RCRS hails Lada entry for 2017, with Vesta TCRs in their top tier

The Russian Circuit Racing Series (RCRS) has welcomed Lada’s entry into their championship in 2017, with the Russian marque developing a pair of Lada Vesta TCRs for their touring car class, known as TCR Russia, and two more Vestas with 1.6T engines in their super production class.

Lada announced last week they would end their five-year programme in the World Touring Car Championship as the global series no longer meets their business objectives, and will instead focus on Russia’s national championship, the RCRS, with Lada Vestas and Kalinas entered throughout three classes of the championship.

“We’ve made a great effort to make SMP Russian Circuit Racing Series more attractive for participants and popular among spectators,” said Oleg Petrikov, Head of SMP RCRS to TouringCarTimes.

“SMP RCRS was one of the first series to support TCR regulations for national championships and we had three TCR cars for the 2015 season. The number increased to eight cars in 2016 and will grow further,” he added.

The 2016 TCR Russia season was won by 2014 European Touring Car Cup Single-Make Trophy champion Dmitry Bragin in a SEAT León TCR, who defeated last year’s champion and former WTCC Lada driver Alexsey Dudukalo

“Now we are glad to welcome the most popular Russian car manufacturer, Lada, and one of the leading oil companies Rosneft to the Russian Circuit Racing Series with two Lada Vesta cars in TCR specification for Touring, and two Vesta cars with 1.6T engines for Russian Super Production class,” said Petrikov.

“Lada and Rosneft are also going to support young drivers in the national class with Lada Kalina cars. I’m sure that this partnership will give a chance for many talented drivers, and will motivate other car manufacturers and sponsors to join SMP RCRS. I hope that after a season spent in SMP RCRS Lada Vesta cars will be eligible for the TCR International Series, and more Russian drivers will be recognised in world motorsport.”