In southern Ukraine, near Odesa, men last time gathered to finish Ukraine’s championship affairs at the Chumatskiy Shlyah rally. Like all the events, it was on gravel. Even though the weather was great at the rally time, previous weather conditions meant that you could distinguish a car only by its shape – color, sponsor stickers, and other design elements were hiding underneath a thick layer of dirt. In addition, several stages were canceled with a bunch of other organizational difficulties. Rally Chumatskiy Shlyah.
Before the final round, three Ukrainians were ready to take the title of champion: Oleksandr Kozlov (Subaru Impreza N12), Yuriy Khomitskyi (Subaru Impreza N12) and Anton Korzun (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX). Various mathematical variations were possible, so the odds of each varied with each corner. And all three had some technical issues. O.Kozlov broke the shock absorber and had engine problems, but despite these, he managed to finish second. For Y. Khomitskyi – it ended worse. In one of the many mud baths and water crossings, the Ukrainian Subaru’s engine drank some water and received a hydro-blow, thus erasing all Yuriy’s hopes. And the driest of all was Anton Korzun. He won the final round. But the drama didn’t stop there – Yury and Anton scored the same number of points in championship standings after the last rally. The fate of the champion was decided by a better result in the final event, which was won by Anton. This is how Anton Korzun became the Ukrainian champion for the first time. And the co-driver champion was from the different crew. Yevgen Sokur took co-driver champion tittle reading for O.Kozlov and B.Gandzha pace notes this season.
Ukraine has two championships. Ukrainian Rally Championship and Ukrainian Mini-Rally Championship. Subaru Impreza and Mitsubishi Lancer Evo dominate in the main championship. Some events are more popular like Rally Fortecya, and the others get less attention. Among the two-wheel drive cars, the most popular is the Lada Samara and Honda Civic. Rallies consist of a bit over 100 kilometers of special stages. And in the Ukrainian Mini-Rally Championship, there are fewer all-wheel driven cars and more two-wheelers. There are also many Lada Samara cars over there. And Mini-Rally Champion Vladimir Petrenko – also armed with the Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX.
In Ukraine events sometimes guests from Lithuania, Poland, Estonia can be found.
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Photo – Sander Studio