G-Drive Russia’s circuit racing series did not arrive at the Kazan Ring autodrome with a full roster, so spectators were bound to one day be part of a true motorsport feast. The most interesting became this Festival of Speed, in which 6 races were interspersed with activities in the autodrome paddock.
About 2.5 thousand spectators took part in competitions, tried their hand at SMP Racing Esports racing simulators, examined exotic cars submitted to the judgment of the tuning festival jury.
But the main events took place on a unique three-dimensional track – and each of the races gave visitors to the 3rd stage of the G-Drive SMP RSKG unforgettable emotions.
In the Touring class, for the first time in a season, the drivers of the AvtoVAZ factory team won the qualification – and in the first race, Kirill Ladygin and Vladimir Sheshenin on a new generation LADA Vesta scored a winning double. Dmitry Bragin finished third, driving a proven Audi RS3 LMS for the TAIF Motorsport team in Kazan. Race two was almost entirely dictated by Lev Tolkachev (Hyundai i30 N, RUMOS Racing) – and just two laps before the finish line he spun and missed Zakhar Slutsky (Hyundai i30, Lukoil Racing) – however , Slutsky was punished for contact with Yegor Fokin (LADA Vesta, AMG Motorsport) – and he immediately dropped to 11th place! So the victory always went to Tolkachev, Roman Sharapov became the second, and the third was Pavel Kalmanovich (Audi RS3 LMS, TAIF Motorspot).
Roman Golikov (Honda Civic, RHHCC RT) won both races in the Super Production class. In the first round, Samvel Iskoyants (Subaru BRZ, Sofit Racing) and Ivan Chubarov (LADA Vesta, LADA Sport Rosneft) got on the podium with him. And in the other, after Nikolai Vikhansky was deprived of the cup for overtaking under yellow flags, silver again went to Iskoyants – and Leonid Panfilov (LADA Vesta, LADA Sport Rosneft) got the medal of bronze.
Racing in the S1600 class is satisfied with the struggle – for some it ended in crashes and accidents, for others it went according to the canons of the best body series. In the first race, Rustam Fatkhutdinov (Hyundai Solaris, Akhmat Racing) was unstoppable and left Daniil Kharashun (Kia Rio X, RUMOS Racing) and Ilya Rodkin (Hyundai Solaris, Innostage AG Team). It should be noted that none of the pilots were even 20 years old – there has never been such a “young” podium in the history of the G-Drive SMP RSKG! In the second race, Kharashun won, confirming that the past successes of the first season are not accidental. Philip Tuponosov (LADA Granta, GTE RT) and Rustam Fatkhutdinov complete the top three.
In the CN Sport Prototype ranking, most participants compete on the Shortcut model. Together with the Legends athletes Evo and Mitjet they fight for the RAF Cup and from the Kazan stage – also in a separate G-Drive Cup.
And the central figure in the scene was Sergei Yevlev. His qualifying result was canceled and in the first race he started from the last row – but he managed to pass all his rivals on Shortcuts! Kirill Kirakozov and Maxim Skorik became the winners of the first race.
In the second moto, Ievlev once again broke through to first place – but lost the victory due to overtaking in the yellow flag area. Thus, Kirill Kirakozov became the winner, Mikhail Dostovalov and Alexander Vinopal took second and third place. After the results of two races, Kirill Kirakozov, Mikhail Dostovalov and Sergey Ievlev entered the first three G-Drive Cup winners.
The next stage of the G-Drive SMP RSKG in the format of the Festival of Speed will be held at the Moscow Raceway circuit near Moscow on August 20-21 with the show Tuning Fest.
Source : MatchTV
