For the third time, the Stars' Race was held in the summer format at the Moscow Raceway near Moscow. For the third time, the Stars' Race was held in the summer format at the Moscow Raceway near Moscow. Related Materials
Race of Stars “At the Wheel”: Experience Against Youth
The famous “24 Hours of Le Mans” race was held on the day when the French team played the opening match at the Russian World Cup. They say that because of this, many spectators were missed in the stands of the Sart ring. Still, football is the number one sport in the world, auto racing is in second place.
We got into a similar situation, having staked out the date for half a year, which in the end was the great battle of the Russian team in the quarterfinals with the Croats. Well, who could then have suggested that ours would reach such a high stage ?! True, unlike Le Mans, the Race of Stars “At the Wheel” does not take place round the clock - the whole action took two hours with a penny. And it ended in time for the moment when the British scored the first goal for the Swedes. It is known for certain that some participants managed to change clothes and get to the fan zone in Luzhniki to watch the evening match between the national teams of Russia and Croatia together with the country.
Engineering and Physics
The race of stars, of course, is not Le Mans - it is more interesting! Nobody in the world watches all “24 hours” from start to finish. It is impossible to withstand, after five to six hours of monotonous machine flickering, public enthusiasm drops to zero. And it’s easy to watch the Race of Stars: the races are short, each one has a struggle. And it is not so important how many crews applied for participation. The main thing is that the forces invited by the editor-in-chief of the pilots are approximately equal, and the cars, initially unequal, are carefully brought to a common denominator.
This is not a fun train engine game, but a fierce struggle for a place in living space. A typical situation for the starting circle. This is not a fun train engine game, but a fierce struggle for a place in living space. A typical situation for the starting circle.
Sports cars with 1.6 engines and a single-axis drive are allowed to start, but they can be from different disciplines - ring and rally, for example. Cars significantly (by racing standards) differ in mass and level of training of engines. To make up the difference, the Race of Stars regulation requires a series of measures. In particular, the Touring-Light ring class equipment is “smothered” with a restrictor washer on the intake system, restricting air access, and thus reduce engine power - to about the level that corresponds to the most popular Russian National class. And for machines with a sequential gearbox, ballast is relied on - the superiority that gives the pilot a more advanced gearbox is offset by an increase in mass.
Two Tatyana - Eliseeva and Dobrynina - constantly found themselves somewhere nearby and immediately entered into a duel. Unfortunately, they didn’t make it to the final. Two Tatyana - Eliseeva and Dobrynina - constantly found themselves somewhere nearby and immediately entered into a duel. Unfortunately, they didn’t make it to the final.
In winter, on the ice track, the additional five horsepower will not play a noticeable role: on slippery surfaces, the power partially goes into the axle box. But in the summer, on perfect asphalt, an experienced rider will be able to use every additional “horse”. But the Race of Stars, as practice has shown, is such a specific thing that some laws of physics sometimes stop working on it.
Who is the favorite?
For the third year, we have a Star Race in the summer, and each time there are even more surprises than it was in the winter. This is contrary to logic and therefore envelops the main trophy of the race - the Bronze tire - with a mystical halo.
The current plot was radically different from all the previous ones, first of all - by the presence of one obvious favorite. So obvious that the founders of Race of the Stars were seriously worried about the Bronze tire. According to an agreement not prescribed in the documents, a pilot who triumphs in the Race of Stars three times gets Tire in eternal possession.
The nameplate on the pedestal of the Bronze Tire reminds each owner of the history of victories at the Star Race throughout all 40 years of its existence. The nameplate on the pedestal of the Bronze Tire reminds each owner of the history of victories at the Star Race throughout all 40 years of its existence. Related Materials
26th Race of Stars Race: Fiction Day
The legendary Crystal Tire, which has served as the main prize since 1984, thanks to this principle several years ago became the property of Kirill Ladygin, an outstanding pilot who won the Star Race four times. She was replaced by the Bronze tire, also of the author's work and also very heavy and impressive.
And on the account of the driver from Kursk Nikolai Karamyshev, now playing for the Lukoil Racing team, there have already been two victories. Three years ago - in the winter version, at the Central Moscow Hippodrome, and two years ago - in the summer, here, at the Moscow Raceway.
The top pilot of the SMP RSKG ring series and the two-time winner of the European Cup did not really hide that he was going for the victory, and any other result would be considered unsuccessful. In addition, he built it specially for the Race of Stars and carefully tested a new combat vehicle - Volkswagen Polo. And he showed him an amazing time in the qualifying races: a circle and a half seconds better than any of the venerable rivals.
Weather factor
Qualifying races left no doubt as to who is now the strongest on the track. Karamyshev quite easily won three of them - starting both from the first position and from the sixth (reverse start). And he missed the fourth one due to lack of motivation, since two victories were enough to get into the final. In addition, it made sense to save the car and tires. Tires, by the way, were the same on all cars - road tires of the Continental brand, a longtime main partner of the Race of the Stars. Why road and not professional racing slicks? This is rain insurance.
Heavy rain lasted about five minutes. Many pilots solve the problem of fogging the glass from the inside by opening their window. Heavy rain lasted about five minutes. Many pilots solve the problem of fogging the glass from the inside by opening their window.
Slices on wet surfaces do not hold at all. There is no time to do a pit stop to replace them with rain tires, since all the races are short (qualifying runs last 10 minutes, the final ones are less than five). And modern high-quality road tires fully withstand racing modes (albeit not very long) and normally drain water.
This tire preamble meant that during the final qualifying race a five-minute downpour hit the track - for the first time in the 40 year history of the Race of Stars. Under these conditions, Alexander Artemyev (Kia Rio) - a titled pilot from Kazakhstan, our farthest guest for ten years, distinguished himself.
At the end of the rain, the track remained wet, and the six of the finalists were usually headed by Andrei Petukhov's Kalina. At the end of the rain, the track remained wet, and the six of the finalists were usually headed by Andrei Petukhov's Kalina.
By the start of the first of the three final races, the rain had dried up, but the asphalt remained pretty wet, and not uniformly wet. This led to the fact that all six finalists had mistakes and blots in the corners, and the situation in races changed literally every ten seconds. And those who on dry pavement could not keep up with Karamyshev, now looked quite combat-ready. Even the seditious thought flickered that in the conditions of a dry track they simply did not really try and strategically concealed their true capabilities! Petersburger Andrei Petukhov (Lada Kalina NFR), currently working as a racer in the Lada Sport Rosneft factory team, was especially notable.
Chronicle of the incident
Three final races became a fierce duel between Karamyshev and Petukhov. Petukhov invariably won the start, Karamyshev then tried to catch up and overtake him. Sometimes it worked, but Petukhov carried out successful retaliatory attacks. The culmination was the episode of the second race, when there was a long series of shots by the sides. As a result, Polo Karamysheva flew off the track … The rider then, at the cost of incredible efforts, managed to score at least some points.
Be that as it may, Nikolai lost almost all chances on the final victory on this, and the judiciary decided that there was a contact fight allowed by the racing rules. Both were pushing! Otherwise, Petukhov could be punished - until the result is annulled. But he was declared the winner of the race, and literally ten minutes later he celebrated the victory in the race.
The key moment of the whole race: after the contact of the cars of the two leaders, one of them went to the side of the road, and the other remained on the track. The key moment of the whole race: after the contact of the cars of the two leaders, one of them went to the side of the road, and the other remained on the track.
Karamyshev did not manage to make up for the lost points in the remaining race and as a result became not even a silver, but a bronze medalist. Alexander Artemyev got into second place, prudently taking advantage of the multiple difficulties of his rivals.
The incident gave occasion to talk after the finish about sports justice. As in football, the decision in the event of a game violation of the rules is made by the chief referee (in our case, Igor Konovalov, the country's former rally champion, now the most experienced racing referee with twenty years of experience).
Unlike football, the video replay technique in world and Russian races has been used for a long time. But still, neither there, nor in many cases there is an exact measure - was there a foul on a yellow card or is there enough warning? Classic wording: at the discretion of the arbitrator.
The official tire partner of the Race of the Stars Driving Stars - Continental
Continental is developing advanced technologies and services to provide continuous, networked mobility for people and goods. Founded in 1871, a technology company offers reliable, efficient, thoughtful and affordable solutions for cars, cars, and road vehicles. According to preliminary estimates, Continental achieved a turnover of 44 billion euros in 2017, and the concern currently employs more than 235, 000 employees in 61 countries
Podium Race of the Stars of 2018: the winner is Andrei Petukhov, the second winner is Alexander Artemyev, the third is Nikolai Karamyshev. Podium Race of the Stars of 2018: the winner is Andrei Petukhov, the second winner is Alexander Artemyev, the third is Nikolai Karamyshev. | ||
Alexander Artemyev: “I am very pleased with the second place! It rained on time. "On wet surfaces, my chances increased, there was an opportunity to take more risks - and to win something against rivals on this." Alexander Artemyev: “I am very pleased with the second place! It rained on time. "On wet surfaces, my chances increased, there was an opportunity to take more risks - and to win something against rivals on this." |
Andrei Petukhov: “There was a very difficult fight at all stages. I missed one qualifying race: the car needed a drive replacement. But in the finals, everything turned out well, despite the vagaries of the weather. In part, they even helped.” Andrei Petukhov: “There was a very difficult fight at all stages. I missed one qualifying race: the car needed a drive replacement. But in the finals, everything turned out well, despite the vagaries of the weather. In part, they even helped.” |
Nikolai Karamyshev: “In competitions of the level of Race of the Stars, we need to more closely monitor the incorrect methods of wrestling.” Nikolai Karamyshev: “In competitions of the level of Race of the Stars, we need to more closely monitor the incorrect methods of wrestling.” |
The fate of Tire
Karamyshev politely smiled in response to congratulations, but the outcome of the Race of Stars was not satisfied. And the highest degree of satisfaction was received by Andrei Petukhov and the audience, since the spectacle turned out to be simply freaky, not like France’s zero draw with Denmark. If someone forgot, the Petersburger in previous years twice climbed to the second step of our race, and, without a doubt, he was exactly as focused on victory as Karamyshev. With the difference that the rain played in his favor, and the victory was the first.
For the third year in a row, we have ascertained that the asphalt version of the Race of Stars turned out to be steeper than the ice again. And with unflagging interest we follow the fate of the Bronze tire. In St. Petersburg, I remember, not one of our Tires has yet visited.
Thanks to everyone who came!
RACE OF STARS “DRIVING” - 2018, final results |
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| one | Andrey Petukhov (St. Petersburg, Lada Kalina NFR) | 15 points |
| Alexander Artemyev (Almaty, Kia Rio) | 10 points | |
| Nikolay Karamyshev (Kursk, Volkswagen Polo) | 8 points | |
| four | Dmitry Dobrovolsky (Moscow, Lada Kalina NFR) | 6 points |
| 5-6 | Albert Gainullin (Nizhnekamsk, Kia Rio) | 3 points |
| 5-6 | Vladimir Cherevan (Eagle, Volkswagen Polo) | 3 points |
