"Summer's over. Let's roll!"

On September 1, Neotech held a friendly kart racing tournament for company staff.

Karting is one of the best-loved settings for intra-corporate company events, of which not long ago our customers had the chance to be convinced, meeting a month and a half ago in fair contest on the track, competing not only against each other, but also attempting to defend their victory against the Neotech aces.

This time, the competitions, while remaining traditionally extraordinarily reckless and intensive, in all else more closely resembled a family gathering.  Outdoor karting was selected, on the Serebryany Dozhd grounds in Krilatsky.  Driving on an open track is different from in a closed arena: the moist track challenges the driver’s skill, since every puddle makes the vehicle hard to control.  The track’s uneven surface and many turns make it harder for the participants, forcing them to calculate and plan their course.  They would crawl out of the karts, shaking themselves off, wringing out their coveralls, and wiping off spattered faces.  Outdoor karting gear is also different – in our white disposable coveralls, gloves, and helmet liners we looked like WWII-era ski scouts.  Everyone joined in, though.  Many brought their children to the kart races: the older ones joined in the heats with the adults, displaying, it must be said, hardly less enthusiasm or skill.  For the younger sportsmen a special heat was arranged: the real toddlers were driven by their instructors, but at “adult” speed – let them learn from infancy the beauty and pleasure of high-speed driving!

There was plenty else going on during the competitions.  Sergei Sant and Yuri Patchko’s barbecue was a treat for all participants.  Each cooked using his own recipe, resulting in a true man’s contest to see whose meat would be softer, tastier, more savory.  The victor?  Everyone who feasted on these excellent viands – what could be better, after fair contest on the track, than a superbly fresh piece of meat on the bone, hot off the fire?

Competitions were held in the open-air bar, as well.  In addition to the much-loved beer contests – during which beer was drunk from mugs, glasses, through a straw, and… from baby bottles – games were held of “Guess the Tune” and “Master Layout Artist”.  In the first, one person thinks of a tune and attempts to play it on toy instruments, while the others attempt to guess it.  The contest proved the Neotechies to be not only musically educated, but also talented: just try playing “Stairway to Heaven” on a whistle that merely resembles a saxophone, or guessing “Yesterday” played on a tambourine!  The musical “Trio” met with particular delight: no-one could guess what it was they played, but such artistry of performance, such feeling in every sound, such submersion in the material!  The second contest was massive: four two-person teams had to create the most rememberable, vibrant image with the objects provided in the shortest amount of time.  To the onlookers’ claps and cheers of encouragement were created not mere images, but true-to-life personages.  The essence and make-up of these “characters” are probably best conveyed by the mottos that were promptly proposed for each: “Quite ready for anything”, “We’re not from around here”, “As Jean-Paul Gaultier taught”, and, “You mean you wouldn’t trust me with your daughter?”

But back to the kart races.  Some talked and joked, others competed and cheered, but each returned to the track as soon as came their time to strive for victory.  The best men won:

Women’s heat winners:

First place – Natalya Kitova
Second place – Maria Maximova
Third place – Natalya Feodorova

Men’s heat winners: 

First place – Maria Kuzmenko
Second place – Denis Rodriguez
Third place – Kyrill Ryabkov

An additional nomination of “Beautiful Even When Helmeted” was won by Irina Karpova, with Sergei Lobanov outstripping other contenders to win the nomination of “The Main Thing is that the Suit Fit”.

There was yet another victor: Irina Zubareva became the supreme champion among fair walkers.  Her best time of one minute forty seconds for completing one lap set a new all-time record for the karting center.

Thus starts a new business year – and Neotech is off!  See you at the track!