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Unlike most racers, Vitaly's career did not begin in Karting, basically because there was no real motor sport activity in the area where he grew up. Consequently, it wasn't until his early teens - a veteran age by Karting standards - that he began racing, albeit in rally sprints and ice racing.
Having won the Russian Rally sprint Championship in 2001, Vitaly spent 2002 contesting the Russian Lada Cup, the Russian VW Polo Cup and Formula Russia 2.0.
Having won the Lada Cup in style - he won every round of the series amassing the maximum score - Vitaly looked beyond Russia to Europe knowing that if he was to move up the motor sport ladder this is where he had to be.
While he focussed mainly on the Italian and Euro Formula Renault series, Vitaly also found time for the Russian Sports Car Championship and a couple of rounds of the Formula Renault UK series.
He remained in the Formula Renault Italian and Eurocup series in 2004 with Euronova Junior Team but enjoyed little success. However, in addition to one outing in the Euro F3000 Series, there was the consolation of finishing runner-up in the inaugural Lada Revolution Russia championship.
With motor sport rapidly gaining popularity in his homeland, Vitaly opted to remain in Russia for 2005, contesting and winning both the Lada Revolution Russia series and Formula 1600 Russia.
Once again he set his sights on Europe, this time mainly focussing on one series, the Euroseries 3000 which he contested with Euronova. Four wins and a couple more trips to the podium were enough to gain third place in the championship.
However, Vitaly also found time to contest two rounds of the International 3000 Masters series with Charouz Racing and eight GP2 races with DPR, though he enjoyed little success in either.
For 2007 he concentrated solely on GP2, contesting the series with Campos. Though it was a largely disappointing season, a win in the final feature race of the season (Valencia) saw him secure thirteenth in the standings.
In 2008 he remained with Campos - now renamed Barwa International Campos Team - and contested both the GP2 Series and its Asian off-shoot. Finishing seventh in the main series, having scored a win in the feature race at Valencia (again!) he went on to finish seventh in the final standings. In GP2 Asia he finished third overall, winning the feature race which supported the Malaysia Grand Prix along the way.
He contested both series again in 2009, and once again there was a clear improvement the Russian finishing runner-up to Nico Hulkenberg in the main series - having scored wins in Istanbul and Valencia (again) along the way - while in GP2 Asia he finished fifth.
With a number of new teams due to enter F1 in 2010 it came as no surprise that over the winter Vitaly was linked with a number of them including Sauber and Campos with Renault also said to be showing an interest. The fact that he carried sizeable financial backing - thought to be worth as much as fifteen million euros (£13m) - made the Russian even more attractive. That said, the Russian subsequently played down the size of his financial support insisting that it came merely from his "father and a few friends" as opposed to Moscow-based bank Sberbank and energy giant Gazprom.
On 31 January, Vitaly was confirmed as teammate to Robert Kubica at Renault, thereby becoming the first Russian to race in the Formula One World Championship.
Whoever paid for his seat, the fact is that while Vitaly can be 'hit and miss' he is fun to watch and a naturally aggressive driver. What remains to be seen is whether he can make that final leap up to F1 and impress or whether it's a step to far. Either way, Bernie Ecclestone will be delighted to have his first Russian on board.
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