The participants of the press conference included: Tom Sauer, head of Blancpain Sprint Series project in Moscow; Ekaterina Beltsevich, head of Moscow Raceway race track; Sergey Ivanov, executive director of the Russian Automobile Federation (RAF); Alexey Karachev, GT Russian Team driver, Mark Shulzhitskiy, Nissan GT Academy Team RJN driver and Mikhail Aleshin from SMP Racing team.
The late change in venue will in no way diminish the attraction of the first ever Russian round of the Blancpain Sprint Series : this quickly became clear during the press conference for the Moscow City Racing event. With a compact schedule – practice and qualifying on Friday, both the Qualifying and Main races on Saturday – a team or driver aiming for a good result at the Moscow Raceway cannot afford any big mistakes.
The entry list for the fourth round of the 2015 Blancpain Sprint Series looks impressive: beside the Series’ regular entries there are also four extra cars, all with at least one high level Russian driver. Former single-seater ace Mikhail Aleshin is one of them, SMP Racing aces Kyrill Ladygin and Victor Shaytar too (the latter won the GTE Am category in last weekend’s 24 Hours of Le Mans) and of course Nissan GT Academy winner Mark Shulzhitskiy had to be part of the line-up too.
Stephane Ratel (CEO and founder of the SRO Motorsports Group): ‘We are very happy to be back in Russia, for the first time with the Blancpain Sprint Series. It’s a very strong competition, with the presence of eight manufacturers. The races are always entertaining, which will draw a lot of interest from the fans. For the event we have two Russian teams on the entry list, GT Russian Team with Mercedes and SMP Racing with Ferrari, and there will be at least six Russian drivers taking on the best GT drivers in the world. Russia is very important for us and we hope to build a strong relationship.”
Alexey Karachev (#70 GT Russian Team): “The Blancpain GT Series is a very interesting series, with a high level of competition, no matter whether it’s endurance or sprint. There is a high level of drivers as well, and I am very happy to be part of this series, which is a top notch organisation. The competition for the Russian race will be fierce, but everyone will do their best.”
Mark Shulzhitskiy (Nissan GT Academy Team RJN): “I have never been to Moscow Raceway, but it is a great honour for me to participate in this event. I started my professional career in the FIA GT Series, and the car has a lot improved since then. We will show our best and I am sure it will be an interesting race. I invite the fans to come over and I would like to thank Nissan for this wonderful present. It has always been my dream to participate in a race in Russia.”
Mikhail Aleshin (SMP Racing): “SMP Racing is participating with three cars, and the fact that we won Le Mans will increase the attraction of the event, I am sure. We expect to win and are very happy to drive in Russia, in front of our Russian fans. It’s great, because you already feel the pressure mounting, you feel that there is a lot of interest. The races will be great to watch, so I would like to invite everybody to come and join us.”
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Weekend Schedule
Friday, July 3rd
Free Practice 1 10:00 -11:20
Free Practice 2 11:40 - 13:00
Qualifying Practice 16:00 – 16:55
Saturday, July 4th
Qualifying Race 13:00 – 14:00
Main Race 16:00 – 17:00
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Provisional Entry List
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Blancpain - Innovation is our Tradition
Founded in 1735 by Jehan-Jacques Blancpain, the watch brand bearing his name is the oldest in the world. Blancpain is currently engaged to the renewal of mechanical watchmaking and to passing on exceptional expertise from one generation to the next through constant investment in human resources, production facilities and research. This approach is its strength and the expression of our long-term vision, even though it goes against the tide of a certain tendency to seek immediate profit. From the creation of components through to watch design, Blancpain is distinguished by its ability to develop exceptional movements. Over the past ten years, the Manufacture has indeed developed no less than 35 new calibres.
Through its various models, Blancpain preserves its heritage of precision and elegance, while also displaying an innovative and occasionally provocative spirit. Its range encompasses the sportive L-evolution line, the legendary Fifty Fathoms diver’s watch, as well as the classic Villeret collection, the high complication from Le Brassus collection and the Women models.
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Pirelli – Official Tyre Supplier
Pirelli is a tyre manufacturer and world leader in the automotive industry. It has an exclusive relationship with over 50 racing series worldwide, including Formula One.
Pirelli has a long and illustrious history in endurance racing, and has also claimed a huge variety of class wins in GT racing all over the world. The design of the new Pirelli GT tyres meets the needs of GT racing while maintaining the performance characteristics that endurance drivers have appreciated in the past.The slick tyres used for GT racing are branded Zero: just like the slicks that have become a central feature of Formula One. The name P Zero is used in the highest categories of motorsport such as GT racing.
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SRO Motorsports Group - The architect of modern GT Racing
SRO Motorsports Group was founded by Stephane Ratel and has specialised in the promotion, support and organisation of many national and international motorsport series since 1995.
In 2015, SRO promotes several championships and series, such as the Blancpain GT Series (with the Blancpain Sprint Series and the Blancpain Endurance Series, including the iconic Total 24 hours of Spa), the Avon Tyres British GT Championship and the newly-created GT Sports Club and Ultracar Sports Club. SRO Motorsports Group has various franchise agreements, including the GT4 European Series.
SRO Motorsports Group runs also the SRO Race Centre by MMC, a high-level technical centre at the Paul Ricard Circuit in the south of France.
SRO has offices in London, Paris and Liège.
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