Aeroexpress Racing Team Celebrates Victory in Nizhny Novgorod

The two intensive days of this championship stage in Nizhny Novgorod made Aeroexpress Racing Team fans nervous and brought them enormous pleasure when Nikolai Gryazin and Boris Shulmeyster’s crew rose to the top of the podium on Sunday.

Saturday's race saw Mikhail Loboda and Rustam Akiniazov’s crew number 7 come in fifth, letting their nearest rivals of the Syzran Racing Team pass and thereby obtaining a minimal 2-point lead. The second Aeroexpress Racing Team crew, competing as number 15, did not manage to finish the race that day due to a racing incident: the car, driven by Nikolai Gryazin, was knocked off the track by Alexei Dudukalo, one of the most experienced Russian motorcar racers, who has been the national champion multiple times.

On Sunday, the weather added some drama in the course of the struggle. The few drops falling from low clouds turned into rain with wind and, for the first time this season, the race was declared as being under rainy conditions. The crews came to the start on rain tires. The already difficult NRing track, with its low coefficient of adhesion, turned into a severe test for drivers competing in this 45-minute race.

On the very first turn, the most experienced Aeroexpress Racing Team racer, Boris Shulmeyster, led the peloton and confidently held the gap he had gained. Nikolay Gryazin, who replaced Boris after a pit stop, managed to keep up his team-mate’s pace and crossed the finish line as the absolute leader. Aeroexpress Racing Team crew number 7 finished this rainy race in seventh position.

“We took a very long journey to achieve this victory. Indeed, despite all our stable points, finished races, and a good position in the team event, victory on the track is always the most important thing; it is the very thing we all come to fight for,” commented Boris Shulmeyster from Aeroexpress Racing Team crew number 15 on the results of this race. “On Sunday, it all came together in our favour. At last, we had no technical problems and quite a good advantage in the handicaps. We also saw Kolya demonstrate his ability to maintain a nice pace under rainy conditions. He consistently showed ones of the best lap times under such difficult conditions. Victory in any race is like a puzzle made up of different components: the well-coordinated work of technicians and engineers, the team’s general attitude, weather conditions, and luck”.

Despite the fact that Aeroexpress Racing Team crew, consisting of Mikhail Loboda and Rustam Akiniazov, ranked in fourth place in the championship, 64 points behind the leader, Nikita Misyulya, none of the top three crews is sure that the gap in points justifies hoping for a win. The last stage revealed that surprises do happen, little things can be decisive, and the slightest errors lead to the fact that yesterday's leaders can even become outsiders. So, residents of Togliatti will witness the hottest contest in the races for the Russian LADA Granta Cup final, to be held on 28-29 September.

The Aeroexpress Racing Team benefits from informational support provided by Nezavisimaya Gazeta, Autosport.com.ru, the Russian version of this leading English racing website, and the Komsomolskaya Pravda radio station.

The Aeroexpress Racing Team’s sponsors: Aeroexpress, LLC; AKB MOSOBLBANK; RailTransAvto, and Komponent company.