Nikita Bogdanov from Ufa became Russia's motorcycle ice racing champion for third time

Nikita Bogdanov from the Ufa Technical Sports Center became Russia's champion in motorcycle ice racing for the third time. With a maximum score of 30 points, he won the final stage of the 64th individual national championship, which ended in Krasnogorsk near Moscow. Dmitry Koltakov took second and third places at the stage from Kamensk-Uralsky and Sergey Makarov from Lukhovitsy, who scored 25 points each and competed for silver and bronze in an additional heat.

Nikita Bogdanov’s main competitor in the fight for the championship title, Dinar Valeev from Tolyatti Mega-Lada, who was only one point behind before the race in Krasnogorsk, lost twice to his former teammate in joint races. In addition, he fell in one of the races, damaged his combat motorcycle, and received severe bruises. As a result, he scored only 22 points during the stage, and for the first time in the entire championship, he was outside the top three.

Bogdanov has four stages won and 165 points - nine more than Valeev. His father, two-time world champion in team racing Mikhail Bogdanov, trained the champion.

The bronze medal went to Dmitry Solyannikov, who played for the Torpedo-SHAAZ club for several years. He has 137 points, six more than Dmitry Koltakov, and is in fourth place.

The rest of the Ufa racers performed well in Krasnogorsk. Evgeny Sharov, Ivan Gavrilov, and Vasily Nesytykh took places from tenth to 12th, and in the overall standings of the championship, debutant and its youngest participant, Gavrilov, came in 11th place. Nesytykh completed the top ten, and Sharov, who competed in three stages despite a broken collarbone, finished 14th.

Having won another Russian champion title, Nikita Bogdanov came out with three victories in a row to third place behind Muscovite Alexander Balashov with four victories (1995-1998), and Ufa resident Boris Samorodov, who won for five years in a row (1961-1965).

However, regarding the number of Russian champion titles in the 500 cubic centimeter class, the leader is Ufa resident Nikolai Krasnikov, who has seven gold medals.

Author: Nikolay Ermolenko