Nikita Mazepin finished the weekend in Spa with a second victory.

      This weekend, Nikita Mazepin enjoyed racing on the Belgian track in Spa, where he participated in competitions that were surely not the most familiar to him. After all, he is a former Formula 1 driver, and even when he got behind the wheel of another racing vehicle, his opponents were usually high-level professionals. The German series Spezial Tourenwagen Trophy (STT) is considered at best semi-professional, and the drivers participating in it do so primarily for their own enjoyment.

      Therefore, it is logical that in both races of the weekend, which Nikita drove in a Mercedes-AMG GT3, he started from pole position and easily brought them to victory, seemingly without much effort. His only real competitor was German Thomas Ambyl, who was driving a quite serious car – the Duqueine D-08 sports prototype in the LMP3 class. Neither on Saturday nor on Sunday did Nikita give him a single chance – he calmly led from start to finish, although today Ambyl was in his rearview mirrors for about the first quarter of the distance.

      But Mazepin gradually increased his lead and ultimately saw the checkered flag over 7 seconds ahead of the nearest competitor, and there is no need to mention the other 11 participants – they were too far behind. The level of this race is indicated by the fact that vehicles of various classes were allowed to start – from fast Mercedes, Aston Martin, and Porsche in the GT3 category and the Duqueine sports prototype to relatively modest "touring" Hyundai i30N TCRs. It is not surprising that just 12 minutes into the race, Nikita began to lap slower cars.

      But perhaps it’s not just about that: it is reasonable to assume that participating in any competitions behind the wheel of any car is beneficial for maintaining racing form, especially on a track like Spa.