“VTB Grand Prix Final of the Russian Drift Series 2023” will name the new winner of the main national drift championship – there are five contenders at once.
- The final stage of the 14th season of the Russian Drift Series Grand Prix will traditionally be held at Sochi Autodrom.
- Before the final, five pilots have a chance for the title, the gap in points is minimal.
- Among the contenders for the championship are series debutant Anton Kozlov and two-time FIA IDC Cup winner, three-time RDS GP champion Georgy Chivchyan.
The season of the country's main drift championship is close to completion – the final seventh stage will be hosted by the Sochi Autodrom track, where the VTB Grand Prix Final of the Russian Drift Series 2023 will take place on October 14-15. It is here that the fate of the championship in the individual and team competitions of RDS GP will be decided – the struggle will be intense, since several pilots and teams are vying for the prestigious victory.
Anton Kozlov – debutant in the race for the championship
A young pilot from Ulyanovsk, Anton Kozlov, will start the weekend at Sochi Autodrom as the leader of the personal classification. The current champion of the inter-regional series RDS Europe, in his debut season in RDS GP, immediately joined the battle for the championship. Over the six previous stages, the Carville Racing driver won one victory in doubles, and at the very first stage in the series, and also won qualification.
Due to incredible stability – the athlete never fell below ninth position in the stages – Kozlov approached the final battle as the leader of the personal competition. Anton has 895 points, and this is a serious bid for the title.
The lack of experience in performing in the RDS GP configuration at Sochi Autodrom should not become a problem for the Carville Racing representative – Anton Kozlov achieved his main successes in the “senior” series precisely on those tracks where he had never started before. The Grand Prix of the Russian Drift Series has not seen such sensational newcomers for a long time!
Georgy Chivchyan is a contender for the fourth RDS GP title
The closest rival of the ambitious debutant in the race for the championship is one of the most experienced world drift pilots, Krasnoyarsk resident Georgy Chivchyan . He has not yet won qualifications in 2023, but in doubles races he scored one “gold” during the season.
Having won a record seventh victory in the RDS GP stage in Nizhny Novgorod, Gocha has every chance of setting another record. The only two-time FIA IDC World Cup winner, three-time RDS GP champion is already the most decorated driver in the championship, and if he manages to become the strongest in the 2023 season, it will be a new historical achievement.
During his rich sports career, the leader of the TAKAYAMA FORWARD AUTO team won on all tracks present in the RDS GP calendar, but for the last two years, paired races at Sochi Autodrom ended in accidents of varying degrees of seriousness for him. If everything goes smoothly this year, Georgy Chivchyan can easily make up the 10-point gap from Anton Kozlov and take the lead in the personal standings.
Charles NG on a Russian hypercar – one step away from the first championship
Equal on points with Gocha (885 points), the legionnaire of the STAR PЁR STARS AIMOL team, an athlete from Hong Kong, Charles NG, approaches the final stage. In the 2023 season, he already won gold in doubles driving a Flanker F, and also chalked up the Russian hypercar's first victory in RDS GP qualifying.
These successes, combined with two podiums and enviable stability, allowed Charles not only to join the fight for the title, but to actually claim the championship at the end of the season. The pilot is only 10 points behind the leader of the personal competition and is capable of seizing the championship if his rivals stumble.
Moreover, Sochi Autodrom favors Charles. In 2019, it was on the Black Sea coast that the pilot won his first victory at the Grand Prix stage of the Russian Drift Series, and in 2022 he brought the Flanker F its first podium in the tournament. It is possible that it is on this track that the pilot will become the author of historical success and secure the first coveted RDS GP champion title for himself and for Flanker F.
Evgeniy Losev – a triumphant return to the fight
Pilot from Irkutsk Evgeny Losev will start the “VTB Final Grand Prix of the Russian Drift Series 2023” with 879 points to his name. The gap from the leader of the personal competition, Anton Kozlov, is only 16 points. This means that the SINTEC • Fresh Marketplace pilot also has every chance of winning the title, which seemed impossible after a difficult start to the season.
Changing the car, technical problems, searching for optimal settings and eliminating identified deficiencies dragged on for a good half of the season – Losev won his first podium only at the fourth stage, but it was an immediate victory. This was followed by two more consecutive finishes in the TOP 3, which, against the backdrop of problems among his rivals, returned Evgeniy to the championship race.
Evgeniy Losev has already won at Sochi Autodrom, been on the podium, which means he is facing a difficult track found a common language. If there are no unpleasant surprises, the representative of SINTEC • Fresh Marketplace has a real chance to put a bright end to a difficult season and finally take the long-awaited cup.
Damir Idiyatulin – mathematical, but a chance
The fifth contender for victory in the individual classification of the Grand Prix of the Russian Drift Series of the 2023 season is another SINTEC • Fresh Marketplace driver – Damir Idiyatulin, who scored 667 points by the final weekend. This result may well be converted into a title, but here everything depends not only on the athlete himself, but also on his rivals. In this battle, every qualifying point and every qualifying position will be important.
Provided that none of the four leaders passes the qualification and does not get into the TOP 32, and Damir wins the qualification and doubles races, then he will become the champion. An unlikely scenario, but possible. The sixth stage at the “reverse” configuration of Moscow Raceway showed that in drifting the balance of power can change in the blink of an eye – the favorites will be out of work, and those on whom no one bet will be in the leaders.
Will Arkady Tsaregradtsev win and other intrigues of the finale
The main attention of drift fans at Sochi Autodrom will be focused on the battle for the championship, but the “VTB Grand Prix Final of the Russian Drift Series 2023” is probably preparing other surprises. The main intrigue is whether Arkady Tsaregradtsev will be able to win his first victory this season? As the current RDS GP champion, the pilot has not yet been able to win either qualifying or doubles races, so fans are expecting success on the home track from the leader of “FailCrew x DarkSide”. At the same time, the question remains: will there be seven different winners of qualifying and doubles this year?
Pleasant surprises can also be expected from other drivers: from series newcomers Timofey Dobrovolsky (TAKAYAMA FORWARD AUTO) and Vladislav Popov (FailCrew x DarkSide), experienced Roman Tivodar (TAKAYAMA FORWARD AUTO) and Grigory Gusev, who has gained momentum (LUKOIL Racing Drift Team), as well as from the entire TimeUp team in full – Leonid Schneider, Danila Skorobogatov and Maxim Grossman are full of desire to express themselves.
At Sochi Autodrom, Grigory Burlutsky, the new champion of the interregional series RDS EUROPE 2023, will take part in the RDS GP. In accordance with the championship regulations, he will replace Boris Abramov in the STAR PER STARS AIMOL team, who is missing this stage. So the competition throughout the weekend will be intense at all stages of the competition.
RDS GP 2023 Judging Panel
The composition of judges at the stages of the Grand Prix of the Russian Drift Series is constant. Current athletes Maxim Akhtyamov, Anton Novikov and Vladimir Safonov work on the judging tower. All three have extensive refereeing experience, and in the 2023 season they competed for the WEGO Drift Team in the interregional RDS EUROPE series.
Schedule of the stage “VTB Final Grand Prix of the Russian Drift Series 2023” at the Sochi Autodrom track:
October 14, Saturday
- 08:30-09: 30 – training
- 09:45-13:25 – qualification
- 13:45-14:45 – official opening of the competition and autograph session
- 15: 00-17:45 — double races TOP 32
October 15, Sunday
- 08:30-09:30 – training
- 10:00-11:15 – official opening of the competition and autograph session< /li>
- 11:30-13:30 – double heats TOP 16
- 15:00-17:15 – double heats TOP 8/TOP 4/final
- 17 :45-18:15 – award ceremony
It will be possible to follow the events on the track both from the Sochi Autodrom stands and live on the RDS TV platform. Qualifying races can be watched for free after simple registration, and paired races are available by subscription.
About the Sochi Autodrom track
Sochi Autodrom became the arena for the first Formula Grand Prix stage in Russian history -1. The track, laid in the Imereti Lowland on the territory of the Olympic Park, was opened in 2014 and until 2021 it invariably hosted the national stage of the World Championship. Its feature was the unique long third turn and unique landscapes around the track.
Since its opening, stages of international tournaments have been held here: from Formula 1 and the FIA WTCR World Cup, youth monoseries FIA Formula 3 and FIA Formula 2 to the TCR International Series touring car championship and the Ferrari Challenge Europe branded monocup, as well as stages of the Russian championships RDS, RSKG and Formula 4. Sochi Autodrom traditionally hosts the final stage of the Russian Drift Series Grand Prix.
RDS GP statistics at Sochi Autodrom
2020
- Qualification : Arkady Tsaregradtsev (89 points)
- TOP 3 doubles races: Evgeniy Losev (winner), Roman Tivodar, Arkady Tsaregradtsev
2021
- Qualification: Damir Idiyatulin (95 points)
- TOP 3 doubles races: James Dean (winner), Georgy Chivchyan, Jack Shanahan
- Qualification: Damir Idiyatulin (98 points)
- TOP 3 doubles: Arkady Tsaregradtsev (winner) , Charles NG, Evgeny Losev
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2022
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