The RAF awards ceremony took place on 20 January

The RAF Awards Ceremony took place on January 20, presenting the major trophies for the 2023 season. They were received by Russian champions, holders of the Russian Cup and other statuses up to the RAF Trophy in various racing disciplines; Other people well-known in the Russian racing community also received awards and diplomas for outstanding achievements and contributions to the development of motorsport.

The ceremony took place at the Lapino Hall near Moscow with the support of SMP Racing, RESO Garantiya, DK Racing, LADA Sport ROSNEFT, Transkart, SPACE Travel, KAMAZ-master, MIX-Karting, ISSI Spirits.

RAF President Viktor Nikolaevich Kiryanov opened the ceremony with a welcome speech. In his speech he pointed out the progressive development that Russian motorsport has shown this year.
Championships in various disciplines brought together a hundred or more athletes, and 15 teams from all over Russia and Kazakhstan took part in the student competition “Formula Student”.

“This year, new series appeared and existing series began to actively develop,” the RAF president emphasized. “In addition, we have done a great job in ensuring that the Ministry of Sports recognizes sim racing as one of the disciplines of motorsport – this will attract new names to the sport, from which future champions can grow.”

But now we can be proud of our athletes who achieve the highest results at international level. This year, Russian kart driver Kirill Kutskov became world champion in the OK class for the first time in the history of domestic motorsport.

Separately, it should be noted the large number of awards that Russian athletes have collected abroad. Timur Boguslavsky, Marat Khayrov won major circuit competitions, Nikolai Gryazin and Konstantin Alexandrov repeatedly won European rally stages. Ilya Kashin and Boris Kostyrko received the Andrei Nagel Prize for winning the historic Monte Carlo Rally.

In addition to the most important sporting trophies, other prizes were also awarded during the ceremony. On behalf of the Ministry of Sports, Eduard Singurindi received the Peter Lesgaft Medal for his great personal contribution to the development of sports science and education. Anniversary awards were received by Mark Podolsky, Alexander Potekhin, Vasily Skryl, Vladimir Tyagunov and Sergey Uspensky.

The regional federations of the Moscow Region, the Leningrad Region, the Krasnodar Region, the Chechen Republic and the Republic of Tatarstan were rewarded for their active work.

Motorsport journalists also noted their laureates. Arthur Muradyan, promoter of the Russian Rally Championship, received the media jury trophy for the “Person of the Year in Motorsport” award for the development of domestic rallying. And the public vote for the same award was won by Sergey Talantsev, one of the most famous people in the field of rally raids, who is the developer of unique racing routes.