Chief organiser of the Baja "Russia - Northern Forest" 2010 Ruslan Misikov talks with us about changes in the event's concept.

R.Misikov: It's really pleasant to know that our race proved to be quite interesting from the international point of view, which was confirmed by its inclusion in the FIA International Cup.

Due to the current economical situation in the world this year we've made some changes to the programme We were thinking about lowing expenses - not the event's budget, but the cost of participation in it. In order to achieve that goal we got rid of one competition day, which should lead to sufficient accommodation economy. We dropped the ceremonial start in the centre of Saint-Petersburg - for competitors it used to mean excessive expenses on relocation and accommodation in Saint-Petersburg. In addition, we drew up better and more logical areas for service, start, prologue and finish so that there wouldn't be useless movements of assistance vehicles and no need in tyre changes.

However, I want to emphasize that even though we took the official start procedure away, we are not going to cancel our famous gala prize-giving show and feast! (Laughing)

As for the Baja's route, there're no conceptual changes, and I don't think it is bad. We come for this race only once a year. If all events in the Russian Championship were held on those roads, it would be definitely both boring and unsportily. So I don't see any difficulties with it, especially since one of the main features of "Northern Forest" is a constant change of the track's character with each pass through. Writing pace-notes will not help there. As I said earlier, in soccer they don't change the shape of playing field or the size of goalposts from game to game, and it doesn't make the competition any worse.

Our Baja absolutely meets all international requirements, and it was highly praised by both FIA delegates and the participants. But we awfully want the amount of foreign competitors to increase. Those sportsmen who take part in the Russian Championship, always come to our race, and they all say: "Northern Forest" is a must-do event!". I wish I could hear similar words from foreign drivers as well.

I say it both as a competitor and an organiser. Unfortunately, my work duties do not allow me being away for a long time, that's why I can't go competing abroad. Many Russian drivers are in a similar situation. So, as a sportsman I want to meet competitors on my home soil, and as an organiser I want to offer them something they've never experienced before. They would get plenty of unforgettable impressions. They would return from the first stage to say "it's impossible to drive on snow", but coming from the second or third stages they would start to set good times. I remember Etienne Smulevic came to us. He was 60 years old, but was cheering like a child!

This year the Russian Baja is 2nd event in the calendar, with the Saudi Arabian race opening the season. Despite the fact that these competitions are separated by only a week and competitors will have to choose which of them to take part in, missing both events will be too much of a risk of losing valuable points in the Cup. That's why I think that such a calendar will play a positive part for us.