In 2020, the first retro racing
championship was created. It was
apparently created by Nikita
Kozelsky, and it was called FSSB
(Formula SSB).
The first champion was Alexey
Lomkie, but I think he was
generally the first champion in
the history of SSB, because it's
unlikely that anyone else raced
like that before 2020. The FSSB
seasons continued, and at one
point Emil Kovalainen joined.
Ultimately, he created his own
championship, ASSB (Autosport
SSB).
The first ASSB season had many
participants from FSSB, but in
the end only a couple of people
from the first championship
remained.
At the end of 2021, Mark Sharipov
posted a photo of his SSB track in
the chat of a TikTok F1 team, and
that's where my story began.
I enjoyed racing there, and Mark
decided to create his own
championship for the members of
the SMTim team - SMSSB.
That's where those who raced until
the end of the retro championships
came from (Me, Samoilenko,
Pankovich, Duku, and many others
who didn't achieve the same
success).
I believe that those who came to
the second ASSB season are already
the second generation of drivers.
(Since most of the racers from
FSSB left, only the strongest
remained, who eventually became
legends).
During the second ASSB season, it
was decided to create a Formula 2
within the championship, because
there were too many participants
(About 30 people, but only 10
raced in the race).
Many great racers also passed
through ASSB F2, such as Mark
Samoilenko, Kirill Firsov (who
joined in the middle of the F2
season and took the vice-
championship, losing only to Mark),
Iosif Lapin, Egor Savin, Datvin
Larionov, Alexander Zhegalo, etc.
After that moment, SSB reached its
absolute peak. Towards the end of
the ASSB season, I decided to
create my own championship, MTSSB
(Max Tapkin SSG). The reason for
this was that I enjoyed creating
my own tracks, but it was difficult
to get them included in other
championships.
The unique feature of MTSSB was
that more than half of the tracks
were built by me.
Generally, my results in ASSB left
much to be desired, but after the
appearance of MTSSB, I started
building more tracks, understood
the game's physics better, and in
general, the more you race, the
faster you learn. So, with the
advent of MTSSB, my results
skyrocketed. Podiums in larger
leagues, wins and podiums in my
own league, etc.
In general, the first season of
MTSSB, in my opinion, is one of
the most legendary seasons in retro
racing, if not the most legendary.
Four drivers fought for the title
until the very last lap. Two
veterans from FSSB (Farkhadov and
Korytov) and two newcomers from
SMSSB (myself and Samoilenko).
Farkhadov was a dominant force back
then, winning almost everywhere he
could, but he missed a couple of
races. Korytov relied on his
experience and skill. I gained an
advantage because I knew my tracks
well, and Mark Samoilenko, who was
generally an F2 driver, had a poor
first half of the MTSSB season, but
was very consistent later on.
In the end, in the last race, Mark
Samoilenko didn't qualify (there
were 10 people in the race, and he
was 11th in qualifying). It seemed
like everything was over, but Duku
decided not to race and gave his
place to Mark. The points were
practically equal for everyone, so
any position could help in the fight
for the title. During the race, there
were an ABSOLUTE MULTITUDE of
outcomes; at the start, the title
belonged to Farkhadov, then to
Korytov, then to me, and at the end
of the race, Pankovich tried to help
me win the title and fought hard with
someone ahead of him, but I was very
unlucky and he bounced right into me,
and I lost many positions. As a result
of this race, Mark Samoilenko became
the champion, the one who was least
expected to win and who hadn't even
qualified for the race. The season was
legendary; I haven't seen anything like
it since.
During the MTSSB season, Mark
Samoilenko also decided to create his
own championship. I missed this moment,
but in the end, the ShSSB championship
(Shampionat SSB) was created.
That is, the racers simultaneously
competed in 4 championships: FSSB,
ASSB, MTSSB, and ShSSB. This was the
absolute peak of retro racing, when
races were held almost every day.
Rookies had many chances to prove
themselves in all championships and
become faster.
Time passed, we kept racing,
but Sergey Korytov (FSSB judge)
had less time to run the series.
Kirill Firsov became the judge,
and finished the final FSSB season:
Season 7.
Before that, MTSSB Season 3 ended.
It was meant to be the last one.
Interest dropped, fewer racers came,
and it felt more boring.
After a long break, Mark and I
started talking again. We still
wanted to race, but needed time,
interest, and active drivers.
Together we wrapped up ShSSB
Season 5, and then MTSSB Season 4.
Another long pause. More chats with
Mark. More nostalgia. Then we made
RSSB (Retro SSB).
Retro SSB merged all older series.
It was a symbol that the retro era
was close to the end, but not over.
RSSB started with many drivers, but
by the end only about 10 raced
regularly. After mid-season, time
was short and motivation fell again.
There were attempts to restart it,
including a Season 2, but it was
never fully finished. That is how
the retro era ended.
Looking back, SSB retro leagues were
a mirror of the TikTok F1 community
in 2021-2022. The game united us.
Many found friends and even met IRL.
There were great moments and bad ones,
but it was not for nothing.
Some drivers later tried AFS too:
Max Tapkin (Joe Hansen),
Mark Samoilenko (Rafael Sanchez),
Pavel Pankovich (Flavio Martinho),
Iosif Lapin (Connor Morris), and
others.
Champions (short notes):
- Alexey Lomkie - first champion.
- Nikita Kozelsky - creator; left
after a scandal race in Belgium.
- Pogrebnyak - just a champion.
- Farkhadov - retro legend; five-time
champion; won in every series and car;
raced until the end (left at RSSB).
- Sergey Korytov - SSB legend; raced
when possible; later joined military
school; sometimes raced in summer.
- Gordey Gasliev - key TT F1 person;
won the SMSSB test season.
- Mark Samoilenko - top legend; most
titles (6); won by insane consistency;
led, judged, and raced; helped revive
SSB twice.
- Max Tapkin (me) - built Lada Academy
(Samoilenko, Firsov, Savin, Larionov);
ran MTSSB (4 seasons); revived SSB;
won 4 titles; record win streak; now
little time (studying).
- Egor Savin - F2 champion (2nd tier);
Lada Academy driver; talented but
unstable; still in school.
- Pavel Pankovich - fastest raw pace;
ping and low FPS hurt; ASSB judge in
Seasons 3-4; often lost at the last race.
- Duku Duku - strong mid-top; had pace
but not always vs elites; won a title;
now studying and plays CS.
- Kirill Firsov - Lada Academy; community
legend; a bit faster than Duku; raced
little, could have won more.
In short: everyone grew up, had less
time, and got tired of the game. Now
people study, live well, and play other
games.