FEAT U RES
CNG-fuelled truck negotiates tough challenges Proving that compressed natural gas is not only environmentally friendly but also capable of powering vehicles under the most demanding circumstances, the KAMAZ-master team has once again entered a diesel-CNG dual-fuelled vehicle in the Silk Way Rally to great success. By Adrian Giddings Summer 2018 saw the 8th edition of the Silk Way Rally take place in southeast Russia. Split into seven stages and covering a distance of over 3,500 km, the gruelling test of driving, navigation and engineering skills against the elements drew teams from across the world to the starting ceremony in Astrakhan on the Black Sea coast on July 20, with the racing proper set to commence the following day. The KAMAZ-master team have competed in the Silk Way Rally since its inception and once more brought a strong line up of trucks to the compe tition, fielding six vehicles out of the line-up of 12 entered in the class. Five of their trucks were diesel-powered but of most interest, the sixth was a dieselCNG dual-fuelled hybrid, driven by Sergey Kupriyanov (who, when not racing is Press Secretary to the Chair man of Gazprom’s Management Committee, Alexey Miller).
Negotiating off-road conditions at speed presents challenges for driver, navigator and vehicle.
The truck has a 16.16 litre, V8 engine with a turbocharger and intercooler.
New year, new development
The engine runs on a 70:30 mix of
KAMAZ-master have been racing
diesel and CNG, generating 950
successfully with diesel-CNG powered
horsepower and providing the vehicle
trucks since 2013 but this year they intro
with a top speed of 165 km/h. The
duced a new iteration of the concept
2018 model’s engine has 2.3 litres less
to participate in the Silk Way Rally.
capacity than the previous version but,
34 CNG-fuelled truck negotiates tough challenges
