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Gold rush spurs teams across Siberian waste
After winning the world's longest rally over two tough weeks and across 15,000 kilometres of Siberian wilderness, cracking open the champagne was not at the top of Ilya Savelyev's agenda. The winning captain's biggest wish when he crossed the finish line on Russia's Pacific coast was, first, to take a hot shower, and then to call home to Moscow to tell his loved ones he was alive and well. Sixty eight off-road vehicles, making up 34 teams, each with a crew of five men and one woman, set off from near the city of Murmansk on the Barents Sea on February 23 hoping to reach the shores of the Pacific Ocean near the port city of Vladivostok. The $10-million project, called the Expedition Trophy 2005, was the brainchild of Alexander Kravtsov, a self-made millionaire and extreme sports enthusiast. "We wanted to create something that was never done before," Kravtsov said. "To cover 15,000 km through Russia in winter, through ice, snow and slush, often with no roads at all -- it was worthy of the Guinness Book of Records." The prize for last Tuesday's winner was 10 kg in gold, worth nearly $150,000, and the race itself was only a part of the adventure. Kravtsov set up a special train to follow the rally. Like a huge house on wheels, it was home to the race organisers, support crew and the media for two weeks. "The idea was to promote our company, thus we initially painted the whole train in orange -- the colours of the Expedition," he said.
ORANGE REVOLUTION It turned out to be a bad idea. With the "Orange Revolution" sweeping pro-Western Viktor Yushchenko into power in neighbouring Ukraine a couple of months earlier, Russia's power brokers did not like the political overtones of an orange train riding through their countryside. "We don't want to be involved in politics," said Kravtsov, explaining his decision to repaint the train white. Crews had to endure the rugged terrain of Siberian forests and frozen tundra, navigate the icy Lake Baikal and the Amur River and survive many other obstacles along the way. Often man-made barriers were much more difficult to overcome than those created by nature. One team were nearly eliminated just 100 km into the race after they were sold doctored petrol on the interstate road between Murmansk and St Petersburg. After losing nearly six hours trying to clean up their fuel system, they were able to continue. Another team, called Severny Dozor (the North Watch) and made up of Russians and Americans in two Chevrolet trucks, got lost in thick forests near Saratov, ending up at a secret nuclear missile base. "Just imagine, a team driving American-made cars with Delaware licence plates, full of sophisticated navigation devices and satellite phones, goes inside a secret compound of the Russian army," said one of the race organisers. "They could have been taken prisoner or even worse killed on the spot. Thank God, we managed to negotiate their release." Their joy, however, did not last long. Dozor were eventually eliminated having missed the cut-off time in the Urals.
WEDDING CELEBRATIONS While drivers had to fight to stay awake, VIP guests on the train were entertained by musicians and celebrities. Kravtsov even had time to arrange his own wedding on Lake Baikal, inviting almost 500 guests. Boney M, the main attraction, performed their 1970s disco hits to a wild reception from local gatecrashers. Of the initial 34 teams, representing many Russian cities as well as crews from Latvia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and several western countries, only seven were still in contention for the top prize by the 900-km final stage from Khabarovsk to Vladivostok last week. There was still more drama at the end. The team from Moscow, who had led for most of the way, took a wrong turn just 20 km from the finish and were beaten by their city rivals, Morskie Volki (the Sea Wolves). "Of course, we're disappointed. Being in the lead for almost 15,000 km and to lose by less than three minutes, it hurts," said losing captain Mikhail Boldyrev. Others were happy just to survive. "When we started our main goal was to finish the race," said Severny Dozor co-driver Veta Kuzmina -- the only woman captain in the race. "We wanted to show the world that American-made cars are capable of driving through the Russian winter. "Hopefully, if we decide to enter the race next year, we'll have a corporate sponsor backing us and we'll be a lot more competitive then," she added. Not to be outdone, other teams said they too were getting ready for next year, with organisers planning a bigger field and twice the prize money.
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