Irina Sidorkova brought home her second Formula 4 podium during the SMP Racing weekend in Moscow.
The Russian girl proved to have found a good feeling with the ADM Raceway in Moscow since Saturday's race 1, when she was able to conduct a very solid race, finishing in fourth position despite some qualifying issues that forced her to start on the grid in P5 (Race1) and P6 (Race2).
"Race 1 finished P4. Not bad considering that I was very unlucky in the qualification. After only 3 laps my car stopped because of a fuel system problem. So, I had only P5 and P6 in Quali." - commented Sidorkova.
"So, my P4 result in Race 1 is not a bad one" - the young lady said via her social media feeds.
But for the 16-year old from Petrozavodsk, Russia, the best part of the weekend had still to come.
The first turning point arrived immediately at the start, when Aleksey Nesov, one of the front runners starting from third position, made a mistake and ended up off the track. He rejoined at the back of the field in last position, allowing Irina Sidorkova to gain the fifth place.
Unfortunately, the young lady had to give up soon after the just-conquered position to Ivan Nosov, who made a daring move on Sidorkova in the last sector.
At the half-way point of the race, the battle for the third podium position fired up, with Aleksandr Vilaev, Nikita Aleksandrov and Ivan Nosov all protagonists.
Nosov tried to dive on the inside, going side by side with both drivers and causing an inevitable contact. Aleksandr Vilaev was then able to return to the pits to replace the damaged right-rear wheel, while it was race-over for the other two drivers involved.
Running right behind these drivers it was Irina Sidorkova, who benefitted from the clash and brought herself up to P3.
The green flag was waved once again on the ADM Receway with six laps to go, immediately before another sudden turn of events: second-placed Artem Lobanenko locked-up at the restart and went off the track, allowing Irina to advance to second position.
Aleksey Nesov then went from the disappointment of having his race compromised after the first lap incident to finding himself fighting for a position on the podium.
The driver of the #33 SMP F4 attacked Sidorkova, who defended remarkably well but ultimately Nosov made a move stick to gain the second position.
Pavel Bulantsev took a commanding victory and led the race from lights to flag, leaving no chances to the other racers to even get closer to the lead of the race.
Irina Sidorkova conquered an outstanding third place and confirmed some solid performance progresses she has showed so far during her F4 campaigns.
We would like to take the opportunity to send the best wishes to Irina's father, who was involved in a car accident earlier this week.
Sidorkova, who is combining the Russian-based SMP F4 with the Spanish F4 championship, will be back on track at Moscow Raceway for the sixth round of the SMP Racing-backed championship on 17th-18th August.
In Irina's words:
"Don't know how about you but my Sunday is perfect!"
Ph credits: SMP Racing