On May 19th 2007, on an island in the Ivankovsky Lake (Tver region) the first selection round of "Expedition-Trophy 2008" was successfully completed. There were 40 applicants and seven Merchants, six from which were Veterans of one or both the Races 2005/2006.

The applicants' main aim was to reveal their best qualities and abilities and to convince the Merchant that he or she will be most valuable as a member of the Merchant's team. The Merchants' goal was to form a team for participation in "Expedition-Trophy 2008" from the applicants.

The competitive program of the Selection round consisted of 13 tasks, the duration of the competitive program was 7 hours. The safety of the participants at any task was supervised by professional instructors and medics. The applicants receive ID cards with their names and marks made at the end of each task, which they are obliged to wear until the end of the event.

At the end of the competitive part, the applicants submitted their ID cards to the Merchant whose team they would like to join. The Merchants defined the membership of their teams and presented it to the Organizers. Thus, after the competitive part was completed, five from the seven Merchants present were able to form up their teams: Eaterina Tribunskikh (Samara), Elizaveta Kuzmina (Moscow), Alexei Volkov (Moscow), Pavel Cheremisin (Novosibirsk), Valeria Bessonova (Viborg).

Additional voting was necessary to determine the three wining teams and a as result the majority of voices went to Pavel Cheremisin's team "Vladik", the second place took Elizaveta Kuzmina's team "Mechty sbivayutsya", and, finally, the third place was won by Ekaterina Tribunskikh and "Off-road Samara".

Our congratulations to the teams "Vladik", "Mechty sbivayutsya" and "Off-road Samara". As winners of the Selection rounds they are the first participants of "Expedition-Trophy 2008"! Join in!