No. 4, 2009

LUKOIL RACING continues to conquer the peaks of world auto racing

LUKOIL RACING, Russia's leading auto racing team, successfully entered the international arena this season, winning prizes in prestigious European competitions. The company's immediate plans involve training its driver to make an impressive debut in auto racing's top division, Formula 1.

Formula for Success

A major event occurred in the world of Russian auto racing 12 years ago: the creation of a new team that was destined to immediately become the nation's leader in the sport. It was in 1997 that LUKOIL RACING first took part in the Moscow Open Championship's Rothman's-ASPAS Cup, in three classes: Touring 1600, Supertouring, and Formula 3. In its first year of competition, LUKOIL RACING won the title of Best Team in all three classes, with its drivers emerging victorious in the Formula 3 class.

Since then, LUKOIL RACING has become a renowned racing company, thanks to its drivers winning dozens of different Russian and international competitions. The team uses LUKOIL fuel and oil exclusively in all its races. The team's impressive performance in Formula 3000, drag racing, and other prestigious competitions propelled it to a new goal: to enter the world elite of auto racing and take part in Formula1, the highest class of auto racing sanctioned by the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile.

LUKOIL entered into the project with firm resolve and, like the seasoned veterans of auto racing's top division, embarked on a program for training young race drivers.  Many years of work and all-round support from a strong, professional team is just what was needed to train the first Russian race car drivers to take part in Formula 1 competitions.

The program for training young race drivers got under way in 2003. The number of competitions rose noticeably as a result: the LUKOIL RACING team took part in five championships in six European countries. The year was also one of the team's most successful: in three of the six competitions, LUKOIL RACING was the winner in its class. In championship and cup races, the team's drivers won four championship titles in their personal classes.

The first stages of the program developed by the LUKOIL racing team to support young race drivers begin in Russia. The young drivers get experience in driving race cars on the junior formula circuit, the Formula Rus' championship. With the help of specialized programs developed by the sports team that combine physical, theoretical, technical, and practical aspects of auto racing, young race drivers become experienced professionals. They then move on to the next stage; depending on their results, this might be Europe's Formula Renault 2000 or the Russia's Formula 1600.

Today, the participants in the joint LUKOIL-Red Bull Program to Support Young Race Drivers are Mika Maki (21), Mikhail Aleshin (22), Sergey Afanasiev (21), Daniil Kvyat (15), Matvey Maslov (10) and  Yegor Stupenkov (12). Mikhail Aleshin was the first driver with whom the team began working under the aegis of the program. A promising go-kart driver, he was taken on by LUKOIL RACING when he was only 14.

Two young hopes

Mikhail Aleshin began his go-kart career with a resounding success in 2000, winning Russia's ICA Junior championship. After another two years in go-karting, Aleshin took the next step to Russia's Formula 3 championship in 2003, and then on the German and European circuits as a member of the JD Motorsport team. Aleshin took first place on Italy's Renault 2.0 winter circuit in 2004, and fifth place in season results in Germany's Formula Renault 2.0 with two pole positions, three podium finishes, and a fast circle. That same year, Mikhail competed once again on the Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocircuit, this time as a member of the LUKOIL RACING team.

In 2005, Mikhail Aleshin finished his career with Formula Renault, taking part once again on parallel German and European circuits. He came in second in the German championship with one win, one pole position, seven podium finishes, and one fast circuit in the course of the season.

The international circuit opened up for Aleshin in 2006. The young Russian talent competed in the Renault World Circuit and represented the Russian team in the A1GP championship. In his World Circuit debut season, Aleshin took one pole position and two podium finishes.

In the 2007 season, Aleshin once again competed in the Renault World Circuit and went down in history as the first Russian race driver to win on the international racing circuit in Monza, Italy. It is interesting to note that Aleshin beat both the current star of Formula 1, Sebastian Vettel, and his future Formula 2 rival Julien Jousse. In 2007, Aleshin also replaced the injured Michael Ammermuller in four GP2 circuit races.

In 2008, Aleshin resumed his career on the Renault World Circuit as a member of the Carlin Motorsport team, finishing the championship in fifth place, in front of his future partner on the Formula 2 circuit, Canadian Robert Wickens.

This season, Mikhail has become a true challenge. In the 2009 championship, the young driver competed on the new Formula 2 racing circuit. The Russian participated with the support of LUKOIL and Red Bull, whose colors he has defended on different racing circuits over the years. The two companies share joint ownership of two Formula 2 race cars, Mikhail Aleshin's and Canadian Robert Wickens.

Wickens' professional racing career began at the age of 16 when he competed in the 2005 BMW USA Championship. His maiden season Robert finished third, with two victories and five podiums, before finishing sixth in the BMW World Final. After joining the Red Bull Junior Team in the beginning of 2006, Robert won the Formula BMW USA champion with three victories and seven podiums in the 14 races.

In 2007, he competed in the Champ Car Atlantic Championship, where he won one race and four podiums finishing third in the Championship. In the end of 2007 Robert became Canada's major driver in A1GP race, where he conquered five podiums and scored one victory. In 2008, Robert also raced in the Formula 3 Euro Series and Formula Renault 3.5, getting one victory and two podiums in F3 and one victory and four podiums in Formula Renault 3.5.

Race for a Superlicense

FIA Formula 2 (F2) is one of many types of open-wheel auto racing, and is frequently referred to as Formula 1's little sister. The rules for F2 were introduced in 1948, along with those for Formulas 1 and 3. The F2 races traditionally bore the status of European Championship. In addition, for many young drivers, Formula 2 was the last step to Formula 1, which is a synonym for the World Championship race.

In 1985, Formula 2 was replaced by Formula 3000, but in 2008, the FIA (Federation Internationale de l'Automobile) announced that Formula-2 would return in 2009. Formula 2 was created as a "budget" championship: the cost of participating over the entire season was around 220,000 euros, or approximately one-eighth the cost of racing over the GP2 season - which was, until the return of F2, the only means of forging new drivers for Formula 1.

The eight-race championship was held in Europe from May through November. The drivers competed in race cars designed by the Williams F1 team. The chassis of the open-wheeled cars were equipped with 1.8 litre turbocharged Audi engines developed by the Mountune Racing Co. The prize for the circuit's top three drivers was an FIA Superlicense conferring the right to compete in Formula 1.

Throughout the championship, Mikhail Aleshin and Robert Wickens turned in a spectacular performance, consistently earning places among Formula 2's group of leading drivers. At the beginning of September, at the stage in Oschersleben, Germany, the Russian driver celebrated his first victory, won in two breathtaking races.

After the final rounds at Barcelona, Aleshin held his third place in the overall results. Robert Wickens, who demonstrated high and stable results throughout the 2009 season, secured the second position overall in the championship. Thus, the two racers earned themselves qualification for FIA Superlicences.

"It's great to be the first person from your country to achieve a Superlicence, but I think it will also be good if I can use it!", commented his success Mikhail Aleshin. Well, let us keep our fingers crossed for him in the 2010 Formula 1 season.