The opening stage of the season pleased the numerous viewers of the fascinating program and the premieres of new machines that first performed on Russian routes. The starting procedure of the Mail.ru Auto Grand Prix was held in the atmosphere of the feature film “Battle of Motors”: copies of cars of the early twentieth century under the control of crews in authentic costumes of that era went to the track.
Anton Medvedev For the filming of the historical action about one of the first Russian automobile journalists, the racer Andrei Nagel, the design bureau of the founder of REC Igor Ermilina specially recreated the remarks of the first domestic racing machines of Russo-Balt C24/55 and C24/58, known as the Russian Cucumber, as well as the German Blitzen Benz. The same retro -car trio led the racing peloton during the heating circle.
Larisa Lashenova RUSSO-Balt C24/58, aka Russian Cucumber, modern replica
Larisa Lashenova Replica of Russo-Balta C24/55
Anton Medvedev Kinematographic Blitzen Benz
Anton Medvedev The connection of times and the continuation of traditions symbolized the appearance on the starting lattice of a modern Russian development – a prototype FDR12 with a hybrid power unit, constructed by students and teachers of the Moscow Polytechnic.
Anton Medvedev The first racing hybrid created in Russia, while he only performed a demonstration travel along the Avtodrom, but the team promises that a full -fledged debut will take place in the near future, as soon as homologation is received.
Anton Medvedev Not without new cars in Peloton – the SPORA GT team finally put up the Ferrari 488 Challenge, which was expected in the last season. For a 670-horsepower Italian sports car, it was a debut in Russian competitions.
Anton Medvedev In total, the organizers received 34 applications for the first stage, but for technical reasons, not all participants were able to act in qualification before the Saturday marathon. And after the qualification, two more cars of crews No. 992 of the SPORA GT team in another newcomer of the series, the “cup” Porsche 911 GT3 and No. 83 of the Motor Sharks on the Mercedes-Amg GT4, which returned to REC after a annual break, left the struggle. As a result, 25 cars got to the start.
Anton Medvedev The pole-position was won by crew No. 111 as part of George Efrosinin and Igor Mukhin on the Norm M20FC Turbo prototype Black Thorn. It is worth noting that the first rows at the start went to the prototypes of the CN Pro set-off-lighter and more maneuverable cars took places from the first to the fifth, while future winners of the Time4race race, on a more powerful, but heavier Mercedes-Amg GT3 showed only the sixth time in qualification.
Anton Medvedev The winner of the 4-hour race was the duet of Maxim Kizilov and Alexei Nesov, who played the Mercedes-AMG GT3 supercar of the Time4race supercar. The crew of the multiple winner of the prestigious marathon “24 SPA” took first place in the absolute standings.
Anton Medvedev The duet of Efrosinin and Mukhin was considered the favorites of the stage – their black Norma in the patterns of the thorns (this is how the name of the Black Thorn team is translated from the English language) won two of the five races of last season REC and could impose a struggle both to the rivals in CN Pro and the Mercedes of the Time4race team.
Larisa Lashenova However, already at the start, Prototype No. 111 noticeably lost at a pace, and the other French prototype – Ligier No. 31 of the SVL Racing team with Alexei Khairov driving at the wheel turned out to be more agile. Nevertheless, the moment later Khairov unsuccessfully attacked the curb, damaged the wheel and, already at the end of the first circle, lost the lead to his namesake Alexei Neova.
Anton Medvedev Subsequently, the punched tire was dismantled, and Ligier No. 31 was forced to make an early pit stop, in fact, flying out of the struggle for high places.
Kirill Shakay Further arrival turned into a pursuit of the CN Pro prototypes for the leading AMG crew of Neva and Kizilov. But all the attempts of two Ligier teams Team Garis (No. 29) and Balchug Racing (No. 21) were in vain – their technique did not have reliability, unlike the Time4race Stuttgart Express. The team of Nesov and Kizilov perfectly prepared and spent its first race in the REC season, finishing with a comfortable margin from all rivals.
Anton Medvedev As for prototypes, the best of the cars of this class took only the third place in the Absolute – the “bronze” winner was crew No. 29 of Konstantin Zakharevsky, Konstantin Tereshchenko and Stanislav Sidoruk from Team Garis.
Anton Medvedev Following them, the second position in the test group was taken by Kirill Kirakozov and Mikhail Loboda from Balchug Racing. The team spoke at the first stage at once by two crews at the Ligier JS53 EVO2, but we managed to get to the finish line the coordinated duet of Kirakozov and Loboda, while their debuting partners Alexei Karachev and Andrei Pavlovich left the distance due to the breakdown.
Anton Medvedev In third place, the long-suffering crew No. 31 SVL Racing was still classified, returning to the highway several times after long-term repair stops. The owners of the Black Thorn were forced to arrange a technical gathering.
Kirill Shakay The second place in the final classification and the victory in the standings of the GT was celebrated by Denis Remenyako and Mikhail Aleshin from Capital RT. Their Mercedes-AMG GT4 at number 13 drove an impeccable race, ahead of the faster cars of competitors. An important role in success was played by the fact that the titled Mikhail Aleshin from this season plays the role of a “playing coach”, acting as the general director of the team along with the duties of the pilot.
Anton Medvedev The second in the GT stand was the debutants from Shishkoil & Yuka Adv Pro Racing Team on the same Mercedes-AMG GT4, like Aleshin and Remenyako. The “silver” of the offset was divided by the founder of the team Dmitry Shishko, known for performances in the Turin races Zakhar Slutsky and Belarusian pilot Alexei Savin, for whom this was the first performance behind the wheel of the GT4 technique. Despite this, Minsk resident was entrusted with the most responsible starting segment, which he confidently coped with.
Anton Medvedev The top of the GT team managers of the Yadro Motorsport team Sergey Stolyarov, who had traveled at the wheel of another Mercedes of the GT4 category, closed the top three.
Anton Medvedev In the standings of the GT Pro, in which, along with the GT3 cars and “cup” versions of supercars, turlah cars are allowed, the absolute triumph of the Absolute from Time4race took the victory. The Ferrari 488 Challenge stated in this class drove only 15 circles, but as the SPORA GT pilot Vitaly Larionov explained, the team initially planned to hold a semblance of tests in racing conditions. For a full -fledged marathon, the machine still requires improvements, since initially this Ferrari model was intended for short sprint races.
Anton Medvedev In the absence of other more powerful machines, the second and third places in the standings of the GT Pro were divided by the “turveny” crews – No. 91 of the GNV & Kamenskiy Racing team and No. 24 Real Performance, respectively. Audi RS3 LMS under number No. 91, which was ruled by Ilya Kamensky, Viktor Plekhanov and Damir Saitov, also got a victory in the Subscribing GT Pro Touring.
Anton Medvedev In the most popular and affordable GT Light class, the mini-sensation on the Mini Cooper was created by Stepan Anufriev and Mark Novikov from the Russian Racing Group. Their team won their test just in the second REC race! Anufriev and Novikov debuted at the wheel of a British small scope last fall at the final stage of the series, and now they won already at the opening of the new season.
Anton Medvedev Success has become possible, among other things, through the set of favorites from the X-Rays Motorsport team. Less than two hours before the finish on Mitsubishi Evo IX last year’s champions, GT Light refused the clutch.
Anton Medvedev The second and third place was shared by the Mazda Karting Academy crews, which arranged a spectacular duel on the finish -cut of the marathon in the dark. Mazda3 under the happy number 777, which was ruled by Kirill Glushak and Alexei Gribanov, turned out to be stronger.
Anton Medvedev The Mail Grand Prix of the Mail Grand Prix, which opened the season of the Russian series of endurance, has become a vivid event for domestic motorsport, whose ring competitions are gaining momentum after a winter pause. The next stage of the REC Grand Prix athletes will be held at the Moscove Raceway Avtodrome on Saturday June 28.
Anton Medvedev
On May 24, on May 24, the first stage of the new season of the Russian series of endurance races (REC)-Grand Prix of Auto Mail.ru was held at the Moscow Raceway Avtomodrod. The results, as always, turned out to be unpredictable – for this we love long races! And before the teams went to find out who the fastest, racing track was given to old cars … However, they only look old. All details are in our gallery.