First races in Luzhniki sports complex took place through 1961-1965. It was a place where Moscow championships were held up those years and some other events, but nothing to deal with USSR championship or international races. The track had two variations - the very first race happened on a 3-kilometer clockwise track, but for all of the following races it was changed - 3,2-kilometer, anti-clockwise with additional slower section. But one thing was common for both configurations - it was a track built on ordinary, though not automotive, roads within the city, on a peninsula - practically in a park. The end of Luzhniki track life, or to be more precise, of its Soviet period history, came with a fatal crash of Rudolph Goldin on his Melkus during the race in 1965 - the ninth race at the original Luzhniki track. After this case the track was abandoned.
But many years ago, in 2003, the engines revved up there again - VW Polo Cup and Touring class races were organized in Luzhniki. The track was different (1,6-kilometer), but the place and the roads were the same. In 2006 the 6th race of RTCC series was held there, and during this year Luzhniki took a set of three RTCC races.
I visited the first of them, held on August, 24. The track was now a 2-kilometer one with anti-clockwise route. A whole list of RTCC classes was to run through that green place - that is National, Touring Light, Superproduction and Touring. The whole event had to take place in one day - practicing, qualifications and four races.
National class is practically a monocup - all the drivers use the same Lada 2112-37 cars, so the battle is always very close. This time 14 participants arrived in National, but the fastest of all was Alexander Zheltov - he took a pole and won the race in a tough battle with the runner-up - Andrei Petuhov, who was also second on a grid. The third in both qualification and race was Vasiliy Kritschevskiy, Zheltov's teammate. Unlike the head of the race, the rest of a peloton has mixed the things up compared to their starting positions. Yuri Ovcharov crashed his car on a first lap, while the battle of two teammates - Dmitriy Malahov and Sergei Dolin - has ended up with Malahov's 'roof' and the retirement for both. Zheltov, having won the race for the first time in his career, became the new leader in a championship instead of Malahov - the winner of the first and the second stages. At the end of the season Zheltov would take the crown.
National #1
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