“Our objective is to reach the podium”

Aliaksei Vishneuski is one of the rising stars in the truck category. At just 28 years of age, the MAZ-SPORTauto driver has already taken part in the Dakar four times, always reaching the finish line. Remarkably, he has also improved his result every year, going from 21st on his debut in 2017 to 8th in Saudi Arabia in 2020. The ambitious young Belarusian is now targeting the podium with MAZ, who are hoping to spoil the KAMAZ party by securing overall victory with their team boss Siarhei Viazovich. Aliaksei feels that his chances this year will be greatly improved by a new truck: he and regular navigator Maksim Novikau are joined by new mechanic Siarhei Sachuk in a 6440RR bonnet truck, which is a significant improvement on last year's 5309RR model. Viazovich and his crew came 3rd overall in their 6440RR last year, and while they remain the likeliest contenders to take a historic first Dakar win for the country of Belarus, Aliaksei also believes he has what it takes to stand on the top step of the podium. Even if he hasn't had many opportunities to race this year, MAZ's young pretender is definitely one of the drivers to watch as the behemoths do battle over the Saudi sands.

A.V.: “I feel very proud to represent my country on the toughest race in the world. As for becoming the first Belarusian winner in the trucks, why not? This year I'll be driving a new truck, which is way better than the previous one I had. Shortly after Dakar 2020 we began to build the team's second bonnet truck. After we completed it, we were eager to test. But it was only in September that we were able to race in the truck in Russia. Because of the lack of races in 2020, all I could do was prepare myself physically and wait for Dakar 2021. In previous editions, I've learned the importance of teamwork. On a hard race such as the Dakar, it's very hard to achieve a good result without a good team. It will be the fifth Dakar with my navigator Maksim Novikau, and this year we have a new mechanic in our crew. I hope that we can enjoy a good result in this long race. Our objective is to reach the podium.”