Krasnoe Koltso

Overview

Krasnoe Koltso, the Red Ring, is a permanent racing circuit in the Yemelyanovsky district of Krasnoyarsk Krai, near the village of Drokino at kilometre 801 of the R255 Baikal highway, about ten kilometres from Krasnoyarsk. Its operators describe it as the first track in Russia designed and built to FIA requirements. The circuit is meant first of all for amateur driving in any roadworthy car. It runs open sessions, a driving school, track rental and passenger rides in drift and race cars, and it hosts regional championships in circuit racing, drifting, rallycross, time attack and drag racing.

Technical Specifications and Track Features

The main ring has a width of 12 to 16 metres and 13 corners. Two shorter rings of different difficulty let novices and experienced drivers use the same facility. An 850-metre section along the main straight serves acceleration events, including drag racing over 402 metres. The pavement is built up from a 50 mm layer of fine asphalt concrete over 70 mm of coarse asphalt concrete, a crushed-stone base, a gravel and sand layer and half a metre of draining soil on geotextile. The corners range from tight bends with radii of 10 to 19 metres at one end of the lap to two 46-metre-radius corners at the far end. The layout was drawn so that a car leaving the asphalt in any corner has little chance of rolling over, and the most demanding corners have retarders and sand traps. Depending on the ring and the drivers, ten to twenty cars can run at once. The track is used all year, in winter on non-studded winter tyres.

Facilities and Specialized Areas

Sessions are supervised by a clerk of the course who decides which cars go out and may stop a driver whose car or condition is unsafe. A club service vehicle carries fire-fighting and recovery equipment. Lap times are taken by a certified electronic timing system, and drivers receive a printout after each session. Open sessions last 15 minutes and require a helmet and a fastened seat belt. Separate sessions are held for motorcycles. The paddock offers repair boxes for hire, a lift, a tyre-fitting machine, overnight car storage and paid parking. A free-ride programme for young drivers from the region, backed by the regional police and the youth policy agency, offers time attack, drift, motorcycle and drag formats.

History

Construction began on 13 April 2007 in the presence of representatives of the regional and district administrations. On 30 June 2007 the track held its first drag racing event, Drag-Battle 2007, and the first time-attack competition for amateur drivers followed that summer. In 2009 and 2010 the large ring hosted rounds of the Russian Touring Car Championship. Drifting has become a mainstay: the circuit regularly stages RDS and RDS Siberia rounds, the summer Drift Battle championship has been held here since 2011, and a Winter Drift Battle series runs in the cold months. The circuit hosts rounds of the Russian Time Attack Series, the Krasnoyarsk Krai circuit racing championship and the regional rallycross cup, and in 2026 it held a race for traffic police patrol crews marking the 90th anniversary of the State Automobile Inspectorate.