REC: The season is open with a bright Grand Prix Auto Mail

      On May 24, the first stage of the new season of the Russian Endurance Racing Series (REC), the Auto Mail Grand Prix, took place at the Moscow Raceway near Moscow.

      The winner of the 4-hour race was the duo of Maxim Kizilov and Alexey Nesov, driving a Mercedes AMG GT3 of the Time4Race team. The crew of Nesov, a multiple winner of the prestigious 24 Hours of Spa marathon, took 1st place in the overall standings among the 25 cars that took off.

      The first stage of the season delighted the audience with an exciting program and premieres of new racing equipment, which performed on Russian tracks for the first time. The opening ceremony turned into a vivid theatrical performance thanks to the participation of a team of cinematographers, the creators of the feature film "Battle of the Motors".

      Replicas of cars from the early 20th century, driven by crews in authentic costumes of that era, took to the highway. Russian Russian Design Bureau Igor Ermilin, the founder of REC, recreated replicas of the first Russian Russo-Balt C24/55 and C24/58 racing cars, known as the "Russian Cucumber", as well as the German Blitzen Benz, specifically for filming a historical picture about the famous Russian engineer and racing driver Andrei Nagel. These three retromobiles led the racing peloton during the warm-up lap.

      The connection of times and the continuation of traditions was symbolized by the appearance on the starting grid of a modern domestic development – the prototype FDR12 with a hybrid powertrain. The car, created by students and teachers of Moscow Polytechnic University, is the first racing hybrid built in Russia. So far, it has only made a demonstration trip around the autodrome, but its creators promise that a full–fledged debut will take place in the near future, as soon as homologation is received.

      However, there were new items in the peloton too: the Spora GT team finally launched the Ferrari 488 Challenge, which was expected in REC last season. It was the debut of the 670-horsepower Italian sports car in Russian competitions.

      In total, the organizers received 34 applications from those wishing to participate in the first stage of the season, however, due to technical reasons, not all were able to qualify for Saturday's marathon. And after qualifying, two more cars dropped out of the competition – these were the crews of the No.992 Spora GT team in the "cup" Porsche 911 GT3, another newcomer to the series, and the No. 83 Motor Sharks team in the Mercedes AMG GT4, which returned to REC after a one-year hiatus.

      The pole position was won by the crew No. 111 consisting of Georgy Efrosinin and Igor Mukhin on the prototype Norma M20FC Turbo of the Black Thorn team. It is worth noting that the first rows at the start went to the prototypes of the CN Pro standings – lighter and more maneuverable cars took the places from first to fifth, while the future winners of the race from Time4Race on the more powerful, but at the same time heavy Mercedes showed only the sixth time.

      The duo of Efrosinin and Mukhin were considered the favorites of the stage – their black Norma in blackthorn patterns (this is how the name of the Black Thorn team translates from English) won two of the five races of the last REC season and could impose a fight on both rivals in CN Pro and Mercedes team Time4Race. However, already at the start, prototype No. 111 noticeably lost pace, and another French sports prototype, Ligier No. 31 of the SVL Racing team with Alexey Khairov at the wheel, turned out to be faster than the rest.

      However, moments later, Khairov unsuccessfully attacked the curb, damaging a wheel, and at the end of the first lap he lost the lead to his namesake Alexei Nessov. Subsequently, the punctured tire was disassembled and car No. 31 was forced to go to an early pit stop, essentially dropping out of the fight for high places.

      Then the fans witnessed the CN Pro prototypes chasing after the leading crew of Nesov and Kizilov. But all the attempts of the two Ligier teams, Team Garis (No. 29) and Balchug Racing (No. 21), were in vain – their equipment turned out to be less reliable than Mercedes. Team4Race, the team of Nesov and Kizilov, prepared well and performed flawlessly in the first race of the REC season, finishing with a comfortable lead over their rivals.

      As for the prototypes, the best of the cars in this class took only the third place in the absolute - the crew No. 29 Konstantin Zakharevsky, Konstantin Tereshchenko and Stanislav Sidoruk from Team Garis became the "bronze" medalist.

      After them, Kirill Kirakozov and Mikhail Loboda from Balchug Racing took the second position in the scoring group. On the first stage of the REC, the team fielded two crews on a Ligier JS53 Evo2 at once, but the more well-coordinated duo of Kirakozov and Loboda managed to reach the finish line, while their teammates, debutants of the series Alexey Karachev and Andrey Pavlovich, withdrew from the race due to a breakdown.

      After all, the long-suffering SVL Racing crew No. 31 was classified in third place, returning to the track several times after long stops for repairs. The pole holders, the Black Thorn duo, were eventually forced to arrange a technical meeting.

      Denis Remenyako and Mikhail Alyoshin from Capital RT celebrated the second place in the final classification and the victory in the GT standings. In a Mercedes of the "junior" class, their crew, who performed at number 13, drove a flawless race ahead of faster cars.

      An important role in the success was played by the fact that the award-winning Mikhail Alyoshin has been playing the role of a "playing coach" since this season, along with the duties of a pilot, becoming the general director of the team.

      The second in the GT standings were the debutants from Shishkoil&Yuka ADV Pro Racing Team in the same Mercedes AMG GT4 as Alyoshin and Remenyako. The silver medal was shared by Dmitry Shishko, the founder of the team, Zakhar Slutsky, known for his performances in touring car racing, and Alexey Savin, a Belarusian pilot, for whom this was his first appearance behind the wheel of GT4 vehicles.

      Despite this, the Minsk resident was entrusted with the most responsible starting segment, which he confidently coped with. Sergey Stolyarov, the head of the Yadro Motorsport team, rounded out the top three winners of the GT standings, driving another GT4 Mercedes alone for the entire race distance.

      In the GT Pro competition, which includes touring cars along with GT3 and cup versions of sports cars, Time4Race also won. The Ferrari 488 Challenge claimed in this class drove only 15 laps, but as explained by Vitaly Larionov, the pilot of the Spora GT, the team initially planned to conduct something like tests in racing conditions.

      For a full-fledged marathon, the car still needs improvements, since this Ferrari model was originally intended for sprint races. In the absence of other, more powerful cars, the second and third places in the GT Pro standings were shared by the "touring" crews – No. 91 of the GNV&Kamenskiy Racing team and No. 24 of Real Performance, respectively. The trio of Ilya Kamensky, Viktor Plekhanov and Damir Saitov, who rode the Audi RS3 LMS at No. 91, also won the GT Pro Touring sub-standings.

      In the most popular and affordable GT Light class, the authors of the mini-sensation were Stepan Anufriev and Mark Novikov from the Russian Racing Group, who started on a Mini Cooper. Their duo became the winner in this competition in their second REC race!

      Anufriev and Novikov made their debut driving a British subcompact last fall at the final stage of the series, and now they have won at the opening of the new season. The success was made possible, among other things, by the gathering of the favorites, the crew of the X-Rays Motorsport team. Less than two hours before the finish, the clutch failed on the Mitsubishi Evo IX of last year's GT Light champions.

      The second and third places were shared by the crews of the Mazda Karting Academy, who staged a spectacular duel at the finish line of the marathon after dark. The Mazda 3 with lucky number 777, driven by Kirill Glushak and Alexey Gribanov, turned out to be stronger.

      The Auto Mail Grand Prix, which opened the new season of the Russian Endurance Racing Series, has become a highlight: after the winter break, circuit competitions are beginning to gain momentum. The next stage of the REC, the SPORTS Grand Prix, will be held at the Moscow Raceway on Saturday evening, June 28.

      Grand Prix Auto Mail Results

      Absolute standings

      1. Time4Race No. 33 (Maxim Kizilov, Alexey Nesov)

      Moscow Championship, Stage I

      1. Time4Race No. 33 (Maxim Kizilov, Alexey Nesov)

      2. CapitalRT No. 13 (Mikhail Alyoshin, Denis Remenyako)

      3. TeamGaris No. 29 (Konstantin Zakharevsky, Stanislav Sidoruk, Konstantin Tereshchenko)

      CN Pro

      1. TeamGaris No. 29 (Konstantin Zakharevsky, Stanislav Sidoruk, Konstantin Tereshchenko)

      2. BALCHUG Racing No. 21 (Kirill Kirakozov, Mikhail Loboda)

      3. SVL Racing No. 31 (Alexey Khairov, Alexey Chernov)

      GT

      1. CapitalRT No. 13 (Mikhail Alyoshin, Denis Remenyako)

      2. SHISHKOIL&YUKA ADV PRO RACING TEAM No. 1 (Dmitry Shishko, Zakhar Slutsky, Alexey Savin)

      3. YADRO Motorsport No. 48 (Sergey Stolyarov)

      GT Pro

      1. Time4Race No. 33 (Maxim Kizilov, Alexey Nesov)

      2. GNV&Kamenskiy Racing No. 91 (Ilya Kamensky, Damir Saitov, Viktor Plekhanov)

      3. Real Performance No. 24 (Ilya Larionov, Vladislav Perfiliev)

      GT Pro Touring

      1. GNV&Kamenskiy Racing No. 91 (Ilya Kamensky, Damir Saitov, Viktor Plekhanov)

      2. Real Performance No. 24 (Ilya Larionov, Vladislav Perfiliev)

      3.GNV&Kamenskiy Racing No.55 (Boris Shulmeister, Sergey Valuiskikh, Azat Kalimullin)

      GT Light

      1. Russian Racing Group No. 113 (Stepan Anufriev, Mark Novikov)

      2. Mazda Karting Academy No. 777 (Kirill Glushak, Alexey Gribanov)

      3. Mazda Karting Academy No. 53 (Valery Smirnov, Sergey Baldin)