Sidorkova: The best can be a favorite job

In 2022, Irina Sidorkova’s career has undergone dramatic changes – like all Russian racers who participated in international series. In an exclusive interview with F1News.ru, Irina summarized the results of the season in which she returned to the SMP RSKG championship, competed in the Super Production class for the Nizhny Novgorod Sofit Racing Team, won a few races and won the title just six times. climbed the podium and achieved a 6th place in the personal classification.

Q: Which definition best fits your last season in the RCMP? Was it successful, unsuccessful or just useful, because there are probably no useless ones?

Irina Sidorkova: There’s absolutely nothing useless, you’re right here, racing is clearly better than sitting on the couch at home, but in any case, speaking globally and evaluating everything that’s happened this season, I’d say it’s been rather unsuccessful.

Let’s start with the fact that at first everything happened very spontaneously. No one thought it would be possible to drive the Super Production class, and even a Subaru. It all happened just a month before the season and it is clear that there was not much time for testing. Hence certain problems, there was not enough understanding of the settings, the car and in general.

Therefore, of course, we had difficulties, there were always some technical difficulties – somewhere they were small and not particularly felt, somewhere they were more serious, for example, on the stage in St. Petersburg. Overall, I wouldn’t say the season was a good thing.

Q: But you’re mastering some new racing categories, gaining new experience, racing both a rear-wheel drive Subaru and a front-wheel drive Audi – all this was interesting, wasn’t it?
Irina Sidorkova: It was interesting anyway, because this is another big contrast: after the formulas I went back to the “bodies”. These are completely different things, and of course when I switched from the Russian ring to the formulas I also had problems – I remember we discussed this a few years ago.

The same thing happened here, but the difficulties were completely opposite. Somewhere I went too far with cornering speeds, this is probably one of the most common moments, but overall I was interested.

It was particularly interesting to try the 350bhp Audi RS3 TCR, a touring car considered to be the fastest front-wheel drive car in existence.

Let’s start with the fact that it was a 4 hour endurance race – before that I had never tried myself in such long races and basically I didn’t think it would be good enough to get through. In any case, we had several difficulties, and even if we didn’t win that race, everything was not bad in terms of speed, in terms of interaction with the car, with the team.

In total, I spent just over an hour and a half behind the wheel, and first of all I wanted to test my physical strength. Can I calculate my power for the entire distance or not? After all, you have to watch the wheels at the same time, communicate with the team, and I was very happy when I did it all. I got out of the car and said, “Guys, I’m not tired!” It was probably the brightest in the last season.

In addition, I was coached by Viktor Shaitar this season, which was also very helpful. We worked together for the first time, we had many different topics of conversation and he gave me really good and necessary advice. Its inclusion was important in terms of moral preparation. I am very happy with our cooperation and I hope we will work with him in the future.

Q: This year your understanding of Russian circuits has been enriched, among other things you have performed at the new Igora Drive circuit, which you praised quite a bit over the summer. Do you have any kind of your own rating of domestic car dreams?
Irina Sidorkova: Nothing has changed in my personal rating of car dreams: the Groznaya Fortress and the Nizhny Novgorod Ring remain my favorite tracks. I do not know why. I liked Igora, but to be honest, this song is not for Subaru, but for something more powerful. The same Audi TCR would have given completely different impressions, especially in the third sector.

The makers of the track have done some really cool work, and the third section there is one of the most interesting of all I’ve ever ridden. Subaru’s behavior alone makes it very difficult to judge. It seems to me that this car still lacks speed to accurately feel the characteristics of the Igora.

I still can’t try Sochi Autodrom in combat mode – I go there for some photo shoots or shooting, and I manage to do a maximum of one lap, but so far I’ve never managed to spend a race weekend there. If there is another opportunity to perform in the RCMP next year, then the first stage of the series will be held in Sochi. So it is better to come back to the issue of song rating in April and then dot the i’s and cross the t’s already.

Q: Since you mentioned next season, do you have at least the most general ideas about where you’re going to spend it? In your sports biography, some miracles often happen, and, as a rule, literally at the last moment – what can you expect from 2023?
Irina Sidorkova: In fact, there are no exact estimates yet and nothing to talk about yet. But personally I would be interested in GT4 class cars.

Question: To what extent have you followed international competitions – for the W Series, in which you played, for F3, F2 and Formula 1?
Irina Sidorkova: I didn’t follow the W Series at all, I just know that Jamie Chadwick won, as always. When we talk about Formula 1, the most memorable event for me was the departure of Sebastian Vettel. But next year, when that same Oscar Piastri comes along, it will be interesting! I think in the new season the emotions of watching F1 races will be much more colorful.

I’m not a big specialist in youth series either. Let’s just say I’ve already left the topic of open wheels and looked more into the touring championships. Unless, probably, Felipe Drugovic’s victory in F2 with such a huge advantage surprised me – what kind of lead did he have there? More than a hundred points? How did he do it?!

Q: Yes, the gap is more than convincing. Drugovic has been really well done, very confident and spent the season competently. You mentioned Piastri – have you observed him in previous years?
Irina Sidorkova: Personally, I had no contact with him, I always only looked at him from the side. I remember him from the Formula Renault Eurocup, where he fought Alexander Smolyar in 2019, and it was sometimes very interesting to watch their fight. Oscar then became the champion, and Sasha took third place.

I don’t know how to judge Piastri’s potential in Formula 1, but he will either live up to the expectations of those who bet on him or vice versa, that’s all.

Q: Did the new generation machines impress you?
Irina Sidorkova: I saw this car before the official show. We had a race at Zandrfort, they showed it to us and we looked at it very closely, but I don’t even know what to say. To be honest, the last cars to impress me were the 2012 cars!

Question: Let’s talk about technology of a completely different kind: this year you work a lot with representatives of the automotive industry, with car dealers, you constantly test drives and then you can see all this on the Internet. Would you like to do all this?
Irina Sidorkova: You know, the best thing a person can have is a favorite job, which, among other things, also brings a nice income. I didn’t take it super seriously at first, and I remember in 2021 we took my first road test. Filming in Myachkovo started at five in the morning and ended at nine in the evening – then, of course, I just cried and said: “No guys, of course this is all great, but I don’t like it!”

But then, as the shooting became more frequent, as they started to invite me somewhere more often, I got involved and realized that I really like it. The operation is the same, but the sensations are completely different. In general, this is an interesting activity, and I will continue it, because it brings me positive emotions.

Q: Finally, maybe the traditional congratulations to the fans?
Irina Sidorkova: Of course, Happy New Year to all readers and fans of F1News.ru! Thank you so much for your support during this challenging season! Thanks to this support, it was much easier to overcome all the difficulties, to experience all this – I hope that in 2023 I can again please you all with my achievements, new victories, and we will enjoy it all together!