The spring 1998 international journalists’ auto rally in Kyiv showed that media people can do more than write or handle video cameras, reports Oleksandr Bilenky, The Day.
Held for the eighth time, sponsored by the Ukrainian Journalists Automobile Club, it attracted 31 crews from Kyiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Lviv, Odesa, Pereyaslav-Khmelnytsky, Kharkiv, Vilnius, and Moscow. The events included slalom, maneuvering, speedway, and city street races.
Moscow Auto Revue crews won in the overall standing. Ihor Sedoi and navigator Viktor Shapovalov of Odesa’s “Green Van” television program placed third, becoming Ukraine’s champions. They were closely followed by Oleksandr Popov and Ihor Dydenko of “Autocenter” and Oleksiy Mochanov with Yanina Franchuk of the “Sunflowers” TV show.
Fans also eagerly followed a SAAB 9000 with a Baba Yaha witch riding its antenna, heralding an all-women crew: Tamara Stepanenko (Ukrainian National Television and Radio Council) and Liudmyla Mekh (Mass Media Association). Unfortunately, the mascot failed to help. The crew won no trophy and when maneuvering on Khreshchatyk the witch flew off the antenna and lost her hawk-nose. This, however, did not dampen the crew’s spirit.
Photo by Volodymyr Rasner, The Day:
The Day’s Ihor Trubenkov and Oleksandr Bilenky at the wheel







