14 DAY TRIAL // The World Tank Biathlon 2015 kicked off in Russia about a week ago, on August 1, at the Alabino firing range in the suburbs of Moscow. The rather bizarre competition, scheduled to last a total of 15 days, is kind of like a sports event for, well, tanks and tank lovers.
There's individual and relay races, obstacle courses and target shooting, with teams from as many as 17 countries competing against each other.
“Best tank crews who are winners of preliminaries as well as foreign army crews will demonstrate mastership in taking control of their tank, overcoming various obstacles and hitting targets from the distance of more than 2 kilometers [1.2 miles],” organizers explain.
Except sometimes there is no mastership
In the days before the competition's official debut, crews were allowed to climb inside their tanks and explore the Alabino firing range, just to get accustomed to the terrain and the view.
It was during one such practice run that one of the crews lost control of their war machine while attempting a seriously wicked drift. As high and mighty as it looked racing across the firing range at top speed, the tank ended up flipping over.
The mishap was caught on film, and since it's not all that often that tanks turn topsy-turvy to reveal their underbelly to curious gazes, the footage is now making the rounds. Worry not, you can find it below. Just skip to about 1:55 for the fun part.
Well, at least nobody in the crew was injured
The tank didn't just go belly-up. Instead, it executed a nearly perfect tumble before coming to a standstill on one of its sides. Even so, nobody in the crew was injured.
Sure, there were some bruised egos, but other than this, everybody walked away unharmed. As for the tank, weighing in at over 40 tons, it only suffered minor damage.
