The fourth round of the RAF-SMP Racing Academy took place on July 12-14 at Atron go-kart track in Ryazan.
The karting school of the RAF-SMP Racing Academy traditionally opens its doors for new participants twice per season – during the first round and in the middle of the season. Last week, school members in Micro class had a unique opportunity to attend theoretical classes at the modern Atron go-kart track from Tuesday. Little drivers were revising general rules, flag system and safe driving rules. Later, they had to pass the exams and receive their first license. Finally, 26 young drivers took part in the races of the RAF-SMP Racing Academy.
137 drivers from different cities of Russia from Yalta to Vladivostok took part in the opening ceremony of the third round of the Russian Karting Championship, the fourth round of the RAF-SMP Racing Academy Championship. Famous guests, such as Alexander Nikolaevich Safonov, the bronze medalist of the first USSR Championship in the class of 175cc in 1963 in Moscow, four-time champion of the USSR, the first Soviet winner of international competitions in the individual competition, winner of the Karting Friendship Cup of the socialist countries in karting, attended the event.
Peter Aleshin, the director of the SMP Racing Junior program, took part in the opening ceremony together with Mika Salo, a well-known driver, who took part in Formula 1 races from 1994 to 2002, driving for different teams, and currently is the head of the SMP Racing Academy.
“I want to congratulate young drivers on the start of a karting career and wish them and the older drivers good luck in the competition,” Mika Salo said. “I watched the performances of the guys and I can say without any doubts that they have great potential, their level of training is impressive. We saw a beautiful and interesting fight on the track. I also want to note the high quality of the Atron go-kart track and the level of competition organization. It was interesting for me to get familiar with Russian machines – good go-karts, different chassis models, which allow young drivers to learn and prepare for the transition to the senior karting classes".
After young drivers successfully passed the exams, trained a lot and drove all the qualifying sessions and final rounds, members of the RAF-SMP Racing Academy took part in the race. Alexander Ponomarev (Odintsovo, Moscow region) went quickest among young participants, followed by Anatoly Agapov and Roman Nosulenko. Every member of the RAF-SMP Academy was awarded: first five drivers were presented beautiful cups and the rest – medals and diplomas.
The next round of the RAF-SMP Racing Academy will take place again in Ryazan on August 3-4, 2019.
Photo: E.Sorokina
