Third Day of 'Hills of Russia': Mass Fines and the Battle with Technology

Samara Oblast, Syzran, 20 July 2026. The third racing day of the 'Hills of Russia' baja concluded with the bivouac moving from Ulyanovsk to Samara Oblast. The crews completed two special stages: SS-4 (172.68 km) and SS-5 (82.79 km). The day was fast-paced but simultaneously became a real test for both machinery and navigational skills. The heat, mud, and aggressive pace led to breakdowns for many participants, while the stewards' panel issued a record number of penalty decisions for deviations from the route.

For the 'GAZ Raid Sport' team, the day was mixed: the crew of Alexey Khlebov and Evgeny Pavlov in the 'GAZelle NEXT' showed phenomenal pace despite a technical fault, significantly strengthening their lead in the 'R' class. Alexander Semyonov and Dmitry Okhotnikov in the 'Sobol NN' faced serious breakdowns but showed character and made it to the finish. The team's truck crews also completed the stage.

Evgeny Pavlov: 'We were fighting the accelerator pedal, not the track'

The Khlebov/Pavlov crew completed SS-4 with a time of 2:03:01 (plus 2 minutes penalty for speeding in the OS zone and 2 minutes for cutting the route) and SS-5 in 1:07:07. Their total time for the third stage, including all penalties, was 3:12:28, which allowed them to strengthen their lead in the 'R' class (first place) and move up to ninth place overall and third in the absolute classification. However, the crew encountered an unexpected problem: from the very start of SS-4, the accelerator pedal failed.

Alexander Semyonov: 'We drove half the way and repaired the other half'

For the Semyonov/Okhotnikov crew, the day turned into a real endurance test. On the 'Sobol NN', the bolts on the rear shock absorber sheared off, the driveshafts broke, and a ball joint came off. The crew literally pieced the car back together in the field but still managed to reach the finish. On SS-4, they posted a time of 3:14:11, but on SS-5 they faced serious difficulties: being late to a time control, exceeding the time limit, and missing a waypoint resulted in a penalty of 5 hours and 24 minutes, giving them a final time on SS-5 of 7:30:00. After three stages, the crew sits in third place in the T2 class.

Mass Penalties on SS-4: The Cut That Cost Everyone Two Minutes

The third day was memorable not only for the speeds and breakdowns but also for the verdicts from the Panel of Stewards. For deviating from the route on SS-4 (a cut between positions 178 and 180), a total of 18 crews received a two-minute penalty! Almost all the leaders in every class were penalised: No.202 (A. Cherkesov), No.203 (A. Novikov), No.204 (A. Cherednikov), No.205 (D. Cherkesov), No.208 (V. Lubeshkin), No.212 (A. Melnikov), No.215 (M. Mityaev), No.216 (A. Khlebov), No.218 (M. Kirpilev), No.219 (S. Usok), No.301 (D. Sotnikov), No.302 (S. Vyazovich), No.303 (E. Nikolaev), No.304 (A. Akhmedov), No.305 (Y. Naiman), No.307 (V. Murylev), No.308 (D. Avdeev), No.310 (I. Korolev), No.311 (A. Filyakin) and No.312 (A. Sheludko).

The incident showed just how crucial navigation is at the 'Hills of Russia': even the leaders are not immune to mistakes on the fast and tricky sections of the route. The road book at this point proved ambiguous, and almost all the crews fell into the same trap.

Overall Picture After Three Stages

After three stages, the crew of Eduard Nikolaev in the KAMAZ Extreme Plus leads the absolute classification (6:23:01), second is Sergey Vyazovich in the MAZ 6440RR (+0:32), and third is Dmitry Sotnikov in the KAMAZ-435091 (+1:03). In the Absolute standings, Alexey Cherkesov remains first, while Andrey Novikov is still in second place, just 23 seconds behind the Belgorod driver. Alexey Khlebov is third in the absolute classification, also holds ninth place overall, and confidently leads the 'R' class. In T2 for series-production SUVs, things are also unchanged – Andrey Sushentsov is in first place.

Tomorrow, 21 July, the crews face the final special stage, SS-6, almost 200 km long, after which the awards ceremony will take place. For GAZ Raid Sport, this is the last chance to strengthen their positions and finish the race on a high note. The mechanics are already working on repairing the vehicles to get them ready for the final battle.

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