69 replies to this topic

[JtP1]

In the Soviet Union there was probably no way for anyone to find a way to F1 or any other form of serious motorsport. I have sat in a car with a former member of a Soviet team, a European champion in his chosen sport. He has every requirement to be a top racing driver, reactions, hand/eye co ordination, mechanical ability and technical knowledge. But he got left for dead down a piece of A road, the A69 Carlisle to Newcastle btw. Why? because he can't balance the car for the simple reason that no one has taught him and he had no chance to learn in his youth as a member of the Soviet army. So the people are there, but as DSJ pointed out "you need the oportunity" They have afterall, produced some pretty good fighter pilots

As for being in what are now republics. That seems never stopped selection for representing the Soviet Union in sporting activities, ability being the major requirement. Anyway, every trip abroad that Igor did was heavily escorted by the KGB and that even included Cuba where they never even got the chance to visit the beach.

[Alexey Rogachev]

About a Soviet driver in Formula 1, assuming F1 is more then just the Championship, I found one I think.
In 1949 Yuri Sidorov participated (and finished) the Tchecovacian GP. So far one Soviet F1-driver.

Erwin, where did you get this very, very doubtful information? Who was Sidorov? What car did he drive? What was his result? Why wasn't he heard of neither before nor after this race in Czechoslovakia? It quite is reasonable that these questions appear immediately. And finally - here are the full results of the race on Darren Galpin's site, which I believe to be a reliable source of information: http://www.silhouet....1949/49mas.html. The one who can find Sidorov there must have very keen eyesight ;)

Edited by Alexey Rogachev, 06 October 2009 - 04:52.

[EvDelft]

In 1949 Yuri Sidorov participated (and finished) the Tchecovacian GP. So far one Soviet F1-driver.


What source have you for this?

F1stats.com is my source for this. Seems to know a lot, but I started doubting after reading the reply of Aleksey.

Edited by EvDelft, 07 October 2009 - 12:47.

[Herbert]

F1stats.com is my source for this. Seems to know a lot, but I started doubting after reading the reply of Aleksey.

There is a good chance that 2010 will see the first Russian in F1. Vitaly Petrov is a strong candidate for a cockpit at Campos GP.

In the German Formel-3-Cup Ukranian Sergey Chukanov dominates the Trophy-Class which is for older cars (like the National class in British F3). He won all but three races so far with a Russian Arttech chassis. Arttech btw is planning to build a new completely new car for next season.

Edited by Herbert, 07 October 2009 - 17:50.

[Hockenheim Racer]

F1stats.com is my source for this. Seems to know a lot, but I started doubting after reading the reply of Aleksey.

Hallo Erwin,
I just went to statsf1, and the result tells that Sidorov was a "f" (forfait I think) which means he was a non-Starter. The rest of the result is the same as on the silhouet-site.
Jörg

[EvDelft]

Hallo Erwin,
I just went to statsf1, and the result tells that Sidorov was a "f" (forfait I think) which means he was a non-Starter. The rest of the result is the same as on the silhouet-site.
Jörg

I thought 'f' meant 'finished'... Ah, that means he was on the original list, just something like Ernie de Vos in the US Grand Prix in 1963. On the official entry-list but never showed up...?

[Alexey Rogachev]

Wasn't that entry of the same sort than Soviet drivers being expected to start in the UK in 1956 or 1958 with the mythological Kharkov 6 Formula 1 single-seaters? In other words, I think that the desired things had been posed as a reality.

Edited by Alexey Rogachev, 08 October 2009 - 19:23.

[sat]

I have the program book from that race, no soviet can be sen on this, not even in minor race Prix of City Brno. I have read contemporaneous reports in main periodical "Svet motoru", no mention as well. I can not inagine that in time of communist regime anybody from SU were got blank. Your link lead me to yourtube. I seriously doubt you are right.

Edited by sat, 08 October 2009 - 21:48.

[EvDelft]

I understand but being a Ukrainian I don't believe that the Soviet times were the best times in the history of Ukraine and I don't believe that the Russian nation, the Ukrainian nation, the Estonian nation are one and the same. Anyway, let's stop at that.
By the way, was one of the drivers on the Moskvich team really from Lviv. That's my hometown! I am an Indy car racing fan and not really into the history of racing in the USSR (shame on me!). When did it take place and who was this driver from Lviv?

@ indyricefan13,

As far as I can find it (my information fully depends on Alexey's website - click) there are a few Ukrainian drivers (but I only checked the USSR-F1-series). These are:

Argentov, Anatoliy Анатолий Аргентов Kiev
Kapsheev, Vladimir Владимир Капшеев Kharkov
Koshkin, Ivan Иван Кошкин Zaporozh'ye
Lorent, Valeriy Валерий Лорент Kharkov
Medvedchenko, Aleksandr Александр Медведченко Kiev
Petrenko, Vladimir Владимир Петренко Kiev
Povarov, Viktor Виктор Поваров Donetsk

For the rest, I guess you best check out Aleksey's website. Have fun (I had!)

[HistoryFan]

@ indyricefan13,

As far as I can find it (my information fully depends on Alexey's website - click) there are a few Ukrainian drivers (but I only checked the USSR-F1-series). These are:

Argentov, Anatoliy Анатолий Аргентов Kiev
Kapsheev, Vladimir Владимир Капшеев Kharkov
Koshkin, Ivan Иван Кошкин Zaporozh'ye
Lorent, Valeriy Валерий Лорент Kharkov
Medvedchenko, Aleksandr Александр Медведченко Kiev
Petrenko, Vladimir Владимир Петренко Kiev
Povarov, Viktor Виктор Поваров Donetsk

For the rest, I guess you best check out Aleksey's website. Have fun (I had!)

 

Are there any more information about that Ukraine drivers. Some results and cars they were driving in that F1 series?

[FlyingSaucer]

Are there any more information about that Ukraine drivers. Some results and cars they were driving in that F1 series?

 

 

Maybe you can find some info about it in this sub-reddit: https://www.reddit.c...ing_in_eastern/

 

 

Cheers!

[HistoryFan]

Thank you!

[Alexey Rogachev]

Are there any more information about that Ukraine drivers. Some results and cars they were driving in that F1 series?

There was no such racing series as Soviet F1. There was the USSR national championship which included a number of various classes of single-seaters, sportscars, and touring cars. Formula 1 was one of them from 1960 to 1976 (except 1961, 1962, and 1968). The Soviet F1 cars were, of course, very far from those of the World Championship - the best of them were in the mid-seventies more or less at the level of international Formula 3.

 

As for Ukrainian drivers, my database says that from 1949 to 1991 at least 332 of them took part in racing events in the Soviet Union. 'At least' means that my knowledge is incomplete, so I suppose the real number exceeds 400. The most famous of them was definitely Alexandr Medvedchenko, a four-time (1979-1982 in a row) USSR champion and a regular participant in the Cup of Peace and Friendship (the best result were two sixth places overall - in 1979 and 1985). In 1990, the F. Easter championship was won by Alexey Varavin - a very well-known racing driver of the nineties, who continued his career in independent Ukraine. Also come to mind Leonid Leonov and Ivan Kalinichuk, each winning twice the national championship in the 2.5-litre touring cars (Volga) class, Nikolay Popov and Leonid Protasov, champions in the 1.6- and 1.3-litre Lada class.

Edited by Alexey Rogachev, 05 December 2023 - 19:34.

[Michael Ferner]

Hello Alexey, good to see you posting again!!

 

About Medvedchenko, there's a rallye driver from Ukraine by the same name (https://www.ewrc-res...r-medvedchenko/), and I was wondering about that. If the birth date given on the WRC site is correct, they can hardly be one and the same person, and I think I have a note about the Vostok driver being born around ten years earlier (based on a report mentioning his age). So, is it just a name coincidence, do you know?

[Alexey Rogachev]

Hello Alexey, good to see you posting again!!

Thanks Michael

 

About Medvedchenko, there's a rallye driver from Ukraine by the same name (https://www.ewrc-res...r-medvedchenko/), and I was wondering about that. If the birth date given on the WRC site is correct, they can hardly be one and the same person, and I think I have a note about the Vostok driver being born around ten years earlier (based on a report mentioning his age). So, is it just a name coincidence, do you know?

This is not a coincidence, the WRC profile is absolutely correct: Alexandr Medvedchenko was born on July 23, 1950. I'm surprised to know that he was rallying at the age of sixty-nine but... why not?

Edited by Alexey Rogachev, 05 December 2023 - 15:09.

[Michael Ferner]

Ah, but the profile says July 23, 1960! Could he have 'manipulated' his age in order to get his licence?

[ReWind]

No, just an error in the ewrc-database.

A small biography can be found there (needs a little bit of scrolling).

[Alexey Rogachev]

I didn't notice that it was 1960   1950 is definitely correct, as Medvedchenko started his racing career as far back as 1974 or 1975. But, in my opinion, there was no need for manipulating, age itself is not an obstruction - look, for example, at the profile of Medvedchenko's codriver: https://www.ewrc-res...cheslav-stammo/. It seems that there's simply a mistake on the WRC site.

Edited by Alexey Rogachev, 05 December 2023 - 14:40.

[dmj]

Not directly related to Soviet or Chinese motorsport but, Michael, are you aware that Sobieslaw Zasada did a few rallies in the last few years, including a Safari? He is 93 years old now. So, definitely no reason to hide your age.

[Michael Ferner]

Thanks all for the responses!

 

No, I wasn't aware of Zasada's recent adventures, as I don't follow rallying at all for longer than I care to remember, but the name is still familiar from the time I was reading every word in the 'comics', i.e. the late seventies!