Vitaliy Pushkar ( ua, Пушкар Віталій Олексійович; born May 9, 1987) is a
Ukrainian
Ukrainian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Ukraine
* Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe
* Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine
* So ...
rally
Rally or rallye may refer to:
Gatherings
* Demonstration (political), a political rally, a political demonstration of support or protest, march, or parade
* Pep rally, an event held at a United States school or college sporting event
Sport ...
driver, Ukrainian rally vice-champion,
European rally champion in ERC Production Cup category, and The Boar ProRacing team driver.
Career
Ukrainian Rally Championship
Pushkar was born in
Kishineu,
Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic
The Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic ( ro, Republica Sovietică Socialistă Moldovenească, Moldovan Cyrillic: ) was one of the 15 republics of the Soviet Union which existed from 1940 to 1991. The republic was formed on 2 August 1940 ...
– in present-day
Moldova
Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The unrecognised state of Transnistr ...
– and began competing at the beginning of 2009 with his childhood friend
Ivan Mishyn as a co-driver. Their first car was the all-wheel-drive two-liter turbo
Subaru Impreza
The is a compact car that has been manufactured by the Japanese automaker Subaru since 1992. It was introduced as a replacement for the Leone, with the predecessor's EA series engines replaced by the new EJ series. It is now in its sixth gene ...
earlier belonging to
Igor Chapovskyi.
During that year Pushkar started 11 times in different rallying competitions – and only not finishing once, at the Bukovina rally, due to technical problems.
![Pushkar mishyn bukovyna 2009](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d7/Pushkar_mishyn_bukovyna_2009.JPG)
Pushkar changed car to a
Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX
The Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution, popularly referred to as the 'Evo', is a sports sedan and rally car based on the Lancer that was manufactured by Japanese manufacturer Mitsubishi Motors from 1992 until 2016. There have been ten official versio ...
and employed Ukrainian rally champion
Oleksandr Saliuk, Jr. as a coach. In May 2010, Pushkar won his first race, the
Shapovalov Rally Cup, and finished inside the top ten fastest Ukrainian drivers at the end of the season.
During the two next seasons, Pushkar was among the leaders of the Ukrainian rally championship, finishing the several rallies on the podium. In 2011, he reached the top five of the Ukrainian Rally Championship overall standings for the first time, and became the first and only winner of the Cup of Friendship, organized by the
Ukrainian
Ukrainian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Ukraine
* Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe
* Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine
* So ...
, Russian and
Belarus
Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...
ian Automobile Federations.
The 2013 season was the most successful for Pushkar, now involved in the Ukrainian rally title battle. Winning the
Chumatskyi Shlyakh rally and placing third in the
Mariupol rally made him one of the season favorites. An accident during the
Galicia rally weakened his standings. The overall title was decided at the
Ivano-Frankivsk Trembita rally, but although Pushkar won that race, he did not take the title, coming second to his fellow
Odessa Rally Team driver
Youriy Kochmar.
Intercontinental Rally Challenge
After 2010, Pushkar increased his number of international starts. He participated in the Latvian and Estonian championships, and in 2012 he took part in the
Intercontinental Rally Challenge
The Intercontinental Rally Challenge was an FIA-sanctioned rallying series organised by SRW Events and Eurosport Events, and aimed to "give new opportunities to young or amateur rally drivers competing in recognised regional and international ral ...
. He won his first international race, the Romanian
Rally Sibiu and finished the season in sixth place in IRC Production. He began to work closely with the Lithuanian ProRacing Team.
European Rally Championship
![Pushkar mishyn kyivrus 2011](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f5/Pushkar_mishyn_kyivrus_2011.jpg)
In 2013 Vitaliy Pushkar participated in European Rally Championship for the first time, which had been amalgamated with the IRC in late 2012. He placed fifth in the Production Cup at the
2013 Rally Liepāja-Ventspils; but, after the several accidents and technical retirements he stopped the participating in ERC that year.
He returned to the ERC in
2014
File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...
. He started the season with an accident at the
Jänner Rally, but finished second at the
Rally Liepāja–Ventspils and won the
Acropolis Rally
The Acropolis Rally of Greece ( el, Ράλλυ Ακρόπολις) is a rally competition that is part of the World Rally Championship (WRC). The rally is held on very dusty, rough, rocky and fast mountain roads in mainland Greece, usually duri ...
.
At the end of the season, Pushkar safely finished at the Rallye du Valais and
Tour de Corse
The Tour de Corse is a rally first held in 1956 on the island of Corsica. It was the French round of the World Rally Championship from the inaugural 1973 season until 2008, was part of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge from 2011 to 2012, and ...
, and after scoring 167 points became the European Rally Champion among the Production Car drivers.
International results
IRC
ERC
ERC Production Cup
Interesting facts and figures
Vitaliy Pushkar is the only driver from the former Soviet Union who has won the title of European Rally Champion.
From 2009 until 2014, Pushkar entered 77 rallies, attaining 19th position in the Ukrainian
Club 50 (drivers who have started in 50 or more rallies).
Pushkar only once started a driver other than Mishyn: on 2010 Shapovalov Rally Cup Oleksandr Saliuk Jr. took Mishyn's place. Interesting, that it happened exactly on Pushkar's birthday, May 9.
The joint Pushkar/Mishyn crew has 76 starts, second only amongst Ukrainian crews to Gorban/Leonov, with 88 joint starts.
Vitaliy Pushkar on EWRC
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Titles and awards
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pushkar, Vitaliy
1987 births
Living people
European Rally Championship drivers
Ukrainian rally drivers
Sportspeople from Chișinău
Intercontinental Rally Challenge drivers