The Silk Way Rally is an international off-road “rally-raid” race, held since 2009 in Russia and, in certain years, the countries of Central Asia and China, with the world’s leading racing drivers and sports teams taking part. The competition covers three categories — off-road vehicles, trucks and motorcycles.
Gazprom Neft fuels and lubricants tested on this year’s “Silk Way” Rally
Gazprom Neft will again be refuelling participating vehicles on this year’s multi-day “Silk Way” Rally, taking part across Russia, Mongolia and China, with the company, as part of its partnership, supplying its high-tech “Opti” fuels to trucks and off-road vehicles taking part in the Rally.
The international Silk Way rally-raid starts on 6 July in Irkutsk, finishing on 16 July in Dunhuang, China, with sportsmen negotiating ten individual stages, covering a total distance of 5,000 kilometres. Gazprom Neft tankers will be refuelling participating cars and motorcycles at service stops throughout the entire Russian section of the Silk Way Rally.
Alexander Krylov, Regional Sales Director, Gazprom Neft, stressed: “We are the official fuel partner to the Silk Way Rally for what is now, already, the fourth time — successful testing of our ‘Opti’ fuels under challenging racing conditions having secured the confidence of both the rally organisers and participants. This year we’ll also be refuelling new rally participants — motorcycling teams — with gasoline from the Gazprom Neft filling station network”.
MAZ-SPORTavto sports trucks will also be using Gazprom Neft G-Energy Racing lubricants throughout the entire race, with engineers from a specialist mobile laboratory monitoring the lubricants’ performance under extreme racing conditions. Helped by cutting-edge diagnostic tools, lubricants will be tested on criteria including power and performance, impurities, and changes in viscosity-density. Recommendations on improving lubricant formulations will then be put forward, based on the outcomes of this research.
Alexander Trukhan, CEO, Gazpromneft Lubricants, commented: “Any multi-day marathon rally is testing — for both sportsmen, and technicians. The MAZSPORTAvto team have, for many seasons, chosen E-Energy Racing oils to increase the stability of their sports trucks’ engines. Collaboration like this — between a lubricants producer and a motor-racing sports team — makes it possible to test lubricants under genuine racing conditions, and to then develop the most effective possible formulation to deliver the most competitive results.”
