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RUSSIA
MOSCOW RACEWAY – LADA REPLAYS
THE TEAM STRATEGY
In Race 1, Bragin scored a crucial
victory in his effort to retain the title.
At the start, pole sitter Maslenikkov
and Gavrilov made contact at T1;
Gavrilov spun and Bragin seized the
chance to take the lead from
Maslennikov, Burlutskiy, Ladygin,
Lukashevich and Kalmanovich. As the
rain began to fall, Burlutskiy and
Ladygin fought for third place until the
latter pitted for rain tyres. The safety
car was deployed for two laps as the
rain intensified and, when racing
resumed, Bragin, Kalmanovich and
Lukashevich formed the leading trio,
all of them still on slicks, while
Gavrilov and Ladygin were trying to
recover having switched to rain tyres.
Bragin and Kalmanovich swapped
positions several times with
Lukashevich in pursuit, but then
Kalmanovich made a mistake and so
Bragin retook the lead and pulled away.
The rain eased off in the final laps and
so Bragin took his second victory of
the season, while Kalmanovich beat
Lukashevich in the sprint for second
place.
A last-minute replacement for a sick
Grachev, Mikhail Mityaev, dominated
the second race, but then handed
victory on the last lap to Ladygin. The
track was damp and the drivers faced
treacherous conditions over the initial
laps. Mityaev made the best start ahead
of Gavrilov, but then ran wide in T3
and Gavrilov briefly took the lead.
Mityaev quickly recovered first position
Round 9 – Saturday 3 August, ADM
Raceway
1. K. Gavrilov (VRC Team, Audi RS 3
LMS); 2. D. Bragin (TAIF Motorsport,
Hyundai i30 N); 3. I. Lukashevich
(Lukoil Racing, Hyundai i30 N)
Round 10 – Sunday 4 August, ADM
Raceway
1. K. Ladygin (LADA Sport Rosneft,
LADA Vesta); 2. M. Grachev (LADA Sport
Rosneft, LADA Vesta); 3. G. Burlutskiy
(Carville Racing, Volkswagen Golf GTI)
Round 11 – Saturday 17 August, Moscow
Raceway
1. D. Bragin (TAIF Motorsport, Hyundai
i30 N); 2. P. Kalmanovich (TAIF
Motorsport, Audi RS 3 LMS); 3. I.
Lukashevich (Lukoil Racing, Hyundai
i30 N)
Round 12 – Sunday 18 August, Moscow
Raceway
1. K. Ladygin (LADA Sport Rosneft,
LADA Vesta Sport); 2. M. Mityaev (LADA
Sport Rosneft, LADA Vesta Sport); 3. K.
Gavrilov (VRC Team, Audi RS 3 LMS)
and pulled away, building a solid 10-
second lead, while his teammate
Ladygin put in a great show passing
Kalmanovich, Lukashevich and Gavrilov
to take second place. On the final lap,
Mityaev slowed down and handed
victory to Ladygin a few hundred
metres before the end, with Gavrilov
completing the podium. Bragin had to
fight hard and eventually was able to
snatch fourth place from Kalmanovich
at the last turn, limiting the erosion of
his leadership.