Photo: SMP Karting
Yaroslav Shevyrtalov was crowned SMP Formula 4 champion in the final round last weekend at Fort Grozny Autodrom.
There were was an in-season test there on Wednesday, topped by Egor Stepanov-Kim. Vladislav Ryabov and Vladimir Verkholantsev were 0.413 and 0.432 seconds back in second and third.
Pre-event testing filled Thursday, and Stepanov-Kim led Verkholantsev by 0.049s. Yaroslav Shevyrtalov was 0.096s behind.
It was wet for practice on Friday morning, but some drivers used slick tyres. There was a tight turnaround before the first qualifying session, and slicks was the way to go. Egor Nosov clinched race one pole, leading Marko Markozov and Verkholantsev.
Nosov had a gap to second place before even reaching race one’s opening corner. Verkholantsev tried going around the outside of Markozov exiting the corner but failed, and Ivan Pigaev climbed from 11th to eighth. Andrey Sizov demoted Roman Sharapov to last place.
Sharapov got back past on lap 17 of 23, and Mikhail Yushenkov overtook Mikhail Kaurov for 10th on lap 20.
Nosov’s lead grew to 1.2s, but was reduced to 0.598s at the end as the top five ran in a group. Shortly after the finish, Nosov was penalised 30s and one penalty point for jumping the start so Markozov won. Sizov and Yushenkov were penalised for the same offence.
Q2 kicked off Saturday, and Shevyrtalov beat Verkholantsev and Stepanov-Kim to race two pole. He converted it into victory in the afternoon, which not only put him atop the standings but made him champion as pre-race points leader Artem Severiukhin was absent.
Race two featured even less action. Nosov passed Ryabov for fourth, Pigaev cleared Markozov for sixth and Timur Shagaliev climbed two spots to 10th on lap one, and on lap two Nosov dived down Stepanov-Kim’s inside into turn one but got loose as he turned did not get alongside. Ryabov then put him under pressure.
Shevyrtalov built a three-second lead, and the closest drivers on track were Pigaev and Markozov. They mostly ran nose-to-tail, but on lap 21 Markozov had a lock-up and at the last corner Platon Kostin had a look down his inside.
The top six were reversed to form the front of race three’s grid for Sunday. Poleman Pigaev had a slower start than Ryabov but still led into turn one and pulled away to win by 5.462s.
Stepanov-Kim and Shevyrtalov stalled, falling to the back, and Kostin leapt up to fifth. It took two laps for Stepanov-Kim to return to the top 10, with Shevyrtalov catching the backmarkers during lap three. They rose to ninth and 11th on lap four, and late in lap five Stepanov-Kim took eighth.
Kaurov was their next target, and he locked up multiple times under pressure. When Stepanov-Kim got past on lap 12, taking the outside at turn one which became the inside for two, Shevyrtalov followed through a corner later.
Shevyrtalov overtook Stepanov-Kim two laps later and then had to defend against him while challenging Nosov. He had been in third until a minute earlier, leading a pack of cars. Verkholantsev had got on his inside at turn two, then running wide cost him speed and more places before the next braking zone.
The recovering pair picked off Nosov on seperate laps, then challenged Markozov on the last lap. Meanwhile Verkholantsev chased down Ryabov.
Results round-up
Race 1 (23 laps)
1 Marko Markozov Formula K Russia
2 Vladimir Verkholantsev Formula K Russia +0.591s
3 Egor Stepanov-Kim SMP Racing +1.063s
4 Yaroslav Shevyrtalov Lada Sport +1.527s
5 Vladislav Ryabov Texol Racing +7.002s
6 Platon Kostin NI Racing +8.425s
7 Ivan Pigaev ITeCo Racing +12.042s
8 Timur Shagaliev ITeCo Racing +17.981s
9 Mikhail Kaurov TMS Racing +22.426s
10 Egor Nosov SMP Racing +29.402s
Pole: Egor Nosov, 1m16.668s
Fastest lap: Markozov, 1m16.723s
Race 2 (23 laps)
1 Shevyrtalov
2 Verkholantsev +2.988s
3 Stepanov-Kim +3.884s
4 Nosov +6.695s
5 Ryabov +8.295s
6 Pigaev +10.288s
7 Markosov +10.722s
8 Kostin +11.153s
9 Mikhail Yushenkov NI Racing +16.636s
10 Shagaliev +19.448s
P: Shevyrtalov, 1m16.325s
FL: Shevyrtalov, 1m16.580s
Race 3 (23 laps)
1 Pigaev
2 Ryabov +5.462s
3 Verkholantsev +6.063s
4 Kostin +7.898s
5 Markozov +8.863s
6 Shevyrtalov +9.330s
7 Stepanov-Kim +9.558s
8 Nosov +23.423s
9 Kaurov +30.514s
10 Andrey Sizov Lada Sport +36.791s
FL: Shevyrtalov, 1m17.168s
Championship standings
1 Shevyrtalov 323 2 Artem Severiukhin 303 3 Nosov 250 4 Verkholantsev 244 5 Stepanov-Kim 199 6 Kostin 174 7 Pigaev 171 8 Ryabov 168 9 Kirill Kutskov 163 10 Markozov 118