Published on: 2026-07-01
Source: KAMAZ – An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
On Tuesday, June 30, the CEO of PJSC KAMAZ, Sergey Kogogin, met with members of the KAMAZ-master team, who won the toughest international rally “Takla-Makan 2026” in China.
The meeting, held at the company’s General Directorate, was attended by the head of the KAMAZ-master team Eduard Nikolaev, drivers Bogdan Karimov and Almaz Akhmedov, whose crews won gold and silver in the truck category of the Takla-Makan rally, as well as navigators, mechanics, and other representatives of the “Blue Armada.”
The head of KAMAZ, Sergey Kogogin, congratulated the athletes on their triumphant victory at the team’s debut rally ‘Takla-Makan’ and expressed gratitude to the entire team for maintaining leading positions on the international sports stage, noting the high level of competition in motorsport.
“In our sport, there are no weak ones: in motorsports, everyone has character and knows how to achieve their goals. Besides the sporting competition, character building, and driving skills, of course, there is also technical rivalry. It so happens that we, the Kamaz team, manage to stay ahead of the times in vehicle design. You are doing this wonderfully. Once again, a huge thank you! We will continue to support the team. I am always with you, Kamaz is always with you.”, – saidSergey Kogogin, focusing the team on further victories that are important for the company and the country.
Continuing the dialogue, the leader of the KAMAZ-master team, Eduard Nikolaev, thanked the management of the automotive giant for their comprehensive support and talked about the recent rally. It was noted that this time, young pilots represented KAMAZ-master in the extraordinarily challenging race, and they fully justified the trust placed in them. The meeting participants recalled the key stages of the competition in China, discussed the performance of the updated KAMAZ trucks of the newest K5 generation under extreme dune conditions, and also outlined plans for the further development of the Kamaz sports team.
The history of the Takla-Makan rally spans two decades, this desert race is known for its extreme difficulty. This year, the competition took place from May 16 to June 1 along the route Urumqi – Aksu and consisted of 14 stages. During the rally, the drivers covered 8,000 kilometers of complete off-road terrain, including 4,200 kilometers of high-speed special stages. According to the head of KAMAZ-master, Eduard Nikolaev, the team spent three years preparing and gathering information about the Takla-Makan rally. In 2025, members of the “Blue Armada” attended the race as spectators and familiarized themselves with the route; afterwards, the sports crews held a training camp in China to increase the experience of young athletes, test the trucks in extreme conditions, practice overcoming sand dunes, study sand density, topography, and key features of the rally. The result of this painstaking work was the decision to participate in the 2026 race, where the team competed in updated KAMAZ trucks of the newest K5 generation. The KAMAZ crews demonstrated high skills in driving and navigation in the mountainous areas of the Tian Shan and in one of the largest deserts in the world, the Takla-Makan.
As a result, the young pilots shared the gold and silver of the Takla-Makan rally in China. The top step of the podium was taken by crew No. 502 led by Bogdan Karimov (navigator Dmitry Nikitin, mechanic Ilgiz Akhmetzyanov). In second place was crew No. 501 headed by Almaz Akhmedov (navigator Ivan Malkov, mechanic Anton Shibalov).
The debut Takla-Makan rally became an important milestone in the history of the KAMAZ-master team. Four years later, the Blue Armada once again took the start of a major international competition and demonstrated an excellent result, confirming its status as the world’s strongest rally raid team.
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