. So, the rally is expected
to be more interesting.