Stage 1 of the SMP RSKG ENDURANCE: 3-hour marathon made history

V.I. Kondratiev and founder of SMP Racing B.R. Rotenberg opened a new ring season

A new draft of the Russian motorsport development program — a series of endurance races SMP RSKR Endurance — successfully launched on April 1 at Sochi Autodrom. For 3 hours, more than fifty pilots fought for victory in their classes and the overall standings.

Boris Romanovich Rotenberg, the founder and head of the Russian motorsport development program SMP Racing, and the head of the Krasnodar Territory, Veniamin Ivanovich Kondratiev, followed the events on the track.

There were 22 crews at the start. The pilots' vehicles were refueled with race-tested high-tech G-Drive fuel from the Gazpromneft filling station network. It showed its effectiveness in the last season of the series, influencing the improvement of the technical results of the racers, therefore, in the new year, it acted not only as a fuel partner for the G-Drive SMP RSKG, but also for the endurance racing championship. And fuel quality will be monitored throughout the season by a mobile laboratory that conducts regular checks at Gazpromneft gas stations. />

500 intense race kilometers and pit stops awaited the pilots for driver changes, refueling and tire changes.

Alas, even on the warm-up lap, Sergey Stolyarov crashed his Mercedes-AMG GT3, one of the fastest cars in Group F, which claimed high places in the overall standings. The race was also unsuccessful for the Formula 1 pilots playing for SMP Racing: Vitaly Petrov handed over the wheel to Sergey Sirotkin an hour after the start, quite a bit behind the leader of the race. However, shortly thereafter, the Russian sports prototype number 11 withdrew from the race due to suspension problems.

Thus, the fastest car on the track was the Mercedes-AMG GT3 (No. 13) of the Capital Racing Team. Even two penalty runs in the pit lane did not affect the result of the crew — and Denis Remenyako and Egor Orudzhev chalked up the victory in Group F.

For the second place in the overall standings, a serious struggle unfolded — moreover, in the final segment of the race. It was attended by pilots in cars of the GT4 class, the second fastest category of the Russian ring. Vladimir Atoev in a BMW M4, Anton Nemkin and Sergey Borisov in a Mercedes-AMG GT4 and Michael Belov in a Toyota Supra ended up together half an hour before the end of the marathon and pleased with a series of beautiful overtaking. In the end, crew No. 51 turned out to be the best, uniting Stanislav Aksenov, Michael Belov and Alexander Vartanyan: second place in the overall and victory in the GT4 class. Behind them are crew No. 10, represented by Sergey Borisov and Maxim Kizilov, and crew No. 83, Anton Nemkin and Boris Schulmeister.

> The Touring category unites cars of the usual body classes of the Russian ring — and the fastest in this standings was the Audi RS3 LMS No. 4 driven by Dmitry Bragin and Pavel Kalmanovich. Sergey Aglish and Aleksey Chernov, who competed on the Shortcut under No. 18.

The best of the crews in the S1600 class car is the team of Albert Gainullin, Stepan Anufriev and Mark Novikov. It is noteworthy that LADA Granta turned out to be more durable than Kia Rio and Hyundai Solaris competitors in the long run.

The next stage of the SMP RSKG Endurance series of endurance races in the status of the Russian Cup will be held at the Igora Drive circuit on May 27. But before that, fans of motorsport are waiting for the stages of the SMP RSKG Touring series of circuit races, the nearest one which will take place at Sochi Autodrom on April 21-23. More information about the event, which in addition to 7 races includes all the entertainment of the Festival of Speed, is available on the website.

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