On May 13 on the Capital highway, 90 (Kiev) had passed the first round of the Ukrainian Drift Championship (UDC). The Marchenko Racing team in the person of the pilot Vladimir Marchenko arrived to the competitions the very first one!
Organizers divided competitions into two days: on Saturday – a registration and racing starts of participants, and trainings; on Sunday – the qualification and twin races.
We were the first on registration! This year the UDC team made a so-called “customs” that means the pilot must leave the car on technical checkup and go to registration. On return, he passes the medical inspection, and in the meantime, his car glued over in obligatory labels of the Championship. Only with these three “artifacts” (a tick of passed technical and medical inspection and obligatory labels), the car is allowed to pass into the service park. On registration, all pilots signed regulations and obtained the licenses for a season.
Impossible to miss the remarkably well and the very accurate observance of timing by organizers and participants! All was occurring within five minutes of accuracy on timing! It was one of the indicators of high level of the organization!
After registration, at 13:00 Max Miller gathered everybody on a briefing where told us about nuances of the track, judges requirements and gave some manuals! Then everybody was kindly asked to start the engine and leave on trainings!
The track was in style of “Formula D: Long Beach” – concrete on all perimeter! Nevertheless, judges decided not to put a clipping zone under the concrete, the unique requirement was to “lick” concrete on the start-up of drift, further all clipping-points were internal.
At the first hour of trainings, Felix Petrosyan (Odessa) and Roman Blindyuk (Kharkov) passed a baptizing by concrete, but just in some hours, their cars were again on a track!
Vladimir Marchenko on his Nissan 200SX with the engine from Corvette draws attention of everybody! Attention of the professionals and of fans! Angry-looking Nissan with aggressive “sight”, a malicious silhouette and scaring “voice” hooked on itself the attention of everybody who was on a platform in day of trainings!
All pilots were adapting to a track, there was a sunny weather, a covering on a platform was so much ideal that rubber sufficed for a bit more long time than expected… Here, closer to the end of trainings, everyone was stiffed!
Nikita Lukyanov did not managed with steering while accelerating on the start, and hooked on the concrete block! All services worked with a mad speed! Already on seventh second after crash, near the car there were the first fire extinguisher and ambulance! The car had been filled in with fire-prevention mixture, mass was disconnected from accumulator battery, car was overturned on a roof and taken away in the closed park in a few minutes! With Nikita everything is all right, he left without aid in the closed park, a framework and seat belts had worked perfectly well! Physicians enter to Nikita the soothing, and the father of Nikita told: “All is OK, we will be on the next stage!” Boys, good luck in restoring and success on the new car!
After that incident everybody was gathered on a briefing where it was announced that training can be finished, because it is necessary to thoroughly clean the track from splinters. The first day is finished!
Morning of Sunday met us with a rain! Had arrived on a platform we observed, how the night wind bent tents of some pilots, scratch them cars, our tent was at its place and that should please! The mood was lessen a little because it is not very funny to drive in rain … BUT! The UDC team had all on timing! And to the beginning of a briefing the rain stopped, and during a briefing the wind dried a track! They gave to us time to train in the morning before test races, then, finally got waited the arrival of the public and absolutely on a timing, at 14:00, all pilots were lined up on parade of participants!
Vladimir Marchenko arrived to his turn one of the last, but public reacting to his start was the strongest one above the all! A roar of eight-cylinder engine, the frightening look and a red smoke had bought everybody!!!
Between parade and qualifying races also were organized the fan session with distribution of autographs from the best pilots of a season 2011, on which Vladimir Marchenko was certainly invited.
Having communicated with the fans, all pilots departed for preparation for the start of qualification!
On qualification. the 21 pilots, of 28 registered ones, are present. Among all races, the most remarkable ones were the starts of Aleksandr Grinchuk with sharp turns in two of three races, and also lighted-up Vitaly Liuty, who passed the qualification, but could not continue struggle in twin races!
Vladimir Marchenko passed qualification without special problems, in his mad style with the minimum distances in a clipping zones, and as a result, took a third place on qualification, and this is plus of 19 points to the general rank offset!
The grid of twin races arrivals looked like this.
In a series of the Top 16 Vladimir met Vyacheslav Borovitsky on BMW. The first race –is perfectly well done! In second race, being guided, Vladimir on a second rerun got a too much of pleasure from a car and missed the moment when it was necessary to release gas. Therefore the car was turned, and the opponent passed further in the Top 8.
Nothing to say in the justification indeed! The result is present and there is a lot to aspire for! The technics is working in excellent way!, Gradually, we will build good relations with it!
Results of the First round of UDC 2012 was like that:
1. Dmitry Illyuk (Odessa)
2. Vladimir Palariyev (Odessa)
3. Vitaly Gerashchenko (Kiev)
…
9. Vladimir Marchenko (Kiev)
Thanks to everybody who supported the Marchenko Racing team!
Up to a meeting on May 20—on the Cup of Vinnitsa, in Kalinovka!