On August 10-11, the third rounds of the SMP RDRC took place on the grounds of Bykovo airport.
In the FSL and FSA classes the finalists were defined according to the results of the qualifying sessions, while the final contenders of the FSB and US classes will be announced after the final races in Grozny.The third round of the SMP RDRC took place together with the second round of the Moscow Region Drag Racing Championship. In total, 125 cars entered in two competitions.
Last weekend, due to the weather conditions there were some changes in the program of the event. Similar to the first round of the SMP RDRC, it rained on Saturday and it didn’t allow races to be held. Qualifying started on Sunday, and the organizers tried to provide all the participants with the opportunity to drive a 402-meter distance twice.
There were 128 attempts driven on the Bykovo drag strip that day, but there was not enough time to hold final races - oil from one of the participating cars leaked onto the track and it was not possible to completely remove it. Therefore, all the participants in the FSB and US classes wrote a statement under which the stewardess of the competition decided to hold the final races of these classes on August 31 at the Grozny Fortress circuit (Grozny).
In the FSL and FSA classes, the results of the third round were announced according to the qualifying sessions.
FSL class, first three drivers:
1. George Arshakuni (Moscow), Audi TT RS Seven Force Stage 3, No. 52. Ramon Busto (Yaroslavl), BMW X5M Ramon Performance, No. 70
3. Kirill Stulov (Moscow), Audi RS6 (C7) Seven Force Stage 3, No. 101
FSA class, first three drivers:
1. Mustafa Murtazaev (Simferopol), VAZ 2108, No. 512. Elshan Aslanov (Moscow, the Lukoil Racing Tim team), VAZ 2110, No. 77
3. George Garakishiev (Krasnoyarsk), Mitsubishi Mirage, No. 24
Dmitry Samorukov (Moscow Region, Zhukovsky, SMP Racing team) drove the best elapsed time (excluding the driver’s reaction at the start) in the Dodge Viper ProMod, storming to 8.164 seconds.
Alexey Volik (St. Petersburg, the M-technology team), driving the Subaru Impreza, reached the highest speed of 279.28 km / h.
“Bad weather again at the third round of the Russian Drag Racing Championship SMP RDRC,” Alexander Abyanov, head of the SMP RDRC, said. “On Saturday evening, when the rain stopped, we started preparing the track, and on Sunday the qualifying races started according to the schedule. In general, everything went according to the schedule, although sometimes we were forced to interrupt the qualifying sessions due to technical issues of cars right on the drag strip. In the evening, the left side of the track was flooded with oil from one of the cars. Our technical services tried to clean it up, but after trying several methods, we came to the conclusion that this could not be done quickly. It is forbidden to carry out races in drag racing without a fully prepared track. Therefore, together with the participants, we decided to postpone the final races of the third round until the round of the SMP RDRC in Grozny, which will take place on Saturday, August 31.”
The fourth, final stage of the season of the Russian Championship drag racing SMP RDRC will take place on August 31 - September 1 at the Fort Grozny Circuit (Grozny).
Quotes of the winners of the 3 round of the SMP RDRC:
George Arshakuni (Moscow), Audi TT RS Seven Force Stage 3, No. 5, class FSL: “The competition took place in difficult conditions - the weather let us down, but all the troubles turned into good rewards and an excellent result. I had two attempts in the qualifying session: one in the Moscow Region Championship, and the other in the SMP RDRC. As a result, we won the cup - the first time we had a good result. Our goal was to fight for the victory: the entire Seven Force team worked hard, and our task was to be fastest and push the gas pedal in time.”
Mustafa Murtazaev (Simferopol), VAZ 2108, No. 51, class FSA: “The round was complicated. It rained on Saturday, and we were not able to drive a single race. On Sunday there was no traction on the track precisely because of the rain the day before. We drove two qualifying attempts. The first race was just for trying the track and our abilities and in the second race we already had a good result, storming to 8.9 seconds. Well, then oil leaked on the strip, as everyone knows. We were prepared to fight for a win. We admit that our main rival today is Elshan Aslanov from the Lukoil Racing Tim team. Everything will be decided at the last round. We hope that in Grozny the weather will allow us to achieve all our goals and win the champion’s cup. Our car is ready, everything is fine with it. This year we are using only one engine, unlike last season, when we changed it four times. We also plan to set new records. I hope we will surprise everyone at the last round."