Hello, we are from rally: why St. Petersburg residents are attracted to this dangerous winter sport

Family Affair

Under the loud roar of engines, cars turn one after another. A snow cloud, lifted by the studded tires of racing cars, hangs over the track. The snow-white curtain is torn by the next car. The pilot pulls the handbrake, the car goes into a controlled skid, turning its face onto the desired trajectory, the handbrake is lowered, the gas pedal is to the floor – and the car, sharply accelerating, rushes past the spectators…

Here’s another section. Here, to the audience’s applause and the ejection of columns of fire from pyrotechnic fountains, cars literally take off, overcoming the hill, and plop down on all four wheels into a puddle that has spilled along the slope. Behind almost every car, a small drone flies, buzzing like an annoying fly, filming the passage of the track…

And each pilot navigates dangerous and smooth sections of roads in his own way. It all depends on the skill and skill of the driver himself and the preparedness and experience of his navigator. And, of course, on how the mechanics worked with the car during the preparation for the race. All categories of drivers gathered at the Neo Oil Cup rally sprint championship, held in Pargolovo at the end of December. One of the crews even consisted of family members. So, 19-year-old Ilya acts as a navigator for his father, a car pilot. The guy began to get involved in motorsports, following his parent, who was passionate about the business.

Many of us have probably at least once seen recordings from the cockpits of cars during a rally. The incomprehensible text read out by the navigator confuses many citizens unfamiliar with the rally. A logical question arises: what is he even saying and how to understand it? Ilya helped with decoding the professional slang “MK in St. Petersburg”.

“The navigator writes a transcript: the steepness of the turns, the distance between the turns of the ligament, and so on. It helps the driver to perceive the road by ear and build a set route in order to overcome the route as efficiently as possible. There are several transcript options; each navigator chooses which one is more convenient for him. The gradation of turns is as follows: 1 is the shallowest turn, and 6 is the steepest. There are long turns, steep … ” – explained the young assistant pilot.

A family is performing on the domestic “penny”, and they are not the only ones. Rally racing tracks with their potholes, hills, sharp turns and hard snow sides can kill a racing car, so for rallies they usually take time-tested, inexpensive cars. Although the low price can be argued. According to 19-year-old pilot Valentin, just for the initial modernization of a standard car into a racing rally car, you need 50 thousand rubles. But someone else “bores” engines and assembles a gearbox. And each race is, if approached correctly, a new set of studded (and strictly according to the regulations) wheels.

Start small, end big

For my interlocutor Valentin, the rally in Pargolovo was one of the first in his career as a pilot. The young man began his journey as a racing driver only in February, but he assures that this time was enough to completely re-equip the car.

“You can, of course, just buy a car and go, but if you want to take a prize, the car must be carefully prepared, and this results in a rather significant amount for the family budget. You can get a “fierce” engine for 300 thousand, but the body kit (body elements that perform protective and aerodynamic functions. – Ed.) will be ordinary. Its estimated price is 50–250 thousand rubles: it depends on financial capabilities and the desire to tune the car,” – says Valentin.

The young man says that he got into motorsport to escape from the routine: racing along a difficult route with obstacles requires full concentration. When you are behind the wheel, you have absolutely no time for everyday problems.

Even though the guy drives a domestic car, the appearance of his “horse” is deceiving: inside the seemingly dilapidated bodies there are powerful engines and a very strong suspension. And the body itself is reinforced. You can’t drive such a car in the city, because, as Valentin noted, it is “jerky and tough.”

Carapace on wheels

Of course, motorsport is a dangerous activity. Rocks, high jumps, dust from the car in front blocking the view, and sudden breakdowns on the track can greatly harm both the crew and those around them. However, a properly equipped car will protect you from most risks.

According to rally organizer and participant Alexander Donets, injuries during competitions occur less frequently than they did several years ago. First, cars and pilots are well protected (if, say, the seat belt does not hold the pilot in the seat well enough, the car will simply not be allowed into the car). Secondly, places for viewing are immediately determined for spectators so that they do not accidentally end up in a dangerous area and are not hit by a car that has flown off the track (and this happens) or has not taken a turn very carefully.

By the way, Alexander initially built the track for motocross, however, when he saw that cars began to ride on it, he himself became interested in car rallying.

“Warm, light and safe in the frame – better than doing other sports,” – this is how Alexander describes his first impressions.

He became the driver of the car on August 15, 2019, taking part in a race in Luga. Since then, he has been developing motorsports and growing as a driver himself.

Donets recommends that newcomers and those interested in rallying first come to the track and see the situation. It’s possible to even take part in a regular car, but not forgetting the safety requirements: you need to at least buy a helmet, a high-quality seat belt, a fire extinguisher and securely secure the battery.

Alexander is confident that the rally itself is not dangerous. Firstly, the car frame is mostly solid. Secondly, all protective equipment is on sale. Thirdly, doctors and a safety car are always on duty at competitions (a safety car that goes onto the track when a dangerous situation arises on it) – in case someone, for example, flies off the track into the forest.

By the way, in winter, thanks to the snow sides along the race route, there are fewer departures from the road than in summer. Parapets, as a rule, prevent the car from rolling off the road. Although, of course, there are exceptions. In the summer, cars easily and not at all elegantly go into ditches on sharp turns.

Answering the question about expectations from the race, my interlocutor was laconic: “We hope to finish, and then God willing.”

This is a woman’s share!

Racing in Pargolovo, by the way, once again debunked the myth that racing is an exclusively male activity. There are many professional female racers in Russia who force male participants to bite the dust while trailing behind. For example, Irina Sidorkova became the champion of Russia in circuit racing at the age of 15, and at the age of 14 she managed to take the circuit racing cup in St. Petersburg. Anna Zavershinskaya is one of the most titled racers in Russian motorsport, the country’s overall rally champion. He combines racing with work as a journalist. Ekaterina Sedykh is one of the leaders of Russian drift. Maria Oparina is a St. Petersburg resident who was one of the three strongest athletes in the country in the T3 category. In 2015, she became the first winner of the Russian Cup in cross-country rallying in the history of the country. The daughter of the legendary racer Vladimir Goltsov, Natalya, won the Volga region championship back in 2006. She tried everything in circuit racing and deservedly became a master of sports. Tatyana Eliseeva generally competed in a rally-raid Gazelle. Yulia Shakhotina is a journalist who competes professionally in rallies. She began her racing career as a navigator. Elena Nikonchuk is the winner of the Russian Rally Cup among navigators. What can I say: the first mention in the press of women’s participation in automobile competitions was on March 13, 1902. At the competition for driving skill, held at the Mikhailovsky Arena in St. Petersburg, the second prize was won by Mrs. Matilda Gilgendorf in a two-seater steam “Dux-Locomobile”. Princess Sophia Dolgorukaya also took part in the races – on an 18-horsepower Delaunay-Belleville (later, in 1914, she became the first female pilot to receive a certificate from the Imperial Russian Aero Club). By the way, in the Civil War of 1917–1922, she served with another motorist and pilot, Elena Samsonova.

It would take a long time to list the names of the beautiful racers, but let’s return to the track in Pargolovo, because here, too, there is someone to admire: in several crews, women were comfortably seated in the navigator’s chairs.

So, Nadezhda acts as a navigator for her pilot partner. She confirms: there are many women in rallying. At the Cup, girls who deliberately went through navigator school perform.

“Anyone can be a navigator” — Nadezhda summarizes.

Alexander Donets also agrees with her. According to him, female pilots on the tracks are not inferior to male racers and regularly break through to the podium.

Hurry up to see

Indeed, it does not matter who is driving: a woman or a man, a person who has just graduated from school, or in the prime of life, a garage Kulibin who knows by heart the names of all Formula 1 champions, or a graduate of a karting school. The main thing in racing is driving skills, the ability to feel the car and the track, the ability to perceive and quickly process information received from the navigator.

Thus, at the rally in Pargolovo, one of the crews in a “regular” car easily overtook a specialized buggy and showed the best race time – 5:58.3. And the other team walked the conditional circle for almost 30 minutes.

However, the spectators – and this is another very important participant in any competition – were delighted with everything that happened on the track. Cars take off from springboards, maneuvers on snow-covered turns, raising clouds of snow, the roar of engines and the buzz of drones.

The development of domestic motorsport, of course, is encouraging. After all, this is a healthy hobby that allows you to gain a lot of useful skills and knowledge, and also unites people of different generations.

And if you want to see this for yourself, you can attend one of the competitions. The next one – the Russian Baja Rally Raid Championship “Russia – Northern Forest” – will be held from February 8 to 11 at the Igora Drive circuit. The race will also involve sections of more than 100 km along the roads of the Vyborg and Priozersky districts. By the way, the first baja “Northern Forest” took place in 2003, the route passed right through the Priozersky district of the Leningrad region.