SMP Racing

SMP Racing
Founded2013
NationRussia Russia
Founder(s)Boris Rotenberg
BaseMoscow, Russia
Websitewww.smpracing.ru
BR Engineering BR1 of SMP Racing.

SMP Racing is a Russian racing team and driver academy mostly known for competing in the FIA World Endurance Championship, FIA Formula 2 Championship and FIA Formula 3 Championship with the goal of training and unveiling new talents[1] from Russia.[2] The team was founded in 2013 by Boris Rotenberg, co-founder of the SMP Bank of Russia.

History

Origins

The team was founded in 2012 by the Russian oligarch Boris Rotenberg, co-founder of SMP bank and CEO of Russian race car construction company BR Engineering.

They first competed in the FIA World Endurance Championship with the goal of supporting new talents from Russia and giving them the chance to compete in international motorsport.

Boris Rotenberg

Born in Saint Petersburg, Russia on the (1957-01-03) 3 January 1957 (age 67) Boris Rotenberg is known as the co-founder of SMP Bank and CEO of the largest construction company for gas pipelines and electrical power supply lines in Russia (StroyGazMontazh).

In 2001 Boris and his brother both founded the SMP bank of Russia one of the largest banks in Russia.

Boris is the CEO and founder of a race car construction company called BR Engineering. The same company which created the BR Engineering BR1 and BR Engineering BR01 with both cars having podiums in their categories at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Current status

The team went quiet across all of their social media accounts. Along with a number of other Russian teams at the time which were competing in international motorsports.

The team also announced they would not return to the FIA World Endurance Championship or the European Le Mans Series.

This was expected to be due to the FIA announcing new requirements for Russian drivers and teams competing in international motorsport as a response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Championships Description[2]

FIA World Endurance Championship

SMP Racing competed in the FIA World Endurance Championship full time between the years of 2014-2016. Making one return for the 2016 24 Hours of Le Mans and returned later for the 2018–19 FIA World Endurance Championship season.

The team were mildly successful throughout their whole time in the series, However their most successful year in the Championship came in 2015, where the team collected 6 podiums, 3 wins and finished 1st in the LMGTE AM category.

24 Hours of Le Mans

BR1 LMP1 Prototype

The team again had another mildly successful career at the 24 Hours of Le Mans by finishing first with Ferrari 458 GT2 in LMGTE category in 2015 and finishing third with BR1 LMP1 prototype in overall category in 2019 only behind two Toyota's, making them the fastest non-factory team.[3]

FIA Formula 2 Championship

SMP Racing never had their own team in the FIA Formula 2 Championship however they still had a young driver program for young and upcoming Russian drivers such as Robert Shwartzman and Sergey Sirotkin.

The program was cancelled in May 2022 due to the FIA announcing requirements on Russian drivers competing in international motorsport. These rules were announced as a response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Ferrari 488 GT3 of SMP Racing at Monza.
BR Engineering BR01 of SMP Racing at Le Mans.
Ferrari 458 Italia GT2 of SMP Racing at Le Mans at night.

Other championships

List Of Drivers

Series Results

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship Results

Year Class Drivers No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 T.C. Points
2014 LMP2 Russia Sergey Zlobin
Italy Maurizio Mediani
France Nicolas Minassian
Russia Anton Ladygin
Finland Mika Salo
27 SIL
3
SPA
4
LMS
1
COA
2
FUJ
3
SHA
2
BHR
Ret
SÃO
2
1st 146
Russia Kirill Ladygin
Russia Viktor Shaytar
Russia Anton Ladygin
Italy Maurizio Mediani
France Nicolas Minassian
37 SIL
Ret
SPA
3
LMS
Ret
COA
Ret
FUJ
4
SHA
3
BHR
2
SÃO
Ret
4th 60
2015 LMGTE
AM
Russia Viktor Shaytar
Russia Aleksey Basov
Italy Andrea Bertolini
72 SIL
3
SPA
3
LMS
1
NÜR
1
COA
1
FUJ
6
SHA
3
BHR
5
1st 165
2016 LMP2 Italy Maurizio Mediani
France Nicolas Minassian
Russia David Markozov
Russia Mikhail Aleshin
27 SIL
9
SPA
Ret
LMS
5
NÜR
8
MEX
6
COA
4
FUJ
8
SHA
6
BHR
8
8th 62
Russia Vitaly Petrov
Russia Viktor Shaytar
Russia Kirill Ladygin
37 SIL
7
SPA
7
LMS
3
NÜR
6
MEX
Ret
COA
6
FUJ
10
SHA
7
BHR
7
6th 71
2018–19 LMP1 Russia Mikhail Aleshin
Russia Vitaly Petrov
United Kingdom Jenson Button
New Zealand Brendon Hartley
Belgium Stoffel Vandoorne
11 SPA
5
LMS
Ret
SIL
Ret
FUJ
4
SHA
3
SEB
3
SPA
3
LMS
3
4th 94
France Stéphane Sarrazin
Russia Egor Orudzhev
Russia Matevos Isaakyan
Russia Sergey Sirotkin
17 SPA
Ret
LMS
Ret
SIL
3
FUJ
Ret
SHA
Ret
SEB
NC
SPA
4
LMS
Ret
14th 27

European Le Mans Series

24 Hours of Le Mans

Year Entrant No. Car Drivers Class Laps Pos. Class
Pos.
2014 Russia SMP Racing 27 Oreca 03R-Nissan Russia Anton Ladygin
Finland Mika Salo
Russia Sergey Zlobin
LMP2 303 37th 12th
37 Russia Kirill Ladygin
Italy Maurizio Mediani
France Nicolas Minassian
9 DNF DNF
72 Ferrari 458 Italia GT2 Russia Aleksey Basov
Italy Andrea Bertolini
Russia Viktor Shaytar
LMGTE Am 196 DNF DNF
2015 Russia SMP Racing 27 BR Engineering BR01-Nissan Russia David Markozov
Italy Maurizio Mediani
France Nicolas Minassian
LMP2 340 14th 6th
37 Russia Mikhail Aleshin
Russia Anton Ladygin
Russia Kirill Ladygin
322 33rd 13th
72 Ferrari 458 Italia GT2 Russia Aleksey Basov
Italy Andrea Bertolini
Russia Viktor Shaytar
LMGTE Am 332 20th 1st
2016 Russia SMP Racing 27 BR Engineering BR01-Nissan Russia Mikhail Aleshin
Italy Maurizio Mediani
France Nicolas Minassian
LMP2 347 11th 7th
37 Russia Kirill Ladygin
Russia Vitaly Petrov
Russia Viktor Shaytar
353 7th 3rd
2017 Russia SMP Racing 27 Dallara P217-Gibson Russia Mikhail Aleshin
Russia Viktor Shaytar
Russia Sergey Sirotkin
LMP2 330 33rd 16th
2018 Russia SMP Racing 11 BR Engineering BR1-AER Russia Mikhail Aleshin
United Kingdom Jenson Button
Russia Vitaly Petrov
LMP1 315 DNF DNF
17 Russia Matevos Isaakyan
Russia Egor Orudzhev
France Stéphane Sarrazin
123 DNF DNF
35 Dallara P217-Gibson France Norman Nato
United Kingdom Harrison Newey
Russia Viktor Shaytar
LMP2 345 14th 10th
2019 Russia SMP Racing 11 BR Engineering BR1-AER Russia Mikhail Aleshin
Russia Vitaly Petrov
Belgium Stoffel Vandoorne
LMP1 379 3rd 3rd
17 Russia Egor Orudzhev
France Stéphane Sarrazin
Russia Sergey Sirotkin
163 DNF DNF

GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup

Year Car Drivers No. 1 2 3 4 T.C. Points
2020 Ferrari 488 GTE Russia Sergey Sirotkin (All)[5]
Spain Miguel Molina (Rd. 1-3)[6]
Italy Davide Rigon(Rd. 1-3)[7]
Italy Antonio Fuoco (Rd. 4)[8]
Finland Toni Vilander (Rd. 4)[9]
72 IMO
20
SPA
14
NUR
19
LEC
7
1st[a] 80
Notes
  1. ^ While SMP was awarded the teams championship, the number 51 AF Corse Ferrari scored all the points.

Branding

SMP Racing also was a moniker for these teams, when SMP sponsored them:

See also

References

  1. ^ Laurent Mercier (9 May 2014). "The present and future of SMP Racing". Motorsport.com.
  2. ^ a b "About the program". smpracing.ru. Retrieved 2023-07-19.
  3. ^ "Track Record". 24h-lemans.com. Retrieved 2023-07-19.
  4. ^ "List of series which SMP compete in on official website".
  5. ^ Sergey Sirontkin GTWC stats page
  6. ^ Miguel Monilana gtwc page
  7. ^ davide rigon GTWC stats page
  8. ^ antonio fuoco GTWC page
  9. ^ Toni Vilander GTWC stats page