“I’m a machine and you’re a machine”

“You and I are a happy family, because I’m a machine and you’re a machine.” Only a person who really loves cars could write these words. Berdiansk recently hosted a gathering of passionate lovers of drag racing, those who know about the beauty of a car and who need so little to be happy — a wheel, a gear pedal, brakes, and gasoline. Berdiansk Deputy Mayor Petro Honcharuk says that because of the car show, you couldn’t find any vacancies in holiday camps and hotels, so this former soccer player was very pleased that Drive City was held in his city on the shores of the Sea of Azov. The show was sponsored by ALeXX.

For two days, 20,000 “iron horse aficionados” feasted their eyes on 200 different car races taking place on the runways of the municipal airport (which operates only chartered flights), as well as a parade of Ukrainian biker clubs. Berdiansk hosts a bikers’ jamboree every summer. The car racers and bikers are unique individuals who, despite the 40-degree-Celsius heat, wear black leather clothes and have a lot of fun.

Jury members made a scrupulous examination of the cars that looked like they were coming alive during the Auto.ua Tuning parade and at the Club Elite Tuning and Auto Exotics open tuning exhibition. This parade of 60 cars comprised almost half of the entire show. The judges focused their attention on the interior and exterior designs of cars, engineering, and original decisions, etc., as well as on whether a car was a domestic or foreign model.

“The evaluation was based on the ‘good/bad’ and ‘I like/don’t like’ basis,” said Vadym Chyzhykov, chairman of the auto tuning jury. “It took us a lot of time to polish the judging system and determine nominations and criteria of assessment. This competition exposed some organizational shortcomings, so we will be introducing improvements. We had planned to show a total of 100 cars but only had 60.”

The Drive City participants turned into children at night in the aqua-park. On your way to a water side show, you could hear endless comments on the distribution of prizes: many people alleged that the awards had been fixed. Little wonder: where there is no perfect judging there is ample room for accusations.

In the Auto.ua Tuning Cup competition, winners were chosen in eight nominations, each of which provided for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place prizes. The judges named Kyivite Bohdan Zvarych’s car, a Mitsubishi Lancer EVO IX, the best in the Auto.ua Tuning Cup Winners’ Cup nomination. First prizes were awarded to Oleh Zakharov (BMW 520 M5) and Rafael Nadaiev (Subaru SVX) for exterior and interior design tuning, respectively, Oleksii Fedotov (Nissan 200 SX) for best engineering tuning, Natalia Astafurova (Alfa-Romeo 156) for best painted car (aerography), Olena Seredenko (VAZ 211340) for best domestic auto tuning, Yevhen Novoseltsev (UAZ-KRAB) for best off-road vehicle, and Viktor Panov (Skoda Octavia) for best original decision. The total prize purse was $12,000.

“I think the jury was impressed with the exterior tuning, i.e., the axle, bumpers, and color, and they also like the inside of the car,” said Zvarych. “The car was yellow at first, but I added an interesting shade to it. Inside the car I added a sophisticated acoustic system, music, a lot of engine-control, and general-purpose gadgets. I revamped the entire engine system, installed a larger turbine, and increased its fuel capacity from 2 liters at 280 horsepower to 2.4 liters to get more than 500 horsepower. The maximum speed is about 280 km/h, but if you change the gear box, it can even reach 340 km/h.”

On the second day, auto racing fans (those who stayed behind after the airfield grass suddenly caught fire) got to see Drag Battle 2007, a spectacular on-road competition featuring a linear race with maximum acceleration on a 402.3 m- long and 10 m-wide stretch of road. The main condition of this competition is a standing start and a rolling finish. Ninety cars from Ukraine, Russia, and Poland competed in pairs. The fastest drag racer was Grzegorz Staszewski, Poland, an experienced sportsman and champion of Poland and Europe, who drove a Chevrolet Corvette.

According to Deputy Mayor Honcharuk, Berdiansk would greatly benefit if such shows were held every year. The show could be better organized if the airport structures were turned into public property. This would also help improve fire safety and allow the organizers to stick to the planned schedule. It’s not easy to endure even three hours in the scorching August sun, even for those who consider cars part of their life.