24h Le Mans
The close of the 2014 ELMS season saw the Russian team SMP Racing, also present in the FIA World Endurace Championship (WEC), clinch the two GT class titles. A first stage in increasing involvement in endurance and in motorsports generally.
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Photo : CHRISTOPHE JOUNIAUX / VSA
In addition to the double titles in LM GTE and GTC in the ELMS with its Ferrari 458 Italias, SMP Racing is currently leading the LM P2 team and driver provisional standings (with Sergueï Zlobin) in the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC). Twelfth in the class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Russian team reached the highest score possible (50 points) as the only LM P2 outfit at the finish entered full-time in the WEC. Victorious at Silverstone and Spa-Francorchamps, G-Drive Racing was forced to retire in La Sarthe and has already begun its ascent: with a third win at Fuji, it is back to 16 points. For the three last rounds of the 2014 FIA WEC (Shanghai, Bahrain and Sao Paulo), the duel between these two Russian teams will be arbitrated by the Chinese team KCMG, victorious at Austin.
Along with Sergueï Zlobin (SMP Racing), Roman Rusinov (G-Drive Racing) and Anton Ladygin (SMP Racing) - leader, second and fourth in the LM P2 driver provisional standings respectively - Mark Shulzhitskiy is the other Russian driver to follow in 2014. With his British teammates Alex Brundle and Jann Mardenborough, he lead the 24 Hours of Le Mans for 240 laps, more than two-thirds the distance, and at the wheel of a brand new car, the Ligier JS P2. Coming from the Nissan GT Academy, will he be among the Japanese manufacturer's drivers for his arrival in LM P1 in 2015? The question will undoubtedly be answered in the coming weeks. In the meantime, Russia has solidified its emergence on the international motorsports stage: in tandem with its great performances in endurance, the very first Formula 1 Grand Prix of Russia, won by Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), took place October 12th at Sotchi, site of the last Winter Olympics. And in 2015, Daniil Kvyat (20 years of age) will replace four-time World Champion Sebastian Vettel with Red Bull Racing.
Jean-Philippe Doret / ACO - Translation by Nikki Ehrhardt / ACO
Photo: LE MANS (SARTHE, FRANCE), CIRCUIT DES 24 HEURES, 24 HOURS OF LE MANS, THURSDAY JUNE 12 2014, QUALIFYING. The Russian team SMP Racing is entered in LM P2 in the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) and in LM GTE and GTC in the European Le Mans Series (ELMS).
