The teams, driving powerful jeeps have covered 12,000 kilometers of snow-covered expanses of the Russian territory in two weeks - the achievement that gives them the right to apply for nomination of the race in the Guinness Book of Records as the longest winter race in the world.
Race press center officials told RIA Novosti, according to stringent rules of the race, federal highways were off-limits for the participants. They had to by-pass the "penalty zones" through taiga, swamps and rivers, away from roads. The most difficult stretch was between Zabaikalye and the Amur region.
Thirty-six teams from Russia, the United States, Germany, Czech Republic, Ukraine, Latvia and Kazakhstan participated in the motor race. However, not all of them reached the finishing line. Only seven teams remained in the race by the time they reached Khabarovsk on March 7.
The organizers of the race will have to determine the winners and distribute the awards. The prize fund of the race is 15 kilograms of gold. Ten kilograms will be given to the winners. The runner-up team will receive three kilograms of gold, and the occupants of the third place - one kilogram. Another kilogram of gold will be used to produce memorable medals for all participants of the race.
According to technical commissar of the race Borislav Kazankin, this race surpasses all known trophy expeditions in terms of complexity and will become the longest motor race across the territory of a single nation.
Teams of five men and a woman driving two cars were allowed to participate in the race. At every stage of the race, the outsiders were determined. They were consequently disqualified from the official competition, but could continue the race unofficially.
A train with well-known performers, panel of judges, emergency ministry officials and organizers of the event accompanied the race through all its duration.
The route taken by Expedition-Trophy and the train passed along 14 Russian cities, including St. Petersburg, Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, Krasnoyarsk, Irkutsk, and Khabarovsk. Each city, where the participants and the organizers made stops, hosted a concert program.
The Expedition-Trophy motor race was monitored by satellite positioning systems.
