APRIL 17, 2007

The Russians are coming?

The Bahrain Grand Prix is usually a slow one for news. The design of the paddock and the heat means that team people tend to hide away inside air-conditioned boxes, out of the range of lurking pressmen and even when meetings do occur, the heat is such that they are usually kept to a minimum.

There were, however, one or two interesting visitors in the paddock, including a small delegation from the planned Pinto race track near Madrid and a group of Russians, who were keeping a very low profile. They are believed to be the latest in a long line of people showing interest in running a Russian Grand Prix.

Russian interest in racing is growing gradually and although Vitaly Petrov is not doing very much in GP2, there is more interest in 19-year-old Mikhail Aleshin, won the first major international race victory for a Russian driver, last weekend when he took victory in the Renault World Series race at Monza.

The Carlin Motorsport driver beat a number of rising stars, including BMW's Sebastian Vettel and Dutchman Giedo Van der Garde, which suggests that he may have the potential for great things in the future.