Photo: SMP Karting
Artem Severiukhin reclaimed the SMP Formula 4 points lead in last weekend’s Kazan Ring round.
There were two days of pre-event testing, and after day one Vladimir Verkholantsev led the way with a 1m22.414s laptime. Egor Nosov was 0.22 seconds behind in second, and Artem Severiukhin trailed by 0.372s in third.
Platon Kostin topped the test’s sixth and final session on Thursday with a lap that put him third overall and 0.274s off Verkholantsev’s benchmark.
The season’s penultimate round began with practice and two qualifying sessions on Friday morning.
Verkholantsev was quickest in Q1, leading Nosov by 0.135s and Severiukhin by 0.206s. Just 0.069s then split Severiukhin, Anatoly Khavalkin, Egor Stepanov-Kim and Kirill Kutskov. Points leader Yaroslav Shevyrtalov qualified eighth, 0.379s off pole, and Kostin did not register any laptimes.
Nosov lowered the pace in Q2 to clinch race two pole by 0.13s over Stepanov-Kim. Kostin rebounded, getting within 0.153s of pole, and Severiukhin was 0.271s back in fourth.
Verkholantsev and Shevyrtalov completed the top six, Kutskov was 13th and 1.032s covered the 16-car field.
Racing followed on Saturday. Mikhail Yushenkov stalled on race one’s formation lap, with another being done by the field as he was then wheeled to the back of the grid.
Stepanov-Kim stalled on the actual start, as Verkholantsev initially broke clear. But on the crest after turn four he came under attack from Severiukhin who took the lead into the esses. He then defended against Verkholantsev down the back straight, as Nosov held off Kutskov for third.
Khavalkin then attacked Kutskov but it took several laps to get past. After that, the top four spread out and Severiukhin comfortably won.
Shevyrtalov was next to attack the struggling Kutskov through lap eight, and his defending on the back straight meant Shevyrtalov had a slight off on lap nine. Next time by the same almost occurred, but Shevyrtalov managed to masterfully get past on the inside of turn nine.
He escaped up the road as a pack formed behind Kutskov, and Mikhail Kaurov went off on lap 12 when trying to pass at the end of the back straight. Kaurov later had to defend against Kostin, but at the end of lap 13 Kostin lost out to Matvey Sonkin and Stepanov-Kim.
A forceful Stepanov-Kim got past and forced off Sonkin on lap 15, and two laps later Kutskov was under attack again from Kaurov and Kostin. They swapped places, and Kostin got Kutskov into the esses on lap 18. Stepanov-Kim went to Kaurov’s inside at turn nine but locked up and spun him around. They both stopped, and on lap 19 race-ending red flags waved.
Ivan Pigaev was seventh ahead of Sonkin, but the results were taken back a lap so Kutskov returned to sixth and the two crashers were classified eighth and ninth.
Race two was initially simpler, with Nosov holding his pole advantage as Severiukhin got past Stepanov-Kim and Kostin.
Shevyrtalov passed Verkholantsev for sixth on lap three, and on lap seven Severiukhin took the lead into the esses. He romped away for a win that put him into the points lead, while Nosov had his mirrors filled.
After taking fifth on lap 13, Shevyrtalov hunted down the trio ahead and on laps 18 and 19 looked to Kostin’s inside at turn one. Kostin then tried going to the outside of Stepanov-Kim at the end of the back straight but went off and conceded fourth.
Shevyrtalov went to Stepanov-Kim’s outside at turn three a lap later but was also sent off and returned to fifth. On lap 21 Kostin repeated his earlier attempt, with the same outcome for him but a better one for Shevyrtalov who snuck to the inside to take third in a double move.
For the final lap, Kostin tried the opposite and was almost squeezed off on the inside but got ahead.
The race’s most entertaining battle was between Timur Shagaliev and Marat Knyazev at the back, swapping places multiple times per lap and catching Kutskov mid-race. Two laps after that, when Shagaliev tried passing Kutskov at turn eight he was wiped out by Knyazev. He then fought with Kutskov all the way to the finish.
Post-race, a 30s penalty for jumping the start demoted Shevyrtalov to 11th, and a two-second penalty for Stepanov-Kim lifted Sonkin to fourth.
The top six were reversed to form the front of race three’s grid, although it was flipped based on Stepanov-Kim being seventh so Gerasim Skulanov lined up on pole.
He had to defend from Verkholantsev late in lap one, with Kostin, Nosov and Seveiukhin next up. Severiukhin got alongside Nosov on the outside through turns eight and nine on lap two, then through turns one and two on lap three before finally getting ahead into turn three.
By then the top three had a gap. Kostin attacked Verkholantsev at turn three on lap four, and Verkholantsev went for the lead on the outside at turn eight on lap six.
The safety car then appeared due to Yushenkov and Sonkin colliding at turn nine. Once the field was bunched up, Shagaliev then spun at the final corner, hit another driver and spun again into the pit wall once he lost his rear-left wheel. As he then tried to climb over the pit wall, he had a nasty fall too.
Clearing the track took a long time, and meant the field headed through the pits. Kaurov chose to replace his rear tyres, and Khavalkin unlapped himself before the lap 12 restart.
Severiukhin passed Kostin, then went around the outside of Verkholantsev into the esses next time by while Kutskov crashed out.
Skulanov really had to defend the inside between turns eight and nine on lap 14 to keep Severiukhin at bay, and it actually allowed Verkholantsev to reclaim second.
Verkholantsev then swept by Skulanov with ease around turn three on lap 15, and Severiukhin relegated him to third into the esses. Kostin slipstreamed past down the back straight, and in the remaining laps the gaps opened up as Verkholantsev took a maiden win. Kaurov charged back up to ninth.
Today it was announced that SMP F4 will be launching its own winter series, which will take place exclusively on the permanent part of the Sochi track that used to host Formula 1’s Russian Grand Prix.
Each round will feature two races, and they will take place on November 13-16, December 3-6 and then January 22-25 2026.
Results round-up
Race 1 (17 laps)
1 Artem Severiukhin Lada Sport
2 Vladimir Verkholantsev Formula K Russia +3.536s
3 Egor Nosov SMP Racing +6.471s
4 Anatoly Khavalkin Prima Racing +7.450s
5 Yaroslav Shevyrtalov Lada Sport +15.652s
6 Kirill Kutskov Prima Racing +24.766s
7 Platon Kostin NI Racing +25.061s
8 Mikhail Kaurov TMS Racing +25.388s
9 Egor Stepanov-Kim SMP Racing +25.675s
10 Matvey Sonkin Formula K Russia +26.973s
Pole: Verkholantsev, 1m22.513s
Fastest lap: Severiukhin, 1m22.845s
Race 2 (22 laps)
1 Severiukhin
2 Nosov +10.206s
3 Kostin +12.975s
4 Sonkin +13.686s
5 Stepanov-Kim +15.420s
6 Verkholantsev +24.720s
7 Gerasim Skulanov Texol Racing +25.075s
8 Vladislav Ryabov Texol Racing +28.975s
9 Mikhail Yushenkov NI Racing +30.030s
10 Ivan Pigaev ITeCo Racing +30.915s
P: Nosov, 1m22.108s
FL: Severiukhin, 1m22.594s
Race 3 (17 laps)
1 Verkholantsev
2 Severiukhin +0.907s
3 Kostin +2.038s
4 Skulanov +4.758s
5 Nosov +5.989s
6 Ryabov +6.503s
7 Pigaev +8.664s
8 Marat Knyazev TMS Racing +9.344s
9 Kaurov +10.828s
10 Shevyrtalov +13.304s
FL: Verkholantsev, 1m23.072s
Championship standings
1 Severiukhin 303 2 Shevyrtalov 284 3 Nosov 235 4 Verkholantsev 200 5 Stepanov-Kim 166 6 Kutskov 163 7 Kostin 160 8 Pigaev 133 9 Ryabov 124 10 Sonkin 77