Some time ago we announced that Albert Demchenko, famous luger, vice-champion of Sochi Olympic Games will participate in our speed festival Unlim 500+ Stage 12 “Dozen”. We are proud to present you an interview made by Maria Melnikova.
Albert, we are happy that you’ve agreed to take part in our festival. The idea to invite was absolutely spontaneous. We were following the news from Sochi Olympics and suddenly decided to invite you to our Unlim 500 fest because for us luge seems to be the closest to motorsports. And you are the leader. First of all it was like crazy idea and then we said to ourselves — “Why not?”
I phoned you and that was a nice conversation, you’re absolutely positive and open person and I was surprised when you easily agreed to participate.
So why did you decide to participate in Unlim 500?
I want to try to reach the highest speed. I tried different things and now I’d like to do it by car but I can’t try this on the road.
As I see from your luge background you like high speed. Why did you start to participate in luge?
Oh, I wanted to be a professional skier, but I made this decision when I was 10 and the maximum age to start the career was 7…and I was advised to become a luger who can start their career later.
What were your impressions?
Well, it is absolutely different from sledging down the hills. Children are not allowed to pass the whole track; you have to be well-trained and to work hard to achieve this.
What is your highest speed at the luge track?
155 kmh
Wow!
But this can be reached only in Whistler, Vancouver, Canada, top sportsmen can reach 153–155 kmh there. in Switzerland there is a natural track with top speed around 145–147 kmh. The third fastest track is in Sochi now, where 142 kmh is a maximum and the rest of tracks provide not more than 125–135 kmh.
How is the speed measured?
A bit different than in motorsports — we use two laser beams in the 5m sector and see how quick does the sportsman pass that sector.
This way is used in motorsport also for record attempts, but sectors are longer up to kilometer. And do you practice some sports else for your fun for example?
I like skiing and I go to gym. If you mean motorsports — it is too expensive and sometimes dangerous — I can’t make risky things except luge as it is my profession.
And what about automobiles? When did you get your driving license?
I got my first license when I was 16. My father had a motorcycle and I used to drive it even I was under 16, but after the birthday I got the license and became a legal moto driver.
What car was your first one?
Opel Omega
Not so bad for a beginner!
It was quite old, I brought it from Germany by myself. First of all I cut off the catalytic converter and modified exhaust system but remained a silencer, to avoid too much noise.
Did you participate in illegal street-racing?
No. I was not living in Moscow and I was already a part of Russian team and this is a big responsibility for the team and for the country. I can’t do risky things and I even avoided fighting in youth.
Have you ever been on the racing track?
Once I was invited to the TV show where we were talking about extreme sports and I tried balloon flying, MIG-29 and I wanted to drive safety car in Moscow Raceway, but I was taken only as a passenger.
There was a ridiculous experience in the Hockenheimring — we were invited to the Porsche track day, the weather was bad — rain and snow, we were not allowed to drive Porsche but managed to test Hockenheimring on our own cars — for me it was VW Transporter. It was exciting). But the track is very different from Moscow Raceway — it is wider and the edges are different.
How often do you change the car? Do you have favorite one?
Not very often. If everything is ok I don’t need to change it. My favorite is my present Mercedes ML AMG 63. Everywhere and every weather you have 500 hp engine under the hood.
What is your top speed reached by car? For example in Germany with their no limits on autobahns?
In Germany we are driving vans and for example VW Transporter has 190 kmh as a maximum. Rent-a-cars have 210 kmh limit. And also I reached the manufacturer’s limit set up on my ML AMG but I understand that cars can go even faster… that’s why I agreed to participate in Unlim 500.
