Dmitry Bragin was crowned TCR Russia champion for the second consecutive year as he secured the title in stile, winning the championship final race at Kazanring.
The TAIF Motorsport driver took the lead at the start and benefited from the battle behind him to build a comfortable margin that he managed to maintain until the end of the race, claiming his fifth victory of the season.
At the start, Bragin’s Audi RS3 LMS sprinted from pole position ahead of Nikolay Karamyshev (Lukoil Racing SEAT León), Vitaly Dudin (Akhmat Racing SEAT), Irek Minnakhmetov (Audi) and Kirill Ladygin (LADA Sport Rosneft LADA Vesta).
A mid-field collision between Ladygin, Klim Gavrilov (Lukoil Racing SEAT) and Marat Sharapov (TAIF Motorsport Audi) eliminated the latter.
Soon afterwards, Roman Golikov (Lukoil Racing SEAT), Oleg Kharuk (Neva Motorsport SEAT) and Denis Grigoryev (Innocenti-AMG Motorsport SEAT) collided and prompted the safety-car on the track.
Racing resumed on lap 3, and Bragin was able to pull away while the battle raged on for the other positions. Behind the leader, Karamyshev, Minnakhmetov, Ladygin and Dudin were fighting for the second position.
A few further seconds behind, the fight for sixth involved Timur Shigabutdinov (TAIF Motorsport Audi), Vladimir Sheshenin (LADA) and the Lukoil Racing’s duo of Aleksey Dudukalo and Gavrilov.
There was plenty of contacts and position swapping, while Bragin gratefully increased his leading margin. Eventually, Ladygin moved up to second overtaking Karamyshev and Minnakhmetov who finished third and fourth, while Dudin lost his fifth place crashing on the last lap.
Dudukalo crossed the line in fifth position, as Shigabutdinov and Sheshenin collided at the last turn and finished sixth and eight respectively, with Gavrilov in seventh.
In the final standings, Bragin was followed by Sheshenin and Dudukalo.
