The true story behind Moscow’s new big-budget racing movie: How Imperial Russia’s first Monte Carlo Rally team crossed Europe in 1912 without a windshield

On October 8, Ilya Malanin’s film “Bitva motorov” (“Battle of the Motors”) opened in Russian theaters. Starring Yura Borisov and Ivan Yankovsky, it tells the story of a Russian team that competed in the 1912 Monte Carlo Rally in a Russo-Balt car. The historical adventure drama draws heavily on real