G-Drive Racing has yet to clinch victory in the LM P2 class at Le Mans but SMP Racing is reigning champion of LM GTE Am and will be looking to claim a second title in a different class.

2014: Catch Me If You Can
In 2014 both teams raced in LM P2: SMP Racing with the Oreca 03R, G-Drive Racing with the Morgan. The Morgan driven by Olivier Pla, Roman Rusinov and Julien Canal was retired. Sergey Zlobin, Anton Ladygin and Mika Salo suffered technical issues with the Oreca and finished a disappointing 37th overall and 12th in LM P2. However, the result affected the remainder of the season. As the only WEC team to finish the 24 Hours, SMP Racing banked the double points (50) normally awarded to the winner. Despite switching to the Ligier JS P2 and winning two of the remaining five rounds, G-Drive Racing couldn’t catch up and the FIA Endurance Trophy for LM P2 teams went to SMP Racing.

2015: In a Different Class
In 2015 both Russian teams entered the World Endurance Championship and the 24 Hours of Le Mans but in different classes. G-Drive Racing remained in LM P2 with the Nissan-powered Ligier JS P2 while SMP Racing switched to LM GTE Am with a Ferrari 458 Italia. Sam Bird, Roman Rusinov and Julien Canal finished third in LM P2. SMP Racing took a first ever victory for Russia at Le Mans by winning LM GTE Am with drivers Andrea Bertolini, Victor Shaytar and Aleksey Basov. The Russian teams continued reaping good results as the season unfurled and ended the year triumphantly as world champions in their respective classes.

2016: Starting Over
This year both are running WEC LM P2 campaigns. Following a two-year partnership with Onroak Automotive and the Ligier JS P2, G-Drive Racing is now working with Jota Sport, winner of LM P2 at the 2014 Le Mans 24 Hours. The new partnership means a new chassis, the Oreca 05-Nissan. SMP Racing has the support of official Ferrari team AF Corse via the High Performance Racing branch. This year the team is fielding its own car, the BR01 (named after team owner Boris Rotenberg), which started out last year in the European Le Mans Series. Competition will be tough at the 24 Hours of Le Mans this year: every single car in LM P2 is a potential winner. And of course in modern-day endurance there are always races within the race, including the tussle to be the top Russian team...

Jean-Philippe Doret / ACO - Translated from French by Emma Paulay

Photo: STAVELOT (BELGIUM), WEC 6 HOURS OF SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS, FRIDAY 6 MAY 2016, FREE PRACTICE AND QUALIFYING SESSIONS. G-Drive Racing is current world champion of LM P2 but can the Russian team win the class at Le Mans this year?