On Sunday, 1 June, the IB Translations racing team will compete in the annual L.U.C Chopard Classic Weekend Rally for the second time running. Our crew will consist of Mikhail Tsyferov (driver), Konstantin Golota (co-driver), and Alexander Usoltsev (crew member). Everyone is welcome to support the team! Photos from last year’s event: http://classic-rally.ru/archive?id_object=31.

The upcoming event is the highlight of the classic car season just like the Monaco Grand Prix is in the global racing calendar. It was first held back in 2003, and this year will see the twelfth rally. The participants set off from TSUM and, after passing a number of control points and completing a variety of tasks, finish at Barvikha Luxury Village. It is a truly exciting and competitive event for oldtimers manufactured before 1970, which brings together car lovers and automotive racing enthusiasts.

Unfortunately, our last success did not come easy: the team’s racing car – ZAZ-965A V4 887 Pumpkin Special LE decked out in the corporate colours of IB Translations – suffered some serious damages. To get it back in the game, we had to repaint the body and literally beat it back into shape with a mallet, so now it looks more like a Cadillac DeVille Series 63. We will do our best to restore its familiar and cherished look by the next race.

Mikhail Tsyferov, driver: Konstantin and I look forward to the second start of the season. We had a little break between the rallies and got back to intensive preparations in mid-May. Unfortunately, we identified some serious issues with the car and our mechanics are now working day and night to fix them. They have finished the work on the chassis and are running the final tests. I am sure we will be in good shape by 1 June.

Konstantin Golota, co-driver: Ahead of the second stage of the 2014 championship, we are still thrilled and motivated by the success of our previous rally. You may remember that last time we managed to complete the distance for the first time ever, and doing it in our own time frame did not prevent us from grabbing the last spot in the Top 20. Now, we should focus on reaching the finishing line sooner rather than later, even though we remember that it’s better late than never.

Alexander Usoltsev (crew member): As the next big event is just around the corner, we have learnt our lessons from the previous rally to make sure we improve our performance and write our names in the history of classic car rallies. We are looking forward to sharing this exciting and memorable experience with our fans. Come support us at the start and follow our progress through the rally on Twitter.

The opening ceremony will take place at 12:00 pm on 1 June near TSUM (Teatralnaya metro station), though the cars will be arriving from 10:00 am. From there, the start will be given with one-minute intervals. The race is expected to end late afternoon in Barvikha Luxury Village ( http://maps.yandex.ru/-/CVVzUGI6, http://blv.ru/contacts/)
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Everyone is welcome to attend the opening and closing ceremonies. For live updates visit our Twitter page @golota82 (http://twitter.com/golota82).

To view the results of the previous rally visit http://usolt.livejournal.com/746470.html and http://youtu.be/G5_NsZSLwzk.