21 / 26
REGIONAL & NATIONAL
LADA Sport Rosneft drivers Kirill
Ladygin and Vladimir Sheshenin
claimed one victory apiece in the TCR
Russia series’ fourth race meeting at
Kazanring.
Saturday’s Race 1 started behind the
safety car, as the track was still wet
after a shower. Ladygin and
Sheshenin used their front row
positions to take the lead, but the
latter was soon involved in a battle
for second place with Dmitri Bragin
(TAIF Motorsport SEAT), Nikolay
Karamyshev (Lukoil Racing SEAT) and
Irek Minnakhmetov (Tschingiskhan
Audi). Sheshenin’s pursuers swapped
positions several times and this
allowed the LADA driver to pull away.
The fight for third place went on
until Minnakhmetov began having
problems with his tyres on the drying
track and lost contact.
Ladygin and Sheshenin went to
secure a 1-2 finish for LADA Sport
Rosneft, while Karamyshev tried in
vain to steal third place from Bragin.
There were still damp patches when
Race 2 got underway. Anton Badoev
(Rail Pro Racing) SEAT was on pole,
but Minnakhmetov took the lead
ahead of Bragin and Sheshenin. The
three of them were fighting for the
lead, while another trio – Ladygin,
Karamyshev and Aleksey Dudukalo
(Lukoil Racing SEAT) – competed for
fourth position.
On lap 2, Bragin took the lead from
Minnakhmetov, who then also lost
second place to Sheshenin. On lap 5,
Sheshenin overtook Bragin who was
in trouble with the wet tyres on the
drying track, just like Minnakhmetov
and Karamyshev.
On lap 11 the safety car was deployed
after Ladygin’s LADA got stranded in
the gravel while it was sixth. When
the race resumed, Sheshenin pulled
away from Dudukalo and Klim
Gavrilov (Lukoil Racing SEAT), while
Bragin dropped to sixth.
However, Bragin maintained the
championship lead, 17 points ahead
of Dudukalo, while Sheshenin climbed
to third, 24 points behind the leader.
21
Dmitry Bragin takes the point lead
Results
Kazanring, Round 7, Saturday 1 July
1. Kirill Ladygin (LADA Vesta); 2.
Vladimir Sheshenin (LADA Vesta); 3.
Dmitry Bragin (SEAT León)
Kazanring, Round 8, Sunday 2 July
1. Vladimir Sheshenin (LADA Vesta);
2. Aleksey Dudukalo (SEAT León); 3.
Klim Gavrilov (SEAT León)