The Russian Drift Series Grand Prix (RDS GP) opens the second part of the 2024 season — July 13 and 14 in Moscow at the circuit ADM Raceway will host the fourth stage of the main Russian drift tournament. This year there is a tight fight in the individual and team competitions, the intrigue of which was added by the “reverse” configurations of the evaluated sections on familiar tracks. However, after two consecutive stages on new versions of the tracks, the RDS GP pilots will return to their usual conditions — the upcoming capital stage will be held on the classic version of the Myachkovo circuit.
Fresh Racing is the favorite, Takayama Forward Auto is catching up
The Fresh Racing team will be the obvious favorites of the fourth stage. Not only did its representative Damir Idiyatulin win two consecutive victories at the stages of RDS GP 2024 (in Nizhny Novgorod and St. Petersburg), but Evgeniy Losev dominated in Myachkovo last season, chalking up victory in qualifying and doubles races. There is no doubt that the team, which has gained momentum, intends to continue its winning streak — either with a record third successive triumph for Damir Idiyatulin, or the first podium of the season for Evgeniy Losev.
Takayama Forward Auto will be in the role of catching up, but with incredible motivation. The current champion in the team competition has never won in the three stages this year, so the team will clearly try to break this unfortunate series of failures in Moscow. Moreover, at ADM Raceway the team’s pilots both won and stood on the podium, so they are familiar with the track. And all fans of Russian drift will continue to look forward to Gocha’s first victory on the latest Forward Racing RZ34-001 sports car based on the Nissan Z, which debuted in the Russian Drift Series Grand Prix in 2024.
TimeUp and high expectations from LUKOIL Racing Drift Team
There are considerable chances to see another debut victory — Artyom Shabanov, who is spending his first season in RDS GP and finished three of the three stages among the winners. The pilot has become the obvious leader of the TimeUp team, and on a track familiar from the interregional RDS Europe tournament, the athlete can finally win doubles and become one of the winners of the Grand Prix stages of the Russian Drift Series. Leonid Schneider and Maxim Grossman also feel very confident, gaining momentum from stage to stage. So the young team can safely be considered one of the contenders for the podium in Myachkovo.
You can also expect pleasant surprises from LUKOIL Racing Drift Team. Grigory Gusev and Andrey Astapov have rolled out, Denis Sorokopud is also feeling more and more confident, so there are high expectations for this team at the stage in Moscow. As well as with “Evolution Yuka ADV by Obsessed with Motorsport” — RDS GP 2022 champion Arkady Tsaregradtsev, young and talented Vladislav and Ilya Popov can contribute to intensifying the fight for at least places on the podium.
The same is equally true for AIMOL AUTOBAN — Dmitry Ermokhin has already tasted the prize champagne in Myachkovo, the bright debutant of RDS GP Sergey Kuznetsov can shoot on a familiar track, and the most experienced Sergey Sak is obviously full of desire to take revenge for the failures of past stages. As for the Carville Racing drivers, RDS GP 2023 vice-champion Anton Kozlov is gradually finding a common language with his new car, Grigory Burlutsky, after a bright home stage, is motivated to extend his streak of productive performances, and Nikita Shikov will strive to break the streak of failures and rehabilitate himself on his home track .
Volga’s debut and the return of “Uncle Fedor”
In 2024, the competition regulations allow pilots of the RDS Europe tournament, who have applied to participate for the entire season, to receive a wild card and take the start line at one of the stages of the country's main drift championship, RDS GP. For the first time, athletes took advantage of this opportunity at Igora Drive: Artyom Leitis from Lemarc Yakhnich Motorsport Winline Team, as well as three representatives of the Predator Drift Team (Alexey Kozlov, Ilya Polishchuk and Alexander Abramov) paved the way for their colleagues in the tournament with their successful example.
Kazan pilot Alexander Tsapelik in the legendary Volga GAZ-24, who was prevented from performing at the Nizhny Novgorod Ring by technical problems, will make a second attempt at ADM Raceway. The famous «Uncle Fyodor» will also return to the series — Ilya Fyodorov, well known to all fans of the Russian Drift Series Grand Prix, who is spending this season in RDS Europe. So the weekend in Moscow will be the first opportunity to see the Far Eastern «strongman» on the RDS GP track.
RDS GP 2024 Judging Team
The practice of the Russian Drift Series Grand Prix judging panel remaining unchanged throughout the entire season has been preserved in the 2024 season. Professional judges Anton Novikov, Vladimir Safonov and Stanislav Dolgikh evaluate the performance of athletes in qualifications and pairs races. All three have extensive experience in both refereeing and performing in drifting.
Schedule of the 4th stage of RDS GP 2024 at ADM Raceway:
July 13, Saturday
9:30-10:00 – training
10:30-14:45 – qualification
15:05-16:05 – grand opening of the competition and autograph session
16:30 -19:00 – double races TOP-32
July 14, Sunday
09:30-11:00 – training
11:30-12:30 – pilot parade and autograph session
13:00-15:00 – TOP-16 pair races
16: 30-18:30 – TOP-8 pair races/finals
18:30-19:00 – award ceremony
You can follow the events on the track both from the stands of the ADM Raceway and live on the RDS TV platform: qualifying races can be watched for free after quick registration, and doubles races are available by subscription.
RDS GP statistics at ADM Raceway:
2021
Qualifying: Jack Shanahan (97 points)
Top 3 doubles: Georgy Chivchyan (winner), Alexey Golovnya, Jack Shanahan
2022
Qualification: Roman Tivodar (95 points)
Top 3 doubles: Damir Idiyatulin (winner), Leonid Schneider, Georgy Chivchyan
2023
Qualification: Evgeniy Losev (97.5 points)
Top 3 doubles races: Evgeniy Losev (winner), Roman Tivodar, Dmitry Ermokhin