Drag racing
Drag racing in Russia started in 2004 in Moscow when the Russian Automotive Federation (RAF) sanctioned it as an official motorsport. Drag Racing became popular in Russia after "The Fast and the Furious" film in 2001, but competitions were illegal before 2004. The most outstanding drag racing event of the early years was "DRAG BITVA" (Drag Battle) which took place in Krasnoyarsk, Siberia from 2005 to 2008. Krasnoyarsk is located in the middle of Russia, so it was the best place to bring all the fastest cars from all over the country. Due to the financial situation "DRAG BITVA" was canceled in 2009 and never came back. It was difficult times for drag racing in Russia from 2009 to 2014, but it was supported by enthusiasts in every region. There were a lot of competitions but it wasn't as big as "DRAG BITVA". In 2014 Dragtimes company in partnership with SMP Racing became the Russian Drag Racing Championship (SMP RDRC) promoters, since then Drag Racing in Russia became more professional. From the very beginning to 2014 only streetcars were allowed to compete in Russia. Now it's also allowed to run promods and dragsters in SMP RDRC. Thanks to the efforts of SMP RDRC promoters in 2019 the first professional dragstrip in Russia "RDRC Racepark" was built. It's located near Moscow in 40 kilometers of downtown at the former airfield Bykovo. It gave many opportunities to test the cars and make new records. Before the track was built, competitions took place on straight parts of circuits, so it wasn't allowed to prepare the whole 1/4 mile, only 1/8 and the tracks were available for drag racers except racing weekends of local or national events. From the very beginning one of the main ideas of the promoters was to increase the quality and reach of live broadcasts, so SMP RDRC became the first racing series with its video production and remains so to this day.