The first ever winter RDS tournament was held on the territory of the Luzhniki Olympic complex «.
- Russian drift stars and young talented pilots from all over Russia met on the track in the center of Moscow.
- Danila Skorobogatov and Kirill Sholdan won qualification in their groups and met in the final of the pairs races.
- Two-time winner of the FIA IDC Drift World Cup and four-time RDS GP champion Georgy Chivchyan entered among the winners of the RDS Winter Cup.
The new season of Russian drift in 2024 began unusually early — on January 19 and 20, the first ever RDS Winter Cup was held in Moscow, which gave the official start to competitions under the auspices of the Russian Drift Series. The Luzhniki Olympic Complex hosted a two-day weekend of professional drifting for the first time.
A team of Russian drift stars and young pilots who passed the preliminary selection stage fought for the status of winner of the RDS Winter Cup. Qualifying subgroup “A” included champions Georgy Chivchyan and Arkady Tsaregradtsev, winners of the RDS GP and RDS Europe stages Roman Tivodar, Timofey Dobrovolsky, Danila Skorobogatov, holder of the Russian record for the speed of drifting Sergey Kabargin, creator of the legendary project “Zhigatsar” Fedor Vorobyov and Head of the Russian Drift Series, RDS Europe pilot Dmitry Dobrovolsky.
16 young talented athletes of subgroup “B” fought for the right to become their rivals in doubles races. Not everyone's qualifying went well, since several pilots at once — in both groups — lost at least one attempt. Nine newcomers from subgroup “B” received a ticket to the TOP 16 stage, since for technical reasons Sergei Kabargin was unable to qualify. His place went to Nikita Kuzmichev, who became ninth.
The winners of Saturday's qualifying were Danila Skorobogatov, who scored 98 points in subgroup “A,” and Kirill Sholdan with a score of 93.5 points in subgroup “B.” This pair of athletes coped better than their rivals with the challenges posed by wet winter asphalt and the proximity of concrete barriers. Both pilots demonstrated aggressive aerobatics, which was appreciated by the judging trio of Anton Novikov, Vladimir Safonov and Stanislav Dolgikh.
At the TOP 16 stage, it was Kirill Sholdan who became the only representative of subgroup “B” who was able to win and advance further in the doubles bracket. Dmitry Balandin also had every chance to join the winner of the qualification, who met in the TOP 16 with Timofey Dobrovolsky — the judges needed two re-runs to identify the strongest in this duel. As a result, a place in the TOP 8 was given to RDS GP pilot Timofey Dobrovolsky.
The whole weekend, the participants of the RDS Winter Drift Cup had to find a balance between the spectacular aerobatics and caring for the equipment. The level of grip on cold asphalt turned out to be higher than the cars could withstand, so the mechanics were not left without work either on Friday or Saturday. Not only young pilots, but also RDS GP legends faced difficulties — not all cars made it through the winter drift tests without losses.
Three athletes from subgroup “A” made it to the semifinals: Georgy Chivchyan, Danila Skorobogatov and Dmitry Dobrovolsky – and the representative of subgroup “B” Kirill Sholdan, who beat Arkady Tsaregradtsev in the TOP 8. In a duel with Georgy Chivchyan, the young debutant prevailed over the current four-time RDS GP champion, and in the battle for third place, Chivchyan was stronger than Dmitry Dobrovolsky and secured the bronze award.
The fate of victory in the first RDS Winter Drift Cup was played out by two qualifying winners. Both races were closely contested, but Danila Skorobogatov’s mistake as a pursuer brought victory to Kirill Sholdan. The young pilot, who did not immediately decide to participate in the tournament, eventually won a sensational victory and triumphantly entered himself into the history of Russian drift.
From the point of view of the format, I am very pleased: we gave young guys the opportunity to race with the greats. This is one of our main tasks — to pull them out of the streets, to show them that the real thrill is on racetracks, and not on public roads, so that they become real athletes. Of course, the guys were preparing for the tournament, building their cars all over the world. I’m very proud that these guys rode today, and the winner was a guy who’s never been heard of anywhere before. This is definitely talent! Dmitry Dobrovolsky, head of the Russian Drift Series
The next time RDS athletes will meet as part of the official weekends of the summer championships RDS Europe and RDS GP in the spring of 2024. The first stage of RDS Europe will take place on April 13-14, and two weeks later, on April 28-29, the country's main drift championship RDS GP will start, the first stage of which will traditionally be hosted by Moscow Raceway.
RDS Winter Cup. OK Luzhniki. Top 3:
- 1st place – Kirill Sholdan (VAZ 2102), Moscow
- 2nd place – Danila Skorobogatov (VAZ 2104), Tomsk
- 3rd place – Georgy Chivchyan (VAZ 2103), Krasnoyarsk
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