RUS Autosport
RUS Autosport RUS Autosport America | |
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Owner | Vitaly Tsolikov Yevgeny Kuznetsov (America) Lev Vladimirovich Polzin (America) |
Series Competed In | TM Master Cup TM Lights FARC Lowe Dollar Series TM Europe Dash Cup (formerly) |
Manufacturer(s) | RUS Frankencar |
Race Wins | 8 (FARC) 1 (Dash Cup) |
Championships | 0 |
Current Drivers | TBA (TMMC) Lev Azarov (TMLT) #82- Yevgeny Kuznetsov (FARC) Sergei Yakovski (FARC) |
Notable Former Drivers | Lenore Scurry Radomir Stanoytchev Leonid Chernov Lev Vladimirovich Polzin Gary Miles Ruslan Bashimov Vitaly Tsolikov |
Team |
RUS Autosport is a Russian racing team founded in late 2009 by business magnate Vitaly Tsolikov. After initially competing in European leagues, the team began making its presence in American series, most notably in the FARC Lowe Dollar Series with fan favorite Yevgeny Kuznetsov.
In 2019, Tsolikov separated his team's operations between their Moscow, Russia shop, which will field TM Europe and part-time TM Master Cup operations, and the American shop, which will field cars in FARC and TM Lights. Ownership of the new RUS Autosport America was given to Kuznetsov and Lev Vladimirovich Polzin.
History[edit | edit source]
Early History[edit | edit source]
In late 2009, after losing his Formula RUS ride with the Vkontakte.ru Racing Team, Yevgeny Kuznetsov worked out a deal with a connection he had made from his Rallying days, Vitaly Tsolikov, to run a few races in Rallycar. After impressing his new team owner and Tsolikov realizing the talent that he now had, RUS Autosport was founded and announced that they would be buying out the spot that the old Vkontakte.ru Racing Team had in Formula RUS.
Being in one of the best-funded cars on the track, Kuznetsov was finally able to show his true potential. In 2010 he won his first Formula RUS race at the track where he made his debut, at the Volgoring. He won one more race that year at Autodrom Moscow and finished on the podium four more times, accumulating 58 points and finishing 3rd in the championship. During one of the off-weeks, Kuzzie and the RUS Autosport team went to Finland to watch the 2010 Karjala Grand Prix. Amazed by what they saw, Kuznetsov, Vitaly Tsolikov, and the entire RUS Autosport team unanimously vowed that they would enter a car in the following year's race.