On August 4, the all-season and mountain resort Gorki Gorod concluded the sports festival Motul Extreme Show and announced the winners of the unique hard enduro race Motul King of the Hill 2018. The competition attracted about 100 participants from all over central and southern Russia - Moscow, Crimea, Belgorod, Krasnodar Krai, Stavropol, Adygea and even Donbass! But the "King of the Mountain" crown remained in Sochi.
This year, the organisers managed to gather a record number of participants – approximately 20% more than in 2017. A total of 100 people registered for the 2018 Motul King of the Hill, 36 of whom competed in the PRO class.
The traditional "prologue" preceding the race was held this time in the "Upper City" at the +960 m mark. Here, a whole complex of various obstacles and barriers was erected for the race participants, among which one of the most difficult and spectacular was the "wallride", which required athletes to drive along a wall with two wheels in a plane perpendicular to it. A special flavor was added by the fact that the race took place in the evening under artificial lighting. The first winner of the "King of the Hill" race, Sergey Belokrylin (Krasnodar), drove the "prologue" the fastest. He was followed by 11-time national motocross champion Alexander Ivanyutin (Moscow), who was just over a second behind. The third time was shown by Mikhail Gavrilov (Gelendzhik).
The weather conditions on August 4, when the main battle for the crown of "Motul King of the Hill 2018" took place, had a great impact on the race. Heavy rains made some sections of the route extremely difficult to pass. But even the vagaries of nature did not stop 98 daredevils, filled with the desire to reach the top of the Aibga ridge, to the foot of the "Black Pyramid" peak. Racer from Krasnaya Polyana Nikolay Inozemtsev reached the finish line of 2375 meters above sea level in 1 hour and 20 minutes. The second athlete to conquer the "Black Pyramid" that day was Alexander Ivanyutin (Moscow) with a result of 1 hour 31 minutes. The top three was completed by Mikhail Gavrilov from Gelendzhik, who finished 6 minutes after Ivanyutin.
Due to the high complexity of the route and weather conditions, only 30% participants reached the finish line. As always, the winner of the race received not only the crown of the king of the mountain "Motul King of the Hill", but also impressive prizes from the organizers and partners of the event. Racers in the Pro and Hobby classes did not go without prizes either. After the award ceremony, the sports and entertainment program "Motul Extreme Show" was held on the main square of the "Upper City", bringing together the strongest athletes supported by the company "Motul". The participants of the extreme show were the leading Russian motofreestyler Alexey Kolesnikov, the FMX13 team, drifter Nikita Shikov, as well as stunt rider Grigory Taldykin with the SkiLL Quant team. The event ended with a concert by the band "Leprikonsy" and a festive fireworks display.
Anton Malyshev, representative of the competition organizers :
"For the third year in a row, we have been holding the Motul King of the Hill race at the Gorki Gorod resort, and each one is special. We organized the first event in 2016 in just one month. Of course, the high-mountain terrain and climate always leave their mark and add difficulties when preparing for the event. The weather here in Krasnaya Polyana always surprises us: in the debut race, King of the Hill 2016, the participants had to finish in the snow, last year everyone was suffering from the hellish heat, and this time we were hit by a real flood! It rained during all 3 days of active preparation, and sometimes I thought about canceling everything. However, in the end, we hold competitions for riders, and for them - as practice has shown - it makes no difference what conditions they compete in. This time we had absolutely everything: bright sun at the start, and difficult weather conditions at the finish of the race."
Source: trn-news.ru