For the first time in history, the Russian Drift Series uses a «reverse» version of the assessed section at Igora Drive. RDS GP stars and series debutants will once again find themselves on equal terms — everyone will have to get to know the track from scratch. Four pilots from the interregional RDS Europe tournament received a wild card for the RDS GP stage in St. Petersburg.
The country's most spectacular motorsport event, the Russian Drift Series Grand Prix (RDS GP), returns to St. Petersburg, where the third stage of Russia's main drift tournament will take place on June 22 and 23. In 2024, the races should become even more vibrant and intense, since the “reverse” configuration of the evaluated section will be used at the Igora Drive circuit for the first time.
Igora Drive is one of the pearls of the Russian Drift Grand Prix calendar Series. The excellent surface of the racing surface, large asphalt safety zones and the high-speed nature of the track allow pilots to demonstrate very aggressive and super-spectacular pair drifting. Each stage of the RDS GP here creates a sensation, and in 2024, the circuit familiar to many athletes will instantly become new.
Driving in the opposite direction along a seemingly familiar section of the track will present the pilots with many challenges: acceleration through a turn, steep setup, complex manges (this term in drifting refers to the dynamic swinging of a car from one edge of the track to the other on a straight section), and the interesting relief of Igora Drive will allow RDS GP participants to demonstrate all their skills while driving in a controlled skid along a three-dimensional track. If you add to this the traditionally unpredictable St. Petersburg weather, you get one of the most interesting in terms of intrigue weekends in the 2024 season.
Battle of Fresh Racing and Takayama Forward Auto
The Fresh Racing and Takayama Forward Auto teams will come to the Northern capital as the obvious favorites of the stage. The first won an uncompromising victory at the previous stage in Nizhny Novgorod, winning both the qualification and doubles races in the individual and team competitions. The Moscow team includes Damir Idiyatulin, who scored the maximum 100 points in qualifying three times in his career, and Evgeny Losev, who, although he did it once, did so precisely at Igora Drive. Moreover, Losev finished two of his last three performances in St. Petersburg on the podium.
Takayama Forward Auto is also vying for the podium. In 2023, Timofey Dobrovolsky won the qualification in St. Petersburg, and his most experienced teammate Georgy Chivchyan won and reached the final at Igora Drive. Taking into account the fact that the third pilot of the team, Roman Tivodar, won his first career victory at the RDS GP stage on this track, it is obvious that the Krasnoyarsk team will be one of the favorites of the upcoming weekend. And, perhaps, it will give drift fans the first victory of the newest Forward Racing RZ34-001 sports car based on the Nissan Z, which debuted in the Grand Prix of the Russian Drift Series 2024.
Home stage for Carville Racing and a chance for AIMOL AUTOBAN
For the Carville Racing team, the upcoming weekend will be the first home race of the season. The rising RDS GP 2023 vice-champion Anton Kozlov, who seems to have managed to master his new BMW F22 CR car, can bring good results to the St. Petersburg team. His teammates Nikita Shikov and Grigory Burlutsky are ready to support the leader’s initiative.
Much can be expected from the AUTOBAN AIMOL team, which last year at Igora Drive was represented on the podium in the individual competition by two pilots and achieved victory in the team competition. The winner of the St. Petersburg stage of the 2023 season, Dmitry Ermokhin, the most experienced Sergei Sak and the bright debutant of RDS GP Sergei Kuznetsov have every chance to compete for places in the top three.
LUKOIL Racing Drift Team can also count on success in the Northern capital — Grigory Gusev and Andrey Astapov, with the support of the young talent Denis Sorokopud, have already returned to the podium in the team competition, so they can pleasantly surprise in St. Petersburg. Naturally, in no case should we discount the team “Evolution Yuka ADV by Obsessed Motorsport”, which is represented by RDS GP 2022 champion Arkady Tsaregradtsev, Vladislav Popov, who has already tasted victories, and his brother Ilya Popov, hungry for success.
And, of course, the Krasnoyarsk team TimeUp is capable of a lot. The young and ambitious Leonid Schneider and the experienced and very aggressive Maxim Grossman are missing the prize champagne and will do everything to be among the weekend winners. And another podium is expected from the team’s powerful newcomer Artyom Shabanov, who now leads the RDS GP personal standings — the debutant of the country’s main drift championship finished the previous two stages in the top three and, it seems, has every chance to continue the series of successful runs at Igora Drive.
RDS Europe Starship Troopers at the RDS GP stage
In 2024, the competition regulations allow pilots of the RDS Europe tournament, who have applied for participation for the entire season, to receive a wild card and start at one of the stages of the RDS GP. Several strong pilots of the “junior division” decided to compete at Igora Drive: Artyom Leitis from the Lemarc Yakhnich Motorsport Winline Team and three athletes entered for the Predator Drift Team: Alexey Kozlov, Ilya Polishchuk and Alexander Abramov.
All four have already declared themselves in RDS Europe as strong athletes, capable of beautiful races in their density and synchronization, so it will be interesting to watch them in the battle with the strongmen of RDS GP. In addition, viewers will have the opportunity to get closer to the bright cars — the legendary Toyota Cresta of Alexey Kozlov and the Dodge Viper of Alexander Abramov, unusual by the standards of not only Russian but also world drift.
RDS GP 2024
The practice of the Russian Drift Series Grand Prix panel of judges, unchanged throughout the season, has been retained in the 2024 season. Professional judges Anton Novikov, Vladimir Safonov and Stanislav Dolgikh evaluate the athletes' performances in qualifications and paired races. All three have extensive experience in both judging and drifting.
Schedule for the 3rd stage of the RDS GP 2024 at Igora Drive:
June 22, Saturday
- 9:30-10:30 – training
- 11:00-14:30 – qualifying
- 15:00-16:00 – opening ceremony and autograph session
- 16:30-19:00 – double races TOP-32
June 23, Sunday
- 10:00-11 :30 – training
- 12:30-13:30 – pilot parade and autograph session
- 14:00-15:30 – TOP-16 pair races
- 18:30-19:00 – award ceremony
< li>17:00-18:30 – TOP-8 doubles races/finals
You can follow the events on the track both from the stands of the Igora Drive race track and live on the RDS TV platform: qualifying races can be watched for free after quick registration, and doubles races are available by subscription.
About track «Igora Drive»
«Igora Drive» is the most modern racing track in Russia and a large-scale sports complex, which combines a ring track, tracks for rallycross, motocross, karting, areas for emergency preparation and SUV park and automobile museum. Since its opening in 2020, Igora Drive has consistently hosted the Grand Prix stages of the Russian Drift Series.
RDS GP statistics at Igora Drive:
2021
- Qualification: Damir Idiyatulin (96 points)
- Top 3 doubles: Jack Shanahan (winner), Evgeniy Losev, James Dean
2022
- Qualification: Evgeniy Losev (100 points)
- Top 3 doubles races: Georgy Chivchyan (winner), Evgeny Losev, Leonid Schneider
2023
- Qualification: Timofey Dobrovolsky (94 points )
- Top 3 doubles races: Charles NG (winner), Georgy Chivchyan, Dmitry Ermokhin