With the Dakar Rally currently off limits for KAMAZ-master due to sanctions stemming from the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Sergey Kupriyanov is interested in taking the team back to the Africa Eco Race. While talking with Match TV, he was asked about the possibility of entering the AER, to which he explained it is “one of the questions that needs to be discussed” with the team.
“Personally, I would very much like to return to Africa someday,” said Kupriyanov. While KAMAZ is one of the top rally raid truck teams, he added “it doesn’t matter” if he wins or not.
“Africa just touches your heart, and it stays with you forever,” he continued. “It was in Africa that the rally marathons we know today were born. The Africa Eco Race has its own special atmosphere that you want to experience again.”
Kupriyanov finished second in the Truck category at the 2015 edition behind KAMAZ team-mate Anton Shibalov and third outright among all classes. He narrowly missed the podium over the next two years, but was the top-finishing hybrid in a gas/diesel hybrid truck. In 2019, he and his brother Alexander switched to an MD Optimus, and were running eighth when they crashed with overall leader Dominique Laure in Stage #8.
Outside of the AER, Kupriyanov regularly competes in the Russian Rally-Raid Championship for KAMAZ. He won the 2018 Rally Kazakhstan, part of the FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies (predecessor to the current World Rally-Raid Championship), in the Truck division.
KAMAZ, a nineteen-time Dakar Truck winner, has not raced the event since 2022 due to the invasion; their parent company is directly involved in the war effort by providing vehicles. Under the FIA’s current policy, Russian and Belarusian competitors are required to sign documentation condemning the war and agree to race under a neutral flag if they wish to take part. Given their ties to the military as well as being partly owned by the state, KAMAZ has unsurprisingly rejected the terms and instead focused exclusively on the RAFRR and Silk Way Rally.
Belarusian rival MAZ-SPORTauto is also prohibited from entering the Dakar and other international rally raids under the FIA’s watch, though their penalty stems from sanctions predating the invasion. MAZ’s Siarhei Viazovich, who beat KAMAZ for the 2023 Silk Way Rally win, urged Dakar teams to enter the SWR to prove once and for all who the top Truck outfit would be.
“We remember the times when the Truck category at the Silk Way Rally was massive and well-represented,” Kupriyanov said about Viazovich’s comments. “It’s always good when there is competition on the track from a large number of crews from different countries. This also increases audience interest.”
Kupriyanov is the chairman of the board for PJSC Gazprom, a state-run oil company that co-developed his hybrid KAMAZ truck. His position has prevented him from running much of the RAFRR season, and he told Match that it is “difficult to answer” if he is available for the 2024 Silk Way Rally on 5–15 July.
While it follows the Europe-to-Senegal route that the Dakar Rally used to and has FIA recognition, the Africa Eco Race is not overseen by the sanctioning body and theoretically could allow Russian competitors to enter if they wish.
