Golikov claims Volkswagen’s first wins in Russia

Roman Golikov of UGMK Motorsport got his revenge after being dropped at the end of last year by the Lukoil Racing and claimed an outstanding victory in the second race at Fort Grozny. This was also the first win for the Volkswagen Golf GTI in TCR Russia.
Golikov made good use of his front row starting position on the top-ten reverse grid and took the lead, while pole sitter Lev Tolkachev was soon overtaken by Aleksey Dudukalo, Kirill Ladygin, Ivan Lukashevich and Vitalj Dudin.
For most of the race, Dudukalo put in a great defensive drive to defend the second position from Ladygin, which helped Golikov to build a small gap. On lap 12, Lukashevich pitted for changing a tyre and lost his fourth position; on lap 17, Dudin managed to pass both Ladygin and Dudukalo, moving up to second in the Akhmat Racing Team Golf GTI.
In the final laps, Dudin close the gap from Golikov, but the latter kept the lead and won by four tenths; Ladygin beat Dudukalo on the line for the third place.
Reigning champion Dmitry Bragin started from tenth on the reverse grid and finished seventh after some tough fighting, while Race 1 winner Klim Gavrilov was ninth.
After the race, Ladygin was given a 20 second penalty for unfair driving and Dudin was excluded for a ride height infringement.
This meant that Golikov and Gavrilov are joint leaders in the standings with 33 points, two clear of Dudukalo, while Sheshenin is fourth with 29. 
TCR Russia will resume at the Smolensk Ring on 5/6 May.