Artur Ardavichus crossed the finish line of the 6th stage, from Semey to Urdzhar, in 5th position with his IVECO Powerstar. He is well-motivated to remain in the top five of the overall ranking of the Silk Way Rally.
Gerard De Rooy and Ton Van Genugten finished the stage in 8th and 11th position respectively.
The newest member of Team PETRONAS De Rooy IVECO, Kazakh driver Artur Ardavichus was the protagonist of yesterday's stage, which took the competitors from Semey to Urdzhar: 387 km of an amazing and fast track made of 60% soil and 40% gravel.
Starting at 9.40h behind teammates Gerard De Rooy and Ton Van Genugten, Artur Ardavichus, Serge Bruynkens and Michel Huisman, placed their IVECO Powerstar #310 truck in the fifth position in the day's classification, crossing the line 5m55s behind the first. With this result, at the close of Stage 6 the Kazakh pilot was fifth in the partial general classification. His steady driving is bringing excellent results to Team PETRONAS De Rooy IVECO.
Team leader De Rooy placed his renovated IVECO Powerstar in 8th position, finishing the race in 4h04m47s – 26m09s behind the first.
Crossing the line 58m46s behind the winner, Van Genugten, placed his #306 Trakker Evolution in eleventh position, improving his final ranking to 9th.
Today, July 14th, competitors will run the fourth and last special in Kazakhstan before crossing the Chinese border. This magnificent 106km SS will be pure driving pleasure. The vegetation will be dense and the landscape hilly. The finish of the stage "In the land of black gold" will be close to the border, before a 250 km liason to the bivouac in Karamay, famous for its oil refineries.
Stage 6 results – Silk Way Rally 2017
1. Eduard Nikolaev (Kamaz) 3h38m38s
2. Martin Kolomy (Tatra) +0m39s
3. Dmitry Sotnikov (Kamaz) +5m13s
4. Airat Mardeev (Kamaz) +5m51s
5. Artur Ardavichus (IVECO) +5m55s
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8. Gerard De Rooy (IVECO) +26m09s
11. Ton Van Genugten (IVECO) 58m46s
Overall classification – Silk Way Rally 2017
1. Dmitry Sotnikov (Kamaz) 19h09m17s
2. Anton Shibalov (Kamaz) +2m12s
3. Martin Kolomy (Tatra) +12m53s
4. Airat Mardeev (Kamaz) +24m01s
5. Artur Ardavichus (IVECO) +56m45s
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9. Ton Van Genugten (IVECO) +5h05m25s
15. Gerard De Rooy (IVECO) +108h07m35s
Starting order for SS7 – 14th July 2017
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07.35 Eduard Nikolaev (Kamaz)
07.37 Martin Kolomy (Tatra)
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07.47 Artur Ardavichus (IVECO)
08.06 Gerard De Rooy (IVECO)
08.11 Ton Van Genugten (IVECO)
