W Series racer and SMP Academy member Irina Sidorkova will enter the Russian SMP RSKG touring cars championship.
Irina Sidorkova was set to take part in the second ever edition of the all-female W Series championship following last September's Almeria selections and after just one season in single-seater racing. At the time of her scheduled debut at the Igora Drive facility, Sidorkova would have been the youngest ever entrant at 16.
Unfortunately, the COVID-19 crisis has postponed her on-track debut to 2021, as the young Russian took part instead in the virtual edition of the W Series championship.
With 6 podium finishes and two race victories so far, Sidorkova quickly established herself as one of the main title contenders, attracting the attention of the many W Series fans at her debut, albeit virtual.
A member of the prestigious SMP young driver academy, Sidorkova now announces her return to real racetracks: with the 2020 W Series season cancelled, she joins the Russian-based SMP RSKG touring car championship, which starts on July 11/12th at the Smolensk Ring.
After turning 17 last week, Sidorkova will come back behind the wheel of the Volkswagen Polo car prepared by Academy Rally racing team, just like in 2018 when she won the National Junior class in the Russian touring cars series.
In the upcoming season, Sidorkova will combine the real-life racing schedule in the SMP RSKG championship with the virtual W Series Esports League, which takes place each week on Thursdays and does not clash with her on-track commitments.
“I am very glad that I will be back behind the wheel of a car on real circuits, because after the W Series Championship was postponed to 2021, I got a kind of racing void.” - said Irina.
"Of course, the W Series season next year promises to be interesting and spectacular, and now I am participating in the virtual version of the championship, but I still missed the feelings that you experience at the circuit. Therefore, I am happy that the stars have aligned in my favor, and very soon I will be at the start of the most competitive Russian series, the SMP RSKG. I want to thank everyone involved in this: the Academy Rally team and personally Mikhail Lepekhov, the SMP Racing program, as well as all my partners of the 2020 season."
Sidorkova's entry in the SMP RSKG will also bring an additional logistic challenge: "I will drive a closed-cockpit car and, at the same time, my task is to end the season in the W Series virtual championship. Some competitions of the W Series Esports League fall on the same racing week of the SMP RSKG or tests, so I will have to carry with me the complete set for e-sports. I think it will not be easy, but I'm sure that everything will work out. Moreover, the fans support me so much that I just can’t let them down.”
You can learn more about Irina Sidorkova on our latest interview with the young Russian racer.
2020 SMP RSKG Calendar
Smolensk Ring, Russia - 11/12 July
Igora Drive (St.Petersburg), Russia - 25/26 July
Kazan Ring, Russia - 8/9 August
Moscow Raceway, Russia - 22/23 August
Smolensk Ring, Russia - 5/6 September
Nizhny Novgorod Ring, Russia - 19/20 September
Grozny Autodrom, Russia - 10/11 October