The concluding chapter of the Russian Endurance Challenge 2022 unfolded on Sunday, October 23, at the Sochi Autodrom. It was a four-hour duel with 19 crews spanning five classes: CN Pro, CN, GT Pro, GT, and GT light. The spotlight in the absolute standings narrowed to a clash between the G-Drive Racing prototype in CN Pro and the Mercedes AMG GT3 from Yadro Motorsport in GT Pro.
Pole position belonged to Roman Rusinov and Sergey Afanasyev in car No. 26, yet the lead quickly shifted when Sergey Stolyarov, aboard a Mercedes in crew No. 48, surged to the front. His advantage came from the cars’ high straight-line speed, a factor that kept the field gripped during the opening minutes. In the first half hour, the battle between Stolyarov and Rusinov defined the tempo, with G-Drive Racing aiming to break away by pitting earlier and taking advantage of clearer track conditions as traffic diminished the opposition’s pace.
Stolyarov began to widen the pursuit by overtaking slower cars, but the Mercedes team was forced to reassess after a pit stop shuffled the order. When Yadro Motorsport rejoined the track behind the G-Drive G01 prototype, Rusinov strengthened the lead during the second segment, though the advantage was briefly erased by a safety car caused by a fire on Mazda 3 driven by Valery Smirnov in crew No. 53.
As the race progressed, Mercedes started to alter the generator output, while G-Drive’s second pit stop brought a timing mistake that allowed Afanasiev to be penalized with a drive-through for releasing the car before the mandated four-minute limit. A parallel penalty hit the Yadro Motorsport crew for overtaking under yellow flags. The struggle between Stolyarov and Shaitar faded due to technical issues, and on the final lap, the car halted on track yet still clinched first in GT Pro.
In the absolute standings, Rusinov and Afanasiev held a commanding position throughout, also leading the CN Pro prototype class. The Art Line team, represented by two Legends-Evo crews, joined them on the CN Pro podium. In GT Pro, the podium expanded with the 23 crew from Spora GT on a Porsche, driven by Alexey Dudukalo, Evgeny Rumyantsev, and Anton Devyakovich, along with the 71 crew from KTM Racing Team Russia, piloted by Andrey Goncharov and Alexander Maslennikov. The KTM X-Bow’s engine fire, occurring just half an hour before the finish, did not stop that team from securing a third in its class.
In GT, the Spora GT teams on the Toyota Supra and APRTeam on the BMW M4 GT4 initially led, but the BMW squad, driven by Marat Khairov and Oleg Semenov, pressed forward to lay a solid foundation. Near the end, both front-runners encountered issues and were overtaken by the Spora GT crews, which tipped the scales in favor of Toyota, guided by Alexander Vartanyan, Stanislav Aksenov, and Sergey Titarenko. Shonx GT4, crew 28, claimed third place in that class.
GT Light saw a fierce contest between foreign machines and RK-Sport’s VAZ 21053, with Arkady Tsaregradtsev, a Russian drift champion, among the drivers in Sochi. The battle stayed tight against Mazda 3 and BMW E92 rivals, but the Lada team could not maintain the lead. Mazda Karting Academy’s Ilya Obzhigalov and Aslan Shirinov, crew 77, celebrated class victory, while 92 ClassicCarRacing and RK-Sport shared the remaining podium spots.
Across CN racing, a Short-cut setup featuring Mitjet 2L machines dominated, with Sergey Borisov and Nadezhda Yakhnich in crew 81 (Yakhnich Drive) taking a decisive win and the top spot on the CN podium. Balchug Racing Team and ZubKo filled the subsequent spots, driven by Mikhail Loboda with Kirill Kirakozov and Vitaly Zubenko with Konstantin Zakharevsky, respectively.
- The Russian REC series will return next year, and the Dakar rally raid will not feature the Russian KAMAZ trucks in January.
- Behind the Wheel can be watched on RuTube.