STAGE 1 SMP RSKG Touring: bright opening of the season

The vagaries of the weather, accidents and technical breakdowns — this is how they forged victory in Grozny.

On Sunday, the debut stage of the SMP RSKG Touring series, the Russian championship and Cup in automobile circuit racing, which takes place under the patronage of the Russian motorsport development program SMP Racing, ended. The Touring Light and S1600 classes competed in both races on Saturday. And the pilots of the international competitions SMP GT4 and SMP TCR Russia, in company with participants of the Super-Production class, went to the start three times today to please the fans with an intense fight.

SMP GT4

Start in the second race the most powerful class of SMP RSKG Touring – SMP GT4 – based on the results of Saturday’s race. The wet track led to contact between the Mercedes of Sergei Stolyarov and Denis Remenyako, after which Remenyako flew onto the gravel and got stuck.

Meanwhile, pole holder Sergei Titarenko (Toyota Supra) was unable to take advantage of Alexei Nesov and Sergei Stolyarov (both Mercedes-AMG GT4), but then regained the position and crossed the finish line in second. However, after the finish the result was canceled due to an incorrectly installed wing on his Toyota Supra. Thus, Sergei Stolyarov and Irina Sidorkova (Mercedes-AMG GT4) were the winners. This is the situation in the overall classification, while among the pilots of the amateur category SMP GT4 Am the best were Sergei Stolyarov, Dmitry Anastasiadis and Dmitry Rodionov.

The final supercar race was the highlight of the weekend. After the start, four cars entered the first turn at once — and Lev Tolkachev (Toyota Supra), who started from the second row, did it best. Then Lev held off the attacks of his rivals for a long time, but the final part of the race was dictated by Alexey Nesov, who broke through from 9th place to the lead. Sergei Titarenko finished second, Irina Sidorkova finished third. Tolkachev was unlucky: the crash ruined his chances of winning a prize.

Sergei Stolyarov again became the best in the gentleman's category, this time he was accompanied by Andrei Solukovtsev and Dionys Anastasiadis: after the finish, the judges excluded Dmitry Rodionov from the medalists for a collision in the race. And one of the most dramatic moments of the race was the accident of Svetlana Gorbunova: a wheel came off on her Toyota Supra, and the Japanese coupe flew into the bump stop.

SMP TCR RUSSIA

Sunday's race left no one indifferent. Dmitry Bragin (Cupra Leon) made a brilliant start and took the lead, leaving Pavel Kalmanovich (Hyundai i30) in second place. Vladimir Atoev (Hyundai Elantra) broke into third, and the top 5 was completed by Alexander Smolyar (Hyundai i30) and yesterday’s triumphant Mikhail Simonov (Cupra Leon). The tightest fight for leadership, a collision between Zakhar Slutsky’s Hyundai i30 and Ivan Chubarov’s LADA Vesta, for which he was moved from 7th place to last. And Rustam Fatkhutdinov (Audi RS3) did not earn any points for this race, having entered the pits early.

SUPER PRODUCTION

Alexander Garmash started from the reverse pole and although he could not stay in the lead, in the first laps he successfully defended third position from the attacks of Vladimir Sheshenin in a LADA Vesta. However, a turn of Maxim Arkhangelsky's Subaru BRZ right in front of Garmash's Volkswagen Scirocco led to a collision, and both pilots dropped out of the fight. Nikolai Vikhansky, who led the race at the beginning of the race, was also unlucky: due to oil spilled on the track, his Honda Civic flew off the track, and several positions were lost at once. Thus, nothing could stop Sheshenin from crossing the finish line first. Second and third were Roman Golikov (Honda Civic) and Leonid Panfilov (LADA Vesta). The list of athletes who came down was supplemented by Kirill Ladygin (LADA Vesta).

WINNERS AND PRIZES OF THE 1st STAGE SMP RSKG TOURINGSMP TCR RUSSIA1Mikhail SimonovCupra LeonTAIF Motorsport502Alexander SmolyarHyundai i30LUKOIL RACING SMP Tim423Dmitry BraginCupra LeonTAIF Motorsport41SUPER-PRODUCTION1Vladimir ShesheninLADA VestaLECAR642Roman GolikovHonda CivicNEVA Motorsport493Leonid PanfilovLADA VestaLADA Sport ROSNEFT45SMP GT41Alexey NesovMercedes-AMG GT4SMP Motor Sharks872Sergey TitarenkoToyota SupraX Motorsport Team Garis613Sergey StolyarovMercedes-AMG GT4YADRO Motorsport54TOURING-LITE1Vladimir CherevanKia Rio XKuzma's Mother RT502Petr PlotnikovAudi A1Rally Academy393Alexander MaslennikovAudi A1LUKOIL RACING Team30S16001Nikolai KalininLADA GrantaBragin Racing Team432Philipp TuponosovLADA GrantaGTE Racing Team383Roman ShcherbakovKia Rio XRUMOS Racing38

The next stage will take place at the Smolensk Ring circuit on May 4 and 5. On the track near Dorogobuzh, participants in the SMP TCR Russia and Super-Production classifications will continue the battle for titles — and for pilots of the Sportprototype CN and SMP Historic Cup classes, it will be their debut this season of SMP RSKG Touring.

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