Off-road rally "Silk Road - 2009" gets Dakar Series status

The off-road rally "Silk Road - 2009" will be officially presented in Moscow on 11 March. Deputy director of "Dakar" Frederic Lekien, Project Manager Semen Yakubovich, Rally Executive Director Sergei Girya, First Secretary and Consul of Turkmenistan's embassy in Russia Ahmed Esenov, First Secretary of Kazakhstan's embassy in Russia Serikkali Beymenshe, Senior Secretary of the Russian Motor Federation Sergei Ivanov and Deputy minister of sports, tourism and youth policy of the Russian Federation Gennadiy Aleshin will participate in the presentation.

The project "Silk Road", which is already in the 2009 sport calendar of the International Motor Federation, has got the status of Dakar Series. This means that by the level of organization the rally will equal the status of the Dakar off-road marathon, the Turkmenistan.ru correspondent reports from Moscow quoting the rally's organizing committee.

The 4,5 thousand km "Silk Road" rally will start in Kazan on 5 September and finish in the main square of Ashgabat. The route passes through the Central Russia and South Urals, Kazakhstan, and Karakum desert in Turkmenistan. The rally is being organized by KamAZ-Master team with substantial financial support provided by Turkmenistan. The organizing committee has already received over 300 applications. It is expected that around 500 people and 200 vehicles, including 50 trucks, will take part in the rally.