Contrary to popular belief, not everyone living in the Soviet Union spent their free time staring at gray concrete walls and drinking vodka. People liked to have fun, and one of the most popular pastimes in the USSR was auto racing. In this episode we explore the history of Soviet racing, from tractor autocross in the ‘30s, to circuit racing in the ‘80s, with a brief diversion to talk about Cuba and the ‘59 Havana Grand Prix.
Main topic starts at 39 min
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Music from the free album Polygondwanaland by King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard: kinggizzardandthelizardwizard.com/polygondwanaland
Notes/Sources/Links:
Fangio Kidnapped at the 1959 Havana Grand Prix: https://www.espn.com/f1/story/_/id/28999493/when-f1-legend-fangio-was-kidnapped-cuba //
https://www.redbull.com/us-en/the-seven-best-communist-era-race-cars //
GAZ GL-1 https://dyler.com/posts/453/the-gaz-gl-1-a-soviet-speed-record-holder //
ZIS 101 Sport: https://www.motor1.com/news/61967/soviet-cars-were-weird-zis-101-sport/ //
https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/sports/1977/12/18/auto-sports-a-soviet-sellout/6f72216a-2f6f-4c44-ad32-86fe876d74cf/ //
indoor motorcycle ice racing https://youtu.be/w_hY1Jh5ErM //
https://www.rbth.com/history/333245-soviet-motor-racing-cars //
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Formula_Easter //