Sochi Autodrom Circuit, September 7-8, 2019. GTE Racing Team sent two race cars in S1600 and Super Production classes to the Sochi Autodrom circuit.
The 7th and final stage of the 2019 SMP RCRS Championship was held at Sochi Autodrom, the best track in the Russian Federation, which will host the next Russian Formula 1 Grand Prix in just a few weeks.
Since the Sochi Autodrom track was originally designed to be surrounded by the picturesque facilities of the Olympic Park, it has a very unusual configuration with a lot of long corners, relatively short straights, and a length of 5,853 meters.
According to the results of the S1600 class qualification, which took place on Friday, Philipp Tuponosov took 11th place on the starting grid of Saturday's race.
The Saturday's race traditionally launched with the rolling start. Philipp Tuponosov, the main pilot of the GTE Racing Team, was able to start well and win back 2 positions in the first corners. After lap 1 the race changed to a more tactical one, and despite small margins, spectators could not see a lot of overtaking. By lap 5, Philipp was able to successfully perform another attack and moved up to 8th place. By lap 8, thanks to a good race pace and mistakes of the rivals, the GTE Racing Team main pilot was already 6th, and then Philipp saw the checkered flag.
In Sunday's race, with its inverted grid and standing start, the Lada Granta raced by Philipp stood in the 3rd place.
Philipp had a great start and by the second corner was already fighting for the lead, but underspeed on the straights didn't allow the main pilot of GTE Racing Team to hold the second place, and he finished lap one in the 3rd place. At the same time, the drivers of the second part of the peloton battled wheel to wheel, continuously contacted and collided, which led to the loss of several cars in the first laps. On lap two there was a serious accident with 3 cars of Evgeny Metzker, Denis Minkin, and Boris Shulmeister. All three had to retire, a safety car came on the track and the marshals began to clean up the wreckage of the cars and check the guardrails. The race restarted on lap 5 and Philipp took the restart well, but as a result of a small braking mistake in the second corner, caused by not fully warmed tyres, the GTE Racing Team main pilot lost several positions. On lap 8, Philipp was forced to drive through the pit lane by the stewards’ decision as a penalty for his aggressive attack on Thomas Johnson, which previously led to a U-turn of the American in one of the most difficult corners of the Sochi track. Philipp had no chance to catch up with the peloton after the penalty and finished 8th in Sunday's race.
After all 7 stages of the 2019 SMP RCRS Championship, Philipp took 9th place in the S1600 class individual classification with 89 points, which can be considered a very good result for his debut season in S1600 class.
GTE Racing Team pilot Vasily Vladykin could not take part in the qualification of the Super Production class because of bureaucratic hurdles, so Vasily was only in the 8th starting position of Saturday's race.
Vasily was able to make an even start and by lap two the GTE Racing Team pilot won three positions back. On lap two, due to an engine fire in one of the junior class cars, a safety car was deployed and the race restarted only on lap 6. Vasily carefully restarted and was able to maintain a good race pace until the finish, made two more overtakes, and saw the checkered flag one step away from the podium, in the 4th place. After the finish, the stewards decided to add 30 seconds to Vasily's time as a penalty for the rough overtaking of Alexander Garmash, which dropped the GTE Racing Team pilot to 7th place.
The GTE Racing Team pilot started Sunday's race in the 2nd position. The start was not very good, by the end of the starting straight before the first corner Vasily lost several positions. The GTE Racing Team pilot managed to maintain a sufficient pace to compete in the middle group, but on lap two Vasily made a mistake in the last corner, which led to a U-turn and damage to Mazda 3 racing slick tyres. Vasily had stable remaining laps, not letting his rivals to approach within the attacking distance and focusing on preserving his racing equipment. In the end, Vasily saw the checkered flag being in 6th place.
After all 7 stages of the 2019 SMP RCRS Championship, Vasily took 10th place in the Super Production class individual classification with 40 points.
It's been a very challenging and eventful season for both pilots of the GTE Racing Team, including spectacular overtaking and battles as well as technical problems, collisions, and retirements. We wish our team and pilots more success in 2020 and look forward to their continued progress and improved results in the very near future.