Motorsport driver as a vocation
Sergei Vyazovich has spoken about MAZ-SPORTauto, the Dakar Rally which holds no surprises, and his spouse — a navigator in life
To find Sergei Vyazovich in Minsk in summer is a rare piece of luck. The season for the Belarusian MAZ-SPORTauto team is not finished yet: the crews have recently returned from the prestigious Silk Way rally raid, where the MAZ headed by Vyazovich took third place, and in September they will set off for Russia to take part in the final stage of the Russian Rally Raid Championship. The team leader and, concurrently, its most decorated driver — a multiple Dakar podium finisher, a winner and medallist of the Silk Way and other major starts — easily agreed to a big interview and offered to meet at the Minsk Automobile Plant checkpoint.
Sergei Vyazovich, Belarusian motorsport driver at MAZ-SPORtautoOne big team
— What does your typical working day look like when you are not at the competition?
— It is just like everyone else’s. At 8am sharp, I have to start my work, before that I need to go through the checkpoint and get to my workplace. The members of our sports team do not belong to the main production and are not employed on the assembly line — we are engaged in the piece production of sports cars. We come up with ideas, design, and send engineering documentation to departments. We use the extensive capacities of the Minsk Automobile Plant [MAZ trademark] to manufacture the necessary parts.
— The MAZ-SPORTauto crews have recently returned from the Silk Way rally. This time, you have secured the third place. After the victory last year, did you set yourself up for a higher result?
— In fact, this result needs to be evaluated from several sides. Looking at the third place in the final standings, I can say that our ambitions were obviously higher. However, when I recall the struggle on the track and how competitive our automobile was, the race was almost perfect for our crew. Our team had counted that Sergei Vyazovich’s crew would end up on the podium, and it worked — we did not allow KAMAZ-Master [Russian motorsport team] to occupy the entire podium. Mutual assistance, mutual support, team spirit and understanding of the goals — we had all of this. So I will give a rather positive assessment of the race.
Silk Way Rally
— Due to the sanctions, the focus of attention has shifted — it is the Silk Way that is the main start of the season now, while before it was Dakar. Do you follow this competition now?
— I will not dissemble, I watched it in the first years. We had a lot of attempts to get back into this rally raid, and we are taking certain steps now. The race organisers and representatives of various structures and teams would like to see both MAZ-SPORTauto and KAMAZ-Master return to the international arena. They are closely watching our fierce competition on the Silk Way, at the Russian Championship, and they envy us in this regard. I do not follow the Dakar anymore. It is not interesting to watch when rivals quickly drive apart from each other with hours’ difference, when the class of drivers varies dramatically. What kind of intrigue can be there? Even now, in summer, I can tell you what the top 3 of the future Dakar will be.
— The unfair suspension from the Dakar, which happened in 2022, was painful for you. Have your emotions subsided over time?
— Yes. Besides, the attitude towards everything has changed.
— The word ‘team’ has been used many times in our conversation. Does it refer solely to MAZ-SPORTauto or have a broader concept for you?
— First of all, it is our sports team. Also, a huge number of people are involved in its preparation and participation in competitions. Of course, all enterprises of the holding are involved in fitting our trucks — without the support of MAZ and other enterprises, nothing would have been possible. This year, the Ministry of Industry has helped us a lot, and the enterprises belonging to the machine-building complex took over part of the team’s operating costs. In fact, a huge number of enterprises and people have contributed to the success of MAZ-SPORTauto. Of course, there is a contribution on the part of the country and the Head of State — the support he provides to us is invaluable.
— It is just like everyone else’s. At 8am sharp, I have to start my work, before that I need to go through the checkpoint and get to my workplace. The members of our sports team do not belong to the main production and are not employed on the assembly line — we are engaged in the piece production of sports cars. We come up with ideas, design, and send engineering documentation to departments. We use the extensive capacities of the Minsk Automobile Plant [MAZ trademark] to manufacture the necessary parts.
— The MAZ-SPORTauto crews have recently returned from the Silk Way rally. This time, you have secured the third place. After the victory last year, did you set yourself up for a higher result?
— In fact, this result needs to be evaluated from several sides. Looking at the third place in the final standings, I can say that our ambitions were obviously higher. However, when I recall the struggle on the track and how competitive our automobile was, the race was almost perfect for our crew. Our team had counted that Sergei Vyazovich’s crew would end up on the podium, and it worked — we did not allow KAMAZ-Master [Russian motorsport team] to occupy the entire podium. Mutual assistance, mutual support, team spirit and understanding of the goals — we had all of this. So I will give a rather positive assessment of the race.
Silk Way Rally
— Due to the sanctions, the focus of attention has shifted — it is the Silk Way that is the main start of the season now, while before it was Dakar. Do you follow this competition now?
— I will not dissemble, I watched it in the first years. We had a lot of attempts to get back into this rally raid, and we are taking certain steps now. The race organisers and representatives of various structures and teams would like to see both MAZ-SPORTauto and KAMAZ-Master return to the international arena. They are closely watching our fierce competition on the Silk Way, at the Russian Championship, and they envy us in this regard. I do not follow the Dakar anymore. It is not interesting to watch when rivals quickly drive apart from each other with hours’ difference, when the class of drivers varies dramatically. What kind of intrigue can be there? Even now, in summer, I can tell you what the top 3 of the future Dakar will be.
— The unfair suspension from the Dakar, which happened in 2022, was painful for you. Have your emotions subsided over time?
— Yes. Besides, the attitude towards everything has changed.
Participating on the terms that are put forward to us is absolutely out of the question. Restrictions on the truck name, participation without a national flag and anthem, equipment and outfit without national symbols — this is unacceptable to me. Everyone understands which teams are the strongest in the world. If anyone doubts, come to the Silk Way, to the stages of the Russian Championship and prove the opposite.Sergei Vyazovich participating in Silk Way Rally
— The word ‘team’ has been used many times in our conversation. Does it refer solely to MAZ-SPORTauto or have a broader concept for you?
— First of all, it is our sports team. Also, a huge number of people are involved in its preparation and participation in competitions. Of course, all enterprises of the holding are involved in fitting our trucks — without the support of MAZ and other enterprises, nothing would have been possible. This year, the Ministry of Industry has helped us a lot, and the enterprises belonging to the machine-building complex took over part of the team’s operating costs. In fact, a huge number of enterprises and people have contributed to the success of MAZ-SPORTauto. Of course, there is a contribution on the part of the country and the Head of State — the support he provides to us is invaluable.
The praise from the President after last year’s victory on the Silk Way rally raid became a great motivation to continue in the same spirit and, no matter what, show that Belarus’ machine-building complex is competitive, and Belarusian athletes are not inferior to the most famous ones in this sport. Therefore, each of our victories is our common victory.
Winding paths
— In your childhood and youth, you were seriously engaged in cycling. What other sports are you interested in?— In addition to cycling, I follow the MotoGP World Championship in road and circuit racing, and also the World Rally Championship. I can watch football or hockey, but I am not a big fan of these sports.
— Hardly at a young age did you dream of becoming a sports truck driver. Do you remember who you wanted to be?
— I remember exactly that I told my dad: I want to be a driver. He replied that it was a good profession but not the one to be made a goal. In short, my wish did not impress him. By the way, the desire to become a sports team driver was also there. It took me a long time to achieve this goal. First, I bought a Subaru GC8 and drove the first race with a zero crew in 2010, and in 2011, thanks to my friends and their support, I won the Belarusian Rally Championship. The following year, I joined the MAZ-SPORTauto team.
Navigator in life
— You and your wife have already celebrated the 20th wedding anniversary. It turns out that your formation as a sports truck driver took place before her eyes…
— And with her huge support. My wife Masha is the very person who always said ‘Yes’ at the right moment, and supported me.
— On social networks, there are photos of you and your wife participating together in rallies. How did you manage to attract her to motorsport?
— The guy I used to rally with moved. I did not race for several years and was focused on my work. When the federation and the team said there would be a rally sprint stage and they wanted to see me on the track, I agreed. So I suggested my wife, ‘Let’s go together, I will teach you’. Now she feels quite comfortable as a navigator, and copes very well indeed! We are the leader in the Rally Sprint Cup of Belarus, with another stage coming soon. Some people might think that trips of the MAZ-SPORTauto crews to rally raids are romantic, some may even envy, but in fact it is hard work that is mentally exhausting.
On new ideas
The team has thoughts about what else can be improved in MAZ-SPORTauto trucks after each trip — whether it is training, tests or races. “The most important period in preparation is the off-season. The way the team has held it affects the readiness for competitions. After all, when they start, there will be no time to make changes to the cars since the race schedule is tight in the calendar, with a considerable distance to the sites,” clarified Sergei Vyazovich.
Plans for the end of the season
There is only one start left in the MAZ-SPORTauto calendar this season — the team has ambitious plans for it. “There is a strong desire to win the final stage of the Russian Championship. It would be a mirror image of last season, when we won all the stages except the last one. This year, we took the second and third places, but we could not climb to the highest step of the podium. We want to fix it,” shared Sergei Vyazovich.MAZ-SPORtauto team
Sergei Vyazovich with his family
By Tatiana Pastushenko