Two hundred on the oncoming

Pskov routes are covered with interesting gravel,
But short

The residents of the region have not seen such a long time. For two days, the Pskov off -road shuddered under the deafening roar of racing cars. All this time, the main square of the regional center was immersed in the amazing atmosphere of sports courage - from the clubs of exhaust gases, the smell of gasoline and spray champagne - in Pskov, twelve years of the calm, rally again passed the Cup of Alexander Nevsky.

The Pskov race has 300 kilometers of the road section in the Pechora and Palkin districts, of which 90 kilometers were high -speed special stages. All athletes who came to ride with a breeze on the Pskov soil were simply amazed - no one expected that there would be such quick roads in Pskov. As Olga Sivacheva, deputy head of the race, noted, the average rally speed exceeded 140 kilometers per hour.

In addition, the most powerful and “temperamental” was auto -component of the rally, literally stuffed with a variety of expensive equipment. So, behind the unpretentious appearance of the usual serial eight, a real steel beast was visible, which only courageous professionals can tame. As the athletes themselves figuratively noted, comparing the cost of ordinary cars with the cost of such “monsters”, all kinds of “Mercedes” and “Lincolnes” “modestly rest on the rear rug of rally rally.”

The technical characteristics of the Pskov route quite satisfy the standards of the Rally Cup stage, but so far the race in Pskov is called experimental, despite the experience of national competitions here in the late 1980s. By the way, in connection with the upcoming celebration of the 1100th anniversary of Pskov, the organizers had an interesting idea-to offer the “Rally Pskov-2003” for the next year as a full stage of the national championship. The task is very difficult, because in this case we will have to compete with the level of organization, popularity and security with stages established in the Russian calendar, but there are still chances.

They increased even more after the direct participants in the rally appreciated the charms of the Pskov roads and drove along them with excellent speed results. It should be noted another important advantage of the tracks in Pskov - they are at the intersection of traditional rally roads in Russia and the Baltic countries, which today occupy a leading position in motorsport among the countries of the former USSR.

• We would really like to include Pskov in the Russian Championship, but the race showed that the Pskov highway needs very large improvements, first of all, it is necessary to thoroughly think about increasing the length, ”said Olga Sivacheva.

The composition of the Pskov rally was "starry." So, the owner of the current champion of Russia in the absolute standings, the bronze medalist of the stage of the World Cup Stanislav Gryazin with his new navigator George Troshkin (Moscow) agreed to take part in the race. This champion crew opened the Pskov rally and ended him victoriously. Leaders reached the finish in 38 minutes 32 seconds. Three minutes later, Muscovites Igor Sokolov and Igor Skuridin came, representing the Cyrus Rally team, which mainly takes part in international competitions in the Baltic states and Finland. The third were finished by Igor Aksyonov and Peter Hamburg from St. Petersburg, who managed to deprive one of the Pskov farmers during the racing, “carefully” moving away from the highway directly to his garden. By the way, there were no victims during the rally, if you do not take into account the psychological injuries of riders who did not reach the finish line.

Unfortunately, the Pskov riders rode on the "zero" crews, that is, the jury was not evaluated. But, as they say, the main thing is not a victory, but participation - it is already great pleasure to ride side by side with eminent domestic athletes.

The PG correspondent managed to directly meet the heat with the heat of the Laurers of Stas Gryazin and take an exclusive interview from the famous athlete.

• Stanislav, what impressions will you take away from the Pskov rally?

• I liked everything. Despite the fact that the races here were last spent many years ago, everything was thought out in detail. Gravel is very interesting, peculiar. These roads, indeed, are very different from traditional Russian roads. However, in order for the Pskov highway to become a full stage of the Russian championship, you need to find a few more interesting special stages, because the existing ones are not enough for a real national race - too small mileage.

• What has been moving you to become a professional race car driver?

• Since childhood, I had a dream to compete on car races. Today, when the dream came true, I can call myself a realized person with complete confidence, and this is a very pleasant feeling. Auto women give me great pleasure, they eventually became an integral part of my life, and a very important part of it. Everything else fades into the background.

• What is needed in order to become an excellent racer?

• A person should have certain data from birth, but in any case, it is not enough to complete the complete mastery of this profession. You need to train a lot, train a lot.

• How does the professional level of Russian rally racers in the international arena look?

• The level of our athletes is slightly lower than the level of Western riders. This is due to two reasons - Russian roads and weak financing. We do not have such interesting, “wound” tracks, such as, say, in Finland, the Baltic states, Western Europe as a whole. Of course, the natural landscape in Russia is no worse, but one untouched nature is not enough for athletes to ride here. We need huge financial investments in the development of rally in our country. In principle, everything is in our hands - we must train, update the equipment and achieve new victories!

The inspirers and organizers of the significant event were the Federation of Automobile Sports of the region, the regional committee on physical culture and sports, the Karat Trading House, the Avar plant and the company Auto-Lada.

Igor Maklin.