Season 2017 RSKG

The 2017 season of the Russian Series of Ring Races (RSKG) is the fourth season of the Championship and Cup of Russia , held under the name SMP RSKG and the 25th season of the championship of Russia in ring racing in general.

Dmitry Bragin defended his championship title in the Touring class, thereby also becoming the winner of the TCR Russia series standings. Mikhail Mityaev won the Russian Cup in the Super Production class. Denis Bulatov won the championship of Russia in the Touring Light category. Aidar Nuriev won the Russian Cup in the National class. Maxim Kornilkov won the National-Junior Championship. And Irek Minnakhmetov became the first owner of the SMP RSKG trophy - a special prize played among the Touring participants who have not yet achieved the highest achievements in the ring championships.

Sochi Autodrom disappeared from the list of tracks accepting the stages of the Russian championship in 2017, which can be attributed to the departure of the TCR International Series from this ring , along with the races of which the RSKG participants traditionally performed earlier (with the exception of the 2014 season, when the stage of the Russian championship was a test competition for the track preparing to accept the Formula 1 Grand Prix for the first time, and the International TCR series has not yet been created). The races of the Russian championship were supposed to return to the ADM highway located near Moscow after reconstruction (the last time ADM had hosted competitions of such a high status in 2012 ), but in the end the stage was again transferred to the Smolensk ring circuit. ^[one]

The critically accrued scoring system used in 2016 has been changed. The main claims to the previous system were that it did not provide the drivers with the right to make a mistake and descent, and also did not give a chance to compete for high places for riders who missed the stages, since the participants who finished even in the last places in the most massive “National” race received about half of the points that the stage winner received, and those who descended did not get any. As a result, relatively slow athletes had high chances to get ahead of fast racers, who often lost their distance or missed the stages. The new system of accruing prize points, which is given below, assumed the award of points to the fifteen strongest racers of the race, the winner - 25 and further in descending order. An additional point was awarded to the winner of the qualification and the owner of the fastest lap of the race.

A penalty system was also introduced, similar to that used in Formula 1 , when a driver may be additionally awarded a certain amount of penalty points for violating the rules. A rider with 12 points must skip the next stage of the RSKG. Each penalty point is canceled one year after its award (for example, if a participant received 2 penalty points on May 14, 2017, they will only be reset on May 14, 2018, and not at the end of the season or calendar year).

In addition to the long-existing sports weighted handicap (when the best riders for the next race increase the minimum allowed weight of the car, and the worst - reduce), a technical weighted handicap was introduced in 2017. The principle of its action is the same as that of a sports one, but it is not charged to an individual driver, but to the brand of cars (that is, if a representative, for example, Lada wins, all participants playing on Lada will get extra weight), in addition if the size of the sports handicap is reviewed after each race, then the technical - after each stage (consisting of two races). The maximum limit for a sports handicap is limited to 50 kg, for the technical it depends on the racing category (50 kg for Touring, 40 for Super Production, 30 for Touring Light, 20 for National). Handicap (both sports and technical) can be negative, but in this case it is limited to 10 kg.

A time limit for races is introduced (30 minutes for the first race of the stage and 35 for the second). If the riders do not have time to overcome the entire planned distance of the race before the specified time, then at the end of the next lap the finish must be given.

From the new season, the reverse start rule has been changed. The start order in the second race of the stage for all categories is still determined according to the final protocol of the first race, but now the first eight participants (and not ten, as before) are “turned over", that is, the winner of the first race starts eighth in the second and vice versa, starting from ninth place position at the finish line of the first race and at the start of the second match.

Due to the increase in the number of participants, the riders of Touring and Super Production will start in different races from 2017.