Photo: SMP Karting
Egor Stepanov-Kim closed in on the SMP Formula 4 winter series lead in Sochi last weekend on the circuit’s permanent layout.
In the masters’ class for first-generation F4 cars were Roman Chamkin, SMP Racing’s sports director and chairman of the Russian federation’s karting committee, and later on in the event Sergey Sirotkin too. The ex-Formula 1 driver, who is now championship CEO, competed as a guest.
Points leader Vladimir Verkholantsev set the pace in pre-event testing, a 1m01.669s putting him 0.222 seconds ahead of Stepanov-Kim and 0.289s clear of Platon Kostin. In fifth was Iraeli racer Ariel Elkin, who was USF Pro 2000 runner-up this year and competed in Eurocup-3. During his test mileage, Sirotkin got within a second of Verkholantsev’s pace.
Stepanov-Kim moved to the top in free practice one, posting a 1m01.855s to lead Verkholantsev by 0.453s and Marko Markozov by 0.664s.
Qualifying for race one occurred on Friday morning, and Elkin was quickest but then missed the day’s two races. He pipped Timur Shagaliev by 0.042s and Stepanov-Kim by 0.07s, with Markozov trailing by 0.288s and Kostin by 0.38s. Verkholantsev was only eighth fastest, 1.415s off pole in the red-flagged session.
Stepanov-Kim jumped the start of race one, copping himself a 10s penalty, but it allowed him to get on Shagaliev’s inside through turn one and lead into turn two.
Kostin took third ahead of Markozov, with a gap to the next gaggle of cars. Shagaliev was able to pressure Stepanov-Kim on some laps, and they gapped Kostin who began defending on lap seven.
Markozov went off at turn two trying to pass him, and was on his tail again on lap 11. He remained there through lap 12, and overtook Kostin into turn two on lap 13.
Verkholantsev meanwhile had got into fifth early on, eventually pulled away from the pack behind and was in Kostin’s tow after he lost third. He had a look into the penultimate corner on lap 15, locked up at turn two a lap later, then got the job done there on lap 17.
Up front, Stepanov-Kim built a lead of 2.062s over Shagaliev late on but his penalty demoted him to fourth.
Stepanov-Kim found redemption in race two. Kostin led the way early on, with a gap to Stepanov-Kim and Verkholantsev. That was eradicated on lap nine by Stepanov-Kim, and Kostin’s defensive weaving down the pit straight on lap 11 brought Verkholantsev back into play.
They both cleared him a lap later, with Stepanov-Kim taking the lead into turn six, then pulled away and did not fight each other. It took a few more laps for Kostin to drop into the clutches of Markozov, who was squeezed all the way to turn two on lap 17 but still got through. Kostin immediately reclaimed third, but two laps later went off there fell behind Markozov and Shagaliev.
Verkholantsev was 0.143s faster than Stepanov-Kim at the top of FP2 the next morning, then in Q2 his advantage grew to 0.274s. Elkin was 0.348s off in third, with Markozov and Kostin also within 0.5s of pole.
Elkin made it to the grid this time, but stalled and the safety car was needed through the first two laps as he was wheeled away. Verkholantsev had wheelspin off the line, then lost the lead mid-lap to Stepanov-Kim before the safety car interruption.
The pair ran away after the restart, with Markozov unchallenged for third by Kostin.
Sirotkin joined the action in race four, which had a dramatic opening lap. Kostin took the lead from Shagaliev before turn two, where the reversed-grid polesitter was spun around by Markozov. Later in the lap Markozov had his own off, then he pitted on lap two.
Elkin and Stepanov-Kim overtook Kostin lap two, and the top four spread out until lapped traffic came into play. That put Verkholantsev onto Kostin’s rear, and on lap 19 there was weaving from Kostin as he tried to stay ahead. Verkholantsev locked up into turn two, then pulled off a great move around the outside of turn six to snatch third.
Sirotkin finished sixth, making up six places on lap one then one more mid-race before watching the rear of Maxim Orlov’s car thereon.
For unexplained reasons, all four races did not incorporate lap one into their results and race three’s published results voided the first two laps.
Results round-up
Race 1 (20 laps)
1 Timur Shagaliev ITeCo Racing 21m51.162s
2 Marko Markozov Formula K Russia +4.126s
3 Vladimir Verkholantsev Formula K Russia +6.300s
4 Egor Stepanov-Kim Formula K Russia +7.938s
5 Platon Kostin Lada Sport +9.148s
6 Mikhail Yushenkov NI Racing +14.021s
7 Maxim Orlov ITeCo Racing +16.838s
8 David Pogosyan Teamgaris +41.526s
9 Pavel Abrosimov NI Racing +47.190s
10 Roman Chamkin Formula K Russia +1 lap
Pole: Ariel Elkin, 1m01.865s
Fastest lap: Verkholantsev, 1m01.927s
Race 2 (20 laps)
1 Stepanov-Kim 21m52.160s
2 Verkholantsev +0.895s
3 Markozov +7.409s
4 Shagaliev +8.610s
5 Kostin +9.909s
6 Orlov +11.658s
7 Yushenkov +14.959s
8 Abrosimov +39.567s
9 Pogosyan +1 lap
10 Chamkin +1 lap
FL: Stepanov-Kim, 1m02.134s
Race 3 (18 laps)
1 Stepanov-Kim 21m36.662s
2 Verkholantsev +0.987s
3 Markozov +6.410s
4 Kostin +8.592s
5 Shagaliev +12.462s
6 Yushenkov +16.281s
7 Orlov +16.825s
8 Pogosyan +40.103s
9 Abrosimov +51.214s
10 Lev Guba Formula K Russia +1 lap
P: Verkholantsev, 1m01.411s
FL: Verkholantsev, 1m01.805s
Race 4 (20 laps)
1 Elkin Formula K Russia 21m49.085s
2 Stepanov-Kim +2.836s
3 Verkholantsev +8.276s
4 Kostin +10.370s
5 Orlov +15.328s
6 Sergey Sirotkin Teamgaris +16.315s
7 Yushenkov +22.685s
8 Abrosimov +44.577s
9 Pogosyan +50.895s
10 Guba +1 lap
FL: Elkin, 1m01.844s
Championship standings
1 Verkholantsev 131 2 Stepanov-Kim 123 3 Kostin 89 4 Shagaliev 85 5 Markozov 85 6 Orlov 59 7 Yushenkov 59 8 Elkin 34 9 Abrosimov 33