21.04.2012

„RE Autoclub” team – Finn Tony Gardemeister and Latvian Agris Pētersons – won Russian rally raid championship second stage opening Super Special stage on thursday. Biggest test for the drivers on Astrahan rally raid “The Gold of Kagan” – steppe – will meet the drivers next three days.

„RE Autoclub”, continuing cooperation with Gardemeister from World Cup first stage “Italian Baja”, now starts Russian championship this weekend. This is a perfect place for training for the upcoming race start in July – Dakar series rallyraid “Silk Way”, which will start in Moscow, but will finish in the steppe around Astrakhan.

Race for The Goild of Kagan” will be 4 days long, overall racedistance – 1100 kilometers. Special stages – slightly more than 800 kilometers. Most of the distance will be held in the tricky Russian steppe. Opening ceremony and the first 3,93 kilometers long special stage was held on thursday in the center of Astrakhan.

Gardemeister,– with experience in more than 40 World Cup championship stages – confirmed the alleged title for him “the flying Finn” - completing this short distance faster than over 40 participants in this race. „RE Autoclub” crew with „Mitsubishi Pajero” done this stage in 4 minutes and 15 seconds – 14 seconds ahead of it's closest rival.

Second place went to Russian team „Protechmsport RT” driver Arturs Murashkin („Nissan Frontier”), third place – for class „RS” leader Alexander Zheludov from team „E-Auto”. In „RUS-Sport” team driving latvians – Aldis Vilcans and Janis Naglis with „Mitsubishi Pajero” took 6th place, loosing 40 seconds to Gardemeister.

„Prologue drained well. It's a very big deal that on the start line on friday our equipage will stand as first.In first 4 kilometers of this race Gardemeister approved that his workmanship is excellent.” - accentuates team “RE Autoclub” director Roberts Elbakjans. „Special stage that will be held on friday will be about 250 km long. It will be a serious test for the navigator Agris Pētersons, because it's clear that good orientating skills will be required.”

In a carreer of rallyraids from 1996 to 2010 Gardemeister has entered 113 WRC stages, driving with "Seat", "Mitsubishi", "Skoda", "Ford" un "Suzuki", but Russia and it's roads and off-roads are something new and unknown for him.

„After training and first kilometers of this race I found out that this rallyraid will be very different than my debut on “Italian Baja””, says “RE Autoclub” Finn pilot Toni Gardemeister. “We have faced with forest roads, also with river Volga waters, so, it's clear that in this race very important will be my successful cooperation with co-driver Agris Petersons.”