Pavel Kryukov Wins Third MINI Rookie Award

The third competition of the Red Bull Crashed Ice (RBCI) World Championship that was held in Moscow, Russia, has found itself a winner. As the fastest newcomer, Russian Pavel Kryukov took the MINI Rookie Award, while the overall winner in the Ice Cross Downhill competition was Artuu Pihlainen from Finland.

According to MINI, there have been 64 athletes competing at minus twenty-two degrees in Moscow in late February. “Kryukov was pleasantly surprised by his success at the race and is very proud to have come this far in his very first race,” MINI says in a statement.

In RCIB, groups of four ice-skaters will race downhill on an ice cross track. The races take place on a 350 meter-long artificial ice track that was specially created for each event. The MINI Rookie Award marks its debut in 2011 and honors the fastest novice on the RBCI track.

This is the second time carmaker MINI has supported the Red Bull Crashed Ice World Championship as official automotive partner, continuing the collaboration with Austrian energy drink producer Red Bull that was successfully launched last year.

Following the kick-off event in Munich in January, the second event in Valkenburg, February and last weekend’s event in Moscow, the MINI Rookie Award will also be presented at the Championships’ final in Quebec, Canada on March 19.

“Today we award the MINI Rookie Award to a person as fast and as faithful to his ideals as MINI and who overcomes any obstacles as easy as MINI,” stated Peter Kronschnabl, president of BMW Group Russia, who also presented the award.