For the fourth time, the Yekaterinburger has won the Race of Stars and, it seems, is ready to swipe at the repetition of his own record: he has two more victories left to take the Bronze Tire for himself forever. In principle, he is quite capable of this, although this time, perhaps, he was lucky with refereeing.
Kirill Ladygin
Kirill Ladygin, like all participants, was aimed only at victory. Kirill Ladygin, like all participants, was aimed only at victory.
Schedule of the Race of Stars “Driving” 2013 was slightly different from the previous year: qualification races were held on Friday, and not Saturday morning. True, because of training, they took place in the evening, when it began to get dark. Therefore, not all riders managed to show the best lap times for themselves. As a result, on Saturday races we got two groups with fairly easily predictable leaders and two groups in which we could safely expect a fight until the finish. Kirill Ladygin, Timur Sadredinov, Mikhail Tyagunov, Arkady Zharkov, Nikolai Karamyshev, Dmitry Bragin, Vasily Mezentsev and Oleg Petrikov - in group B; Vladimir Cherevan, Vyacheslav Maleev, Evgeny Aksakov, Alexey Vasiliev, Oleg Zhavoronkov, Alexander Sotnikov, Mikhail Skripnikov, Alexander Artemyev - in group A.
Start List
The Race of Stars “Driving” 2013 began with the presentation of Soviet motor sport veterans and no less legendary cars that repeatedly appeared on the ice track: Moskvich-412, Moskvich-2140 Lux, Moskvich-2137, VAZ-2101, VAZ-21013. And what names! Alexander Safonov, international class master of sports and multiple USSR champion in various automotive disciplines, Vadim Rzhechitsky, two-time USSR champion and silver medalist in road racing, Yuri Kozlov, two-time USSR rally champion and winner of the Spartakiad of the peoples of the USSR …
Historical parade
Historical parade “Behind the wheel”
Alexander Safonov, Vadim Rzhechitsky, Yuri Kozlov, Mikhail Gorbachev, Nikolai and Igor Bolshikh, Anatoly Grigoryev, Yuri Lesovsky, Yuri Terenetsky, Evgeny Molchanov, Valentin Kuznetsov, Chernikov Yuri, Lindgren Edgard took part in the historical parade. Alexander Safonov, Vadim Rzhechitsky, Yuri Kozlov, Mikhail Gorbachev, Nikolai and Igor Bolshikh, Anatoly Grigoryev, Yuri Lesovsky, Yuri Terenetsky, Evgeny Molchanov, Valentin Kuznetsov, Chernikov Yuri, Lindgren Edgard took part in the historical parade.
Historical parade “Behind the wheel”
During the opening ceremony of the competition, the chief editor of the magazine “Behind the Wheel” Anton Chuikin handed the prize to our rally driver Yevgeny Novikov, who was recognized by the magazine as the best racer of 2012. The prize turned out to be beautiful, and at the same time difficult - the journalists asked Evgeny to pick it up several times, but even the athlete refused, saying that he might not be able to hold it. Let's hope that this will be the only difficulty for Eugene in his career.
Evgeny Novikov
And so the competition itself began. The first to start group C, in which the leadership was immediately seized by the most experienced Sergei Uspensky. At the very beginning, Vladislav Kuzmin and Eugene Meites tried to impose a fight on him, but they could not keep the pace of the two-time winner of the Star Race “At the Wheel” and therefore chose to fight among themselves. Moreover, the slippery track required attention. So, on one of the bends Kuzmin hit a snow parapet, injured his right side and pierced the tire. There were no other serious incidents, and Sergei Uspensky safely won the race, which ensured he reached the final.
Group C race
Group C race
Group C race
Group B went to the start after the finish of the previous race. And here really serious battles unfolded. Moreover, both on the track and beyond. Even on the first lap Mikhail Tyagunov turned over, and although yellow flags appeared on the track, not all the riders noticed them and some hit the car. To evacuate the car, the race was suspended, and after a while it started again. Timur Sadredinov, Dmitry Bragin, Kirill Ladygin and Nikolai Karamyshev fought for first places, until Timur lost control of the machine and crashed it. And again there was a confusion with the flags and the behavior of the pilots on the track. As a result, Dmitry Bragin was the first to finish, followed by Kirill Ladygin and Nikolai Karamyshev. The results of the race were discussed for a long time by the judges, but in the end they were approved in that order. Both Bragin and Ladygin went to the finals.
Group B race
Group B race
Timur Sadredinov dropped out of the competition, although before the accident he had excellent chances to qualify for the finals. Timur Sadredinov dropped out of the competition, although before the accident he had excellent chances to qualify for the finals.
Group A was the third in the races. The composition of the pilots turned out to be strong, and Vladimir Cherevan, Vyacheslav Maleev, Evgeny Aksakov and Alexey Vasiliev rushed to the first turn from the start. Experienced pilots seem to have dispensed with a serious contact fight, but soon Aksakov made a mistake, hit the snow parapet and rolled onto the roof. Following Alexander Sotnikov and Vladimir Cherevan did not manage to avoid the collision and literally “arrived” in the car of Eugene. The rest orientated on time and walked around an unexpected obstacle. Aksakov, fortunately, was not injured, but the race was over for him - he had to watch its development from the outside. And the entertainment was stopped by the race, as usual, added Alexey Vasiliev: the back door opened in his car, which amused the audience very much. As Alexei later joked at a press conference, this did not violate aerodynamics. Perhaps that is why Vasiliev finished first and went to the finals. According to the rules of the competition, Mikhail Skripnikov joined him, taking second place in this race.
Group A race
Group A race
Group A race
The fourth race, group D, was fairly quiet. Pilots behaved correctly, although in turns and tried to take the most advantageous trajectory. A small battle for a place unfolded between Alexei Filimonov and Tatyana Eliseeva, and the only lady in these competitions managed to get around the opponent. The winner of the race was Vladimir Sheshenin. On it, the formation of the six finalists was completed.
Group D race
Group D race
In the final races, the pilots competed on the same Renault Logan, provided by the Renault Racing Stars partner. In each of the six starts, the racers changed tracks - the start is given from one line. Dmitry Bragin confidently won the first race, but Togliatti did not get the victory in the second stage - the judges canceled his result due to a violation of the rules. Dmitry’s car did not light dipped. As Bragin later explained at a press conference, he did not know about it and therefore was surprised at the decision of the judges. But the race management is of a different opinion: the penalty was applied for disobeying its orders. However, it was this circumstance that became decisive in his battle with Cyril Ladygin in this year’s Star Race. By the sum of the points scored, the Yekaterinburg player beat Togliatti by three points: 26 versus 23. The prize for the new design again went to Kirill Ladygin, who won three victories in the final races. The second place was left by Dmitry Bragin, and Alexey Vasiliev climbed to the third stage of the podium.
Stars Racing Driving Results 2013
Final races
Final races
Final races
Kirill Ladygin and Dmitry Bragin congratulate each other on the finish. The fight was beautiful, and the rivals were pleased with her, no matter what. Kirill Ladygin and Dmitry Bragin congratulate each other on the finish. The fight was beautiful, and the rivals were pleased with her, no matter what.
Podium
This year, foreign pilots were again invited to the Race of Stars “At the Wheel”: 2007 Formula 1 world champion Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus F1 Team) and Caterham F1 Team racer Charles Peak. His loyal fans especially expected Aisman's arrival - their number in Russia is perhaps inferior only to the number of fans of Michael Schumacher. It is not surprising that in the stands you could see the Finnish flag, and a makeshift banner greeting the champion.
For Kimi Raikkonen and Charles Peak, the organizers prepared one face-to-face race at Renault Duster and two semi-finals with the winner of the Race of Stars “Behind the Wheel”. And in the first show, rather than a truly sports race, Charles Peak was unexpectedly faster: he lost the start to the Finn, but already at the end of the first lap, in the middle of the start-finish line, he got close to the attack distance, and ahead of the corner Raikkonen. And until the very end, Aisman did not manage to catch up with his opponent.
Race between Raikkonen and Peak
"Youth" in the demonstration races at the Race of Stars always goes faster. Maybe the informality of the competition (for them) and the opportunity to have fun in a good way are affecting. "Youth" in the demonstration races at the Race of Stars always goes faster. Maybe the informality of the competition (for them) and the opportunity to have fun in a good way are affecting.
One can only guess if the foreign pilots could get ahead of Kirill Ladygin if they had practiced at least a day (the racers arrived on Saturday directly from the tests in Spain), but the Yekaterinburg man won two confident victories. Although in his race, Kimi Raikkonen got close enough to Cyril. “My foot slipped off the gas pedal,” Ladygin later joked at a press conference.
Kimi Raikkonen
Kimi Raikkonen, as you know, loves snow and ice. True, he prefers rallying rather than track. Maybe after these competitions he will change his mind and also join our athletes?.. Kimi Raikkonen, as you know, loves snow and ice cover himself. True, he prefers rallying rather than track. Maybe after these competitions he will change his mind and also join our athletes?..
Charles Peak
Charles Peak has no experience participating in ice racing, but he really liked to compete on such a track - he admitted this at a press conference. Charles Peak has no experience participating in ice racing, but he really liked to compete on such a track - he admitted this at a press conference.
Another decoration of the Race of Stars was a showcase by Ayrat Mardeev (KAMAZ-master), who won silver at Dakar 2013. He drove twice along the ice track of the hippodrome to the noisy greetings of the audience.
Ayrat Mardeev
The Race of Stars “Behind the Wheel” 2013, by a good tradition, has become both spectacular and eventful. The stands completely filled with spectators are the main confirmation of this. Watch the television version of the competition on February 28 on the TVC channel.
