SILK WAY RALLY IS AS HARDCORE AS THE DAKAR RALLY IF NOT MORE
While the infamous Dakar Rally is celebrated as the world's most challenging rally-raid event, there's one more rally that's equally gruelling.
What is it? The Silk Way rally is a renowned annual rally-raid type of event. Overshadowed by a similar but more widespread event the Dakar Rally, Silk Way tests the mettle of many extreme machines and courageous drivers. Longer than the prestigious Dakar Rally, just finishing the Silk Way is a serious task. First raced in 2009, from Kazan, Russia to Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Silk Way quickly gained popularity for its tricky course. From 2009-11 the rally was a part of ASO’s Dakar Series. The 2016 edition took place on different route, which is the Moscow-Astana-Beijing route. The 2017 rally will take place on the same route and will be flagged off on 7th July. It’ll end on 22nd of July in Xi’an, China.
So what’s so special about it? Well everything. The competitors are subjected to everything from dense forests, grasslands to steppes and much more. The deserts of Northern China, known by the name “dunes of no return” are tricky and need high levels of skill. Silk Way’s director Vladimir Chagin, nicknamed “Tsar of Dakar” and seven times winner of truck rally says- “It’s an extreme sport stretched out over time, over two weeks, not a jump or flight that lasts minutes or seconds.” Last year Silk Way managed to attract competitors from over 40 countries and one the main reason was its entry fee. At 5000 pounds it was less than half of Dakar’s.
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