Fast in all situations. Which Russian drivers have achieved great results in various motorsport disciplines?

Half a century ago, the best racers in the world raced almost anything that moves. Formula 1, Indy Car, Le Mans, touring car racing and even rallying – in the same season in the late 1960s and early 1970s, the same driver could win completely different races. And John Surtees became the world champion in motorcycle racing and car racing! To begin with, “Big John” was in 1956, 1958, 1959 and 1960 the best on two wheels, then in 1964 added to his piggy bank and to the title in Formula 1.

In the 21st century, narrow specialization is in the spotlight and the strict contracts of Formula 1 drivers do not allow them to compete in several championships in parallel. A rare exception is Fernando Alonso, who, in addition to two Formula 1 titles, also won the 24 Hours of Le Mans, became World Endurance Racing Champion (WEC), and also stormed without success in the Dakar rally marathon and tried to win “Indy 500”. We remembered the Russian pilots, which can rightly be called station wagons.

Roman Rousinov

The Russian has accumulated numerous titles in international endurance: Rusinov won the FIA ​​​​WEC World Championship (2015), the European Le Mans Series (2018) and the Asian Le Mans Series (2019/2020) in the LMP2 category, as well as the Le-Man (2004) in the GT category. At the wheel of the LMP2 prototypes, Roman took first place in the mythical 24 Hours of Le Mans marathon (a total of four podiums in this emblematic race). Rusinov’s most high-profile victories are associated with sports prototype racing and the G-Drive Racing team, in which since 2013 he has combined the roles of driver and sports director. This project turned out to be an incredible success – in ten years of participating in international endurance racing, G-Drive Racing became the most successful team in the LMP2 category, winning seven titles in all major marathon series : FIA WEC, ELMS and AsLMS. As part of the project, the team has been cooperating with the Moscow Poly for already 2 years, training young specialists in racing engineering.

But Roman started his career in formula racing. At the dawn of his career, the Russian won Formula Renault 2.0 races, and in Formula Palmer Audi became third at the end of the season. Roman then turned to endurance racing, first driving GT cars: the Maserati MC12, Lamborghini Gallardo and Murcielago, as well as the Audi R8.

But these are all ring races, albeit of different duration and on completely different vehicles, and in 2023 Rusinov decided to take a truly unexpected turn in his career and joined rally raids. It all started with the “Gold of Kagan” baja, where Roman only came eighth in his class. But that was just a warm-up before the main start of the year – the Silk Way International Rally, where the G-Drive Racing rider battled ATV-ranked Dakar winner Sergey Karyakin all the way through the marathon. Not bad for a first time!

At the same time, along with rally-raids, Rusinov continues to participate in the Russian series of endurance races REC (Russian Endurance Challenge). Roman with his partner Vadim Meshcheryakov won the first stage of the championship at Moscow Raceway, but the main start of the season is ahead. On August 5, as part of the GARAGE FEST Igora Drive 2023 festival, the third stage of the Russian REC endurance racing series will take place – a 4-hour marathon on the main track of the Autodrom.

“Last year was a really great event. For what? Because it was conducted at the highest organizational level. This year it will be one of the main events in the world of Russian motorsport. It will be cool for the public and the fans. It is important that the event turned out to be cult and beautiful. GARAGE FEST will eventually allow us to host a premier global event,” Rusinov said in an interview with .

Daniel Kvyat

In the series of formulas, Kvyat is the most titled of the Russians. He has a Formula Renault Alpes title and a third place in the Formula Renault Euroseries, a GP3 title and three Formula 1 podiums. And after the Ufi man lost his place in Formula 1, he proved he could easily adapt to completely different vehicles. . According to the original plan, Daniil was supposed to make his debut in the World Endurance Championship with the Russian team G-Drive Racing, but this did not happen due to the ban of Russian athletes by the FIA. But Daniel did not give up again, but began to try himself in different disciplines.

Kvyat first went to the United States, where he competed in the Sprint Cup race – NASCAR’s premier division in a new-generation car much closer to the GT than the usual stock car: multi-link rear suspension, diffuser, sequential gearbox. Unfortunately, the low level of his Team Hezeberg did not allow Kvyat to show what he is capable of.

But on this side of the ocean, Daniil succeeded: he returned to Russia to start the race for the first time in our country, and even at the wheel of an unusual sports prototype – Kvyat joined Roman Rusinov in a G-Drive G01 crew during a 4 hour Russian Marathon Endurance Race Series on the Autodrom Igora Drive perimeter track, held as part of the GARAGE FEST festival. And the resident of Ufa immediately achieved success – his crew won, leaving behind the drivers of the Mercedes-AMG GT3 class, and other former Russian Formula 1 drivers and Le Mans winners in Russian prototypes BR03: Vitaly Petrov, Sergey Sirotkin, Mikhail Alyoshin and Victor Shaitar. But the path to first place was not strewn with rose petals – the G-Drive Racing crew finally managed to secure a foothold in first place just 40 minutes before the finish of the marathon, when the team used successfully entered the safety car mode and managed to extend their lead over the SMP Racing crew to a further 30 seconds.

“My first race with Roman, my first endurance race, lots of laps, lots of events, lots of struggle. I’m glad there were a lot of spectators in the stands – glad to see you all Many exciting races await us!” Kvyat summed up his performance at Igora Drive in an interview after the finish.

Kvyat still managed to shine across the ocean – at the legendary Charlotte track in NASCAR’s second division, where classic stock cars with simpler aerodynamics, dependent rear suspension and a gearbox of research, Daniil battled for the top 10 and eventually finished the race in 15th place, seen by American experts as a successful performance.

In 2023, Daniil becomes a factory driver for Lamborghini and will prepare the SC63 hypercar for its World Endurance Championship debut next year. As his own line-up, Kvyat made his 24 Hours of Le Mans debut in the LMP2 junior prototype class, but was unable to reach the finish line due to an accident. Also due to Russian testing in Formula E.

Arkady Tsaregradtsev

Everyone knows the “Tsar” as one of the best drifters on the planet and the founding fathers of drifting in Russia. But behind Tsaregradtsev’s shoulders are “time attacks” and circuit races. Additionally, Arkady started in the competition for the fastest lap time driving a Mazda RX-7. In the mid-2010s, already being one of the leaders of Russian drifting, the pilot tried his hand at circuit racing. In 2012-2014, alongside his participation in the RDS, Tsaregradtsev also participated in the GT4 Ring championship, where he drove a Honda Civic, a Seat Leon Supercopa and even a Lada Kalina!

At first glance, there is nothing in common between drifting and circuit racing: in the “ring” any slide is a waste of time, and in drifting, the greater the angle of drift, the greater the score is high. Nevertheless, Tsaregradtsev regularly repeats that the experience of the circuit is invaluable for any wanderer. Arkady himself is equally good at both disciplines. In drifting he won the Drift Battle, twice the RDS Siberia, and last year he finally won the RDS GP. In the ring, on his own, he has a title in the 2400 class at the wheel of a Kalina.

In 2022, after an eight-year hiatus, Tsar returned to circuit racing and competed in the 4-hour REC marathon at Sochi Autodrom on a VAZ-2105.

“Absolutely amazing feeling. It’s very difficult, as it turned out – in the first lap I sweated like I wasn’t sweating the whole stage of the RDS GP, but then I adapted – I still have to drive 50 minutes, not 30 seconds. I’ll adapt!” Tsaregradtsev said before the start. And he adapted! Despite all the difficulties, Tsaregradtsev on his “classic” fought on equal terms with competitors on Mazda and BMW much faster, but a number of technical problems and team errors did not allow them to win in the GT Light class Rumor has it that in the 2023 season we will see again the “Tsar” in circuit racing.