During his visit to Moscow, Nixon agreed to run a race with Brezhnev. The following day, the Pravda newspaper made the following announcement: “Yesterday, Leonid Brezhnev, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Soviet Union's governing Communist Party, Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, four-time Hero of the Soviet Union, and Richard Nixon, the US President, took part in the international peace run. Brezhnev finished second, while President Nixon came in second to last.”

Last Sunday, on 2 June, IB Translations team competed at its first annual classic rally. The crew was made of Konstantin Golota (driver and mechanic), Pavel Ezhov (co-driver and observer), Yulia Golota (passenger and assistant) and Ekaterina Andreeva (fan and spectator).

Regulated by the stringent Sports Code of the Russian Automobile Federation, the rally was a real challenge, with the outcomes fully in line with our expectations.

The race brought together 77 crews, with 14 running a shortened race in the special Veterans category (cars manufactured before 1945). Of 63 participants, 12 raced out of competition due to not being manufactured before 1970 as required. According to the preliminary counts, IB Translations ranked 30th among 51 crews, but let’s wait and see the final results!
For photos go to http://zyalt.livejournal.com/789615.html (see photo 21).

Konstantin Golota: “Well... We have been...fighting hard, that's it! Though the route was really confusing, the car didn't let us down. ZAZ-965 is indeed a reliable everyday vehicle.”

Pavel Ezhov: “The crew got off to a good start and successfully passed the first control point with as few as four penalty minutes. The route along the side streets of Ostozhenka and Prechistenka was extremely difficult, but we did it anyway! Our ZAZ-965A V4 887 Pumpkin Special LE performed well at the time-speed-distance (regularity) segment where we needed to maintain a certain average speed. At the second control point in the vicinity of Moscow State University, we had several neutralisations, i.e. timed stoppages. We finished just two minutes ahead of the schedule (which is also penalised), scoring twelve penalty minutes. This must have happened because we messed up and broke neutralisation rules. We had been doing quite well and could even have made it to the Top 10 before we reached the final section. Then, unfortunately, everything went downhill as we failed to stick to the route. After spending a great deal of time looking for control points, we rushed to the finish line bearing in mind an 11-hour penalty awarded for a 15-minute delay. This would have meant disqualification. On our way to the finish, we made all kinds of mistakes and got 40 additional penalty minutes. Another challenge was to actually find the finish line, but in the end we came in 30th out of 51 in our group. We will strive to improve our result at the upcoming Night Moscow rally scheduled for 27 July. Now that we've gained some professional racing experience, we are even more eager to win.”

Yulia Golota: “Yay! That was amazing!”

Ekaterina Andreeva: “Among a myriad of fancy, gleaming vintage cars, Pumpkin Special stood out for its bright, sky-blue colour matching IB Translations' corporate style, simplicity, compactness and, last but not least, charm. It's an adorable little car you can't help rooting for.”
After finishing in Barvikha Luxury Village, the crews took part in the award ceremony and a private after party. 
Watch more at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYU3CeQ3jks. For live updates visit our Twitter page @golota82 (http://twitter.com/golota82).
For video, go to http://youtu.be/UCQA05hpND0

Highlights:
00:00 – discussing the rules;
10:21 – start of the rally (to be continued after a break at 36:51);
44:20 – driving to the start line;
1:03:49 – start, control point 1;
1:55:52 – control point 2;
2:03:04 – control point 3, a 10-minute neutralisation;
2:15:14 – struggles to find control point 4;
2:17:30 – streaming resumed at control point 5, crossing the finish line;
2:26:08 – driving to the podium, discussions;
2:29:17 – awards ceremony, interview.

Aiming to improve our performance, we have already started preparing for Night Moscow to be held as early as on 27 July. This is a tough race, which will challenge some 60 crews to complete an intricate night route in just three hours. We count on our intense training and preparations to help us make it to the Top 10 and fight for a podium in our category.