Mountain Racing: The Season Opens at Uzhok Pass

Despite all the challenges our country has faced, professional automotive competitions continue to take place. While rally, cross, and circuit racing take a backseat, "mountain" racing has come to the forefront. The first race of the year was hosted at Uzhok Pass, where both professional athletes and amateur drivers started together. Notably, in both cases, the competition was fought for mere seconds, or even fractions of a second!

Let us remind you that mountain racing, officially referred to as "hillclimb," became the first official automotive competition held after the "great war" reached Ukraine. This occurred in the fall of 2023, and Uzhok Pass had the honor of hosting it. It was only fitting that it opened the current season of mountain racing.

With nearly perfect asphalt coverage, the fast "track" is also quite safe – featuring guardrails in particularly dangerous spots and no deep ditches on either side.

The elevation change of the track is 211 meters over a distance of 3.8 kilometers, which includes 22 turns, almost evenly split between left and right.

Fortunately, this time the weather remained stable and almost summery, even reminding us of last year's August races, at least during Saturday's part.

As usual, the race took place over two days, conducted in an entirely identical format.

One training and familiarization run was followed by two qualifying runs, and then three actual scoring runs. To be classified, a driver had to complete at least one qualifying run and then two scoring runs.

The day's results were determined by the two best runs out of three, while the overall results of the competition were based on the sum of the two days. In other words, the four best runs out of six, but taking into account the distribution over the days.

This may sound somewhat complicated, but in reality, it is quite simple – at least much simpler than in rally disciplines...

One of the main highlights of "mountain racing" is the opportunity for two drivers to take turns driving the same car. Conversely, one driver can compete twice in two classifications – in their own and in a higher classification.

Both options were utilized – there were both partners and those who decided not to share with others and instead competed twice in their own car.

For example, Denys Horkovchuk with Mykhailo Kalmer and Bartłomiej Koźioł with Dmytro Semeniuk shared two 2-liter Renault Megans, while Dmytro Dzys and Andrii Sapuzhak preferred to compete "solo" twice in their Ford Fiesta.

It should be noted that while Dzys, for whom this "mountain" was the first in his life, competed in a 2-liter rally car he had previously driven, Sapuzhak was in a 1.6-liter car, which was no easy feat! From his old and seasoned Ford Escort, which traces its lineage back to the mid-90s, the Lviv resident switched to a much more modern and sporty Fiesta.

This is a true circuit car, originally manufactured in Germany, which, under the guidance of Andrii Yevtushenko, became the Champion of Ukraine in circuit racing, and not just once! Now another Andrii is behind the wheel, and while there is no "circuit" available, this Fiesta is tackling the mountain serpentine of the Carpathians.

As already mentioned, at the "mountain" professionals (as much as this term applies in our latitudes) with their true sports cars equipped with safety cages were able to start alongside amateurs in production cars.

The main requirement is that they comply with traffic regulations. However, it should be noted that these "amateurs," unlike the "professionals," are not limited by any technical requirements, and in terms of "tuning," their hands are completely untied!

In this light, it is not surprising that although there is no official absolute classification at the "mountain," it de facto exists, and not only did amateurs win, but they also took all the top places with their "road" cars.

Moreover, despite the presence of all-wheel-drive "monsters" in the peloton, the fastest among all this time was Mykola Osipov, who competed in a front-wheel-drive VW Golf GTi!

The "secret" of this Golf, which does not look very much like a production model, lies in its engine, reportedly tuned to 650 "horses"!

If this is an exaggeration from "malicious tongues," and let’s say, for example, that under its hood is a herd of 400 "people's" horses, even they do not compare to the power outputs of supposedly sports engines of the same Megans and Fiestas. At least in this case, we are talking about a power difference of two times!

Speaking of real "absolute values," on Saturday, Osipov set the bar at 2 minutes 16.5 seconds on his first run, after which he recorded a record time for this race of 2 minutes 12.6 seconds.

On Sunday, the best times for this duo were 2 minutes 16.4 seconds and 2 minutes 19.7 seconds, which brought them a winning total of 9 minutes 05.2 seconds and the top of the podium in the top classification for production cars A4 ST.

Only 1.1 seconds behind them was another "amateur" - Volodymyr Hutsul, who was competing in a "quadruple" - Subaru Impreza STI. For this pair, the "mountain" was far from their first "rodeo."

Hutsul completed it with enviable consistency: 2 minutes 18.8 seconds and 2 minutes 17.2 seconds on Saturday, supported by 2 minutes 17.2 seconds and finally recorded on the last sixth scoring run - 2 minutes 13.1 seconds, which gave a total of 9 minutes 06.3 seconds.

In other words, in their respective best runs, Osipov and Hutsul were separated by only half a second!

Oleksandr Khuda in his "tuned" Audi A3, according to eyewitnesses, also had a good and confident race, "kissing" the turns of Uzhok Pass with almost perfect trajectories.

At the same time, he lost to two competitors by not such huge seconds. Khuda collected a total of 9 minutes 13.3 seconds, trailing the top of the A4 ST podium by 8 seconds, with his best run being 2 minutes 16.0 seconds, recorded on Sunday morning.

The first outside the podium of the "absolute," which, let’s remind, in reality does not exist at the "mountain," was another regular - Markiyan Klymenko, in his "coupe" Subaru BRZ.

After Saturday's 2 minutes 23.4 seconds and 2 minutes 23.3 seconds, this duo slightly accelerated, showing almost the same level with a pair of 2 minutes 21 seconds. With a total of 9 minutes 30.3 seconds, Klymenko topped the podium for the front-wheel-drive production class A3 ST.

But, as we have already established, the term "standard" in many cases, and certainly in all of the above quartet, at the "mountain" should be considered quite relative. For example, Khuda's "tuned" Audi engine heated up so much that he had to descend after runs with the hood open!

Therefore, it is not surprising that only 5th place, if we take the unofficial "overall classification," was occupied by the first of the drivers who competed in "full racing."

This was Dmytro Zakharov, who competed in a 2-liter Honda Civic Type R and was once one of the leaders of the "mountain." His best times on Saturday were 2 minutes 22.8 seconds, and on Sunday 2 minutes 21.5 seconds recorded on the final sixth run.

In total, Zakharov collected 9 minutes 30.8 seconds, losing only half a second to the "amateur" in his "BRZ"... Again, let’s remind that there is no official "overall classification" at the "mountain" unlike in rally disciplines.

However, Zakharov topped the podium of the sports classification Sport 2WD 2000, designated for front-wheel-drive cars equipped with atmospheric engines with a working volume of up to 2 liters.

Along with Dmytro in his "Japanese" was another well-known pilot in Ukrainian motorsport - Volodymyr Korsia.

Let’s remind that at one time Volodymyr became the Champion of Ukraine in rally three times, including once in the most prestigious absolute classification. However, in the role of co-driver. Together with his driver Valerii Horban, they also competed successfully abroad.

In the fateful 2022 year, the Odessa resident went to defend not its honor on the sports arena, but literally Ukraine itself.

In the war, Volodymyr received a serious injury, after which his left arm does not function fully. Nevertheless, this did not prevent Korsia from not only competing, now as a driver, but also finishing 7th in the unofficial "overall classification" and officially 2nd in the class Sport 2WD 2000.

Moreover, while on Saturday the fastest run for Volodymyr was 2 minutes 26.0 seconds, on Sunday he showed 2 minutes 21.3 seconds on his best run, finishing the race with 9 minutes 36.0 seconds.

In other words, from the perspective of the fastest time, Korsia even surpassed Zakharov, albeit by only 0.2 seconds. In the total of two days, he lost to his partner-rival by 5.2 seconds.

In the final protocols, just between the two Honda Civic drivers was Dmytro Semeniuk, becoming the best of the quartet that competed in two 2-liter "French" cars.

It should be noted that for Dmytro this race did not go smoothly. After 2 minutes 26.6 seconds, on the second run, he broke a half-shaft. To be classified at the end of the day, Semeniuk finished it in the second "Megan" of the Rivne team.

On Sunday, in the repaired car, Semeniuk accelerated, showing first 2 minutes 22.3 seconds, then 2 minutes 21.7 seconds, and "at the curtain" 2 minutes 20.5 seconds, totaling 9 minutes 34.5 seconds.

Thus, it was Dmytro who, so to speak - due to the lack of all-wheel-drive opposition, - officially topped the oldest of the sports classifications - Sport 4WD. If we consider his real 2-liter "classmates," Semeniuk lost to Zakharov by only 3.7 seconds, ahead of Korsia by only one and a half seconds.

Similarly, in the senior Sport 4WD, Mykhailo Kalmer appeared, who competed in a blue "Megan" alternately with Denys Horkovchuk.

If on Saturday Mykhailo's best times were 2 minutes 28.0 seconds, then on Sunday he seriously accelerated, showing first 2 minutes 23.4 seconds, and then 2 minutes 20.8 seconds. However, the not-so-good Saturday still took its toll. From the perspective of 2-liter front-wheel drive, Kalmer lost to Zakharov by exactly 10 seconds, while officially becoming 2nd in Sport 4WD, where he and Semeniuk were separated by only 6 seconds.

And the tightest, at least between two different participants, in this race was the next gap. Horkovchuk and his partner, who competed in the same car, were separated by a mere 0.2 seconds over the course of two days and their four best runs!

For Denys, the best times on Saturday were 2 minutes 24.3 seconds, while on Sunday he accelerated, and his fastest time of the entire race was 2 minutes 21.3 seconds, which Horkovchuk recorded on the second run despite a small mistake and even contact with the guardrail!

As a result, the Rivne resident finished 10th in the unofficial "overall classification," 5th among all 2-liter sports front-wheel drives, and officially closed the podium of Sport 2WD 2000, losing only 4.9 seconds to the silver medalist of this classification, Korsia.

4th among the quartet of drivers in "French" cars was the Pole Bartłomiej Koźioł, who has lived and worked in Ukraine for many years, as well as competing in Ukrainian races.

Bartłomiej was somewhat slower than his partners this time – accumulating exactly 10 minutes over two days, he let a few amateurs pass, finishing 14th overall, but most importantly – 3rd in the sports classification Sport 4WD.

Just behind Bartłomiej were two Fiesta drivers, who, let’s remind, both decided to compete "solo" in two classifications. And in this regard, their results...