Silk Way Rally — a famous annual rally raid (Russian Dakar), very popular among racing drivers — will not be held in 2014. This decision made by the organising committee was published on the official site of this event. The race was held with government support but due to considerable expenses and efforts spent for hosting Olympic Games and the preparations for the upcoming Formula 1 Grand Prix, which will be held at the newly built track in Sochi, the international rally raid had to be cancelled.
“It was not an easy decision. The main reason is that the country, which had made every possible effort to organise top-level Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, has to launch another strategically important motorsport project and host Formula 1 race in Sochi just in a few months. We are a government-funded project and we implicitly accept sport priorities and that is why the organising committee of the Silk Way Rally has rescheduled the 2014 competitions for the next year... For 5 years we have been providing a warm welcome for the teams from all over the world and have always offered them best conditions to demonstrate their possibilities. We are sincerely grateful to President of the Russian Federation V.V. Putin for taking the initiative in conducting the Silk Way Rally, for support and concern we have always received during all years of running the project”, was said in the statement published on silkwayrally.com.
Unfortunately, priorities have been set leaving an incredibly large-scale event in the waiting room. Hopefully, for one year only.
Photo: kamaz.ru
