Rally-raid "Khazar Steppes 2009". Prologue.
Thursday, 06 August 2009 12:38
Ceremonial start of the third round of the Russian Cross-Country Championship - rally-raid "Khazar Steppes 2009" - was held today in the morning. It was followed by reconnaissance of the superspecial stage, which crews later tackled in competition mode...
Unfortunately not everybody managed to start the prologue. For example, the engine broke down on the car of new World Cup holders - the crew of Artem Varentsov and Roman Elgain. Crew #212 (Andrey Babenko/Igor Petenko), on the contrary, managed to complete the 3-km distance, but then were stopped for some time after the finish, probably due to some problems with the front axle of their Pajero.
G-Force Motorsport crew of Alexey Denisov/Dmitriy Kozhukhov applied a cautious approach, getting used to the route's features, which is no surprise as it's Alexey's first appearance in the Astrakhan's race. Moreover, there's a 290 km long selective section to be run later today - and that's where the real fight for medals will start.
Provisional unofficial results of SSS (SS1):
1. Y.Solovjev - 4:25
2. A.Biryukov - 4:32
3. R.Misikov - 4:39
4. P.Loginov - 4:50
5. S.Savenko - 4:54
6. B.Novitskiy - 4:57
7. A.Yas'kov - 4:58
8. K.Zhil'tsov - 5:01
9. B.Frolov - 5:07
10. Y.Borovikov - 5:08
11. V.Volikov - 5:15
12. А.Denisov - 5:17
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