Who needs a one-horse sleigh (open or otherwise) if
you can get your hands on one of these?
St Petersburg revheads can thrill to the sight of magnificent young drivers and their speeding snowmobiles at the inaugural Russian Open Cup Snowmobile Championship this weekend, Jan 27 to 28 at Kavgolovo, 23 kilometers (14 miles) north of the city.
Ten teams of four each, nine Russian and one team from Finland, will sizzle across the snow in the three-round event for $15,000 in prize money.
Despite the preponderance of Russian entries, the Finnish are hot favorites to take out the championship. Led by four-time world snowmobile champion Pauli Pippola and fellow-countryman Tommy Amossalo (a four-time European champ), the flying Finns are expected to be too much for the generally inexperienced Russians.
"These races are going to be a real show," said Andrei Kushul, organizer of the Russian Open Cup. "Some snowmobiles will reach 150 kmh (95 mph)."
Mr Kushul, director of the ROSAN company which distributes Bombardier- make snowmobiles in Russia, said the races would take place over two 2 kilometer (1.2 mile) courses -- lake and forest.
The races will go for 15 minutes plus two laps of the course. Points will be awarded to competitors for their positions after 15 minutes and for final positions. These points will determine which 20 racers make the final.
Prize money of $500 will be awarded to the winner of each of the three rounds of the cup, with the overall individual winner receiving $2,000. The first-placed team will win $1,000.
Former Soviet ice hockey goalkeeper Vladislav Tretyak may take a place on the starting blocks. The three-time Olympic Gold medal winner, who now heads the Moscow office of the Bombardier company, has talked of trying his luck.
Mr Kushul said a successful Russian Open event could see the European Motor Bike Federation choose Kavgolovo for next year's European championships.