ORECA 07 - GIBSON #22 and #26 (LMP2)

Team principal: Alexander Krylov
Technical director: David Leach
Team manager (#26): Xavier Combet
Race engineer (#22): Paul Thomson
Website: www.gdriveracing.com

2012 FIA WEC classification: 6th, FIA Endurance Trophy for LMP2 Teams

2013 FIA WEC: classification: 3rd, FIA Endurance Trophy for LMP2 Teams (132 points, 4 victories)

2014 FIA WEC: classification: 2nd, FIA Endurance Trophy for LMP2 Teams (137 points, 4 victories)

2015 FIA WEC classification: 1st, FIA Endurance Trophy for LMP2 Teams (178 points, 4 victories)

2016 FIA WEC classification: 3rd, FIA Endurance Trophy for LMP2 Teams (164 points, 3 victories)

2016 ELMS classification: 1st in the Teams and Drivers championship (103 points, 20 victories)

2017 WEC results:

6 Hours of Silverstone: 8th (5th in LMP2) Lynn/Thiriet/Rusinvov (GBR/FRA/RUS), #26 Oreca 07 Gibson

6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps: 8th (1st in LMP2) Lynn/Thiriet/Rusinvov (GBR/FRA/RUS), #26 Oreca 07 Gibson

2017 ELMS results:

4 Hours of Silverstone: 2nd Rojas/Hirakawa/Roussel (MEX/JAP/FRA), Oreca 07 Gibson

4 Hours of Monza: 1st Rojas/Hirakawa/Roussel (MEX/JAP/FRA), Oreca 07 Gibson

Russian team G-Drive Racing embarked on its motorsports campaign in 2012. It takes its name from the fuel distributed by Gazprom Neft, the Russian oil company owned by Gazprom and Ioukos.

     G-Drive Racing began competing in endurance with Signatech-Nissan en 2012. An Oreca 03 - Nissan entered under G-Drive Racing colours took part in the full FIA World Endurance Championship season with drivers Pierre Ragues, Nelson Panciatici and Roman Rusinov. The #26 finished sixth in the FIA Endurance Trophy for LMP2 Teams. At the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the team placed P4, just missing out on the podium, a highlight in a promising first season.

     The next year, G Drive Racing changed partner and paired up with Alan Docking Racing (known as ADR Delta). They again entered an Oreca 03 – Nissan, driven by Roman Rusinov, Mike Conway and John Martin. The team took four wins in the LMP2 class (in São Paulo, Austin, Shanghai and Bahrain) and came third in the FIA Endurance Trophy for LMP2 Teams, just behind OAK Racing and their two Morgan LMP2s. At the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the same line-up put in a dazzling performance in the Oreca 03 - Nissan and took the class win... but were later disqualified when their fuel tank was found to exceed the maximum permitted size.

     In 2014, G Drive Racing again opted for a new partner and this time, a new car too. Inspired by OAK Racing’s performance, the Russian team entered a Morgan LMP2, with support from Onroak Automotive, in the FIA World Endurance Championship. Drivers Roman Rusinov, Julien Canal and Olivier Pla enjoyed a successful season, except at Le Mans where they were forced to retire after leaving the track, thus missing out on precious points. They finished the season second, behind SMP Racing, another Russian outfit. After the 24 Hours of Le Mans run under the name G-Drive Racing by OAK, G-Drive replaced their Morgan with a Ligier JS P2 - Nissan, Onroak Automotive's latest weapon. Overall, the team claimed four LMP2 class wins: Silverstone, Spa, Shanghai and Fuji. The final round at São Paulo saw a fight for the title, but a brake problem on the Ligier JS P2 caused Olivier Pla to lose control and crash, meaning G Drive Racing had to make do with the runner-up spot in the FIA Endurance Trophy for LMP2 Teams. The team also competed in the Blancpain Endurance Series in 2014.

     G-Drive Racing renewed its partnership with OAK Racing in 2015, fielding two Ligier JS P2 - Nissan prototypes with technical support from the Le Mans-based constructor. In the meantime, Olivier Pla had joined Nissan’s LMP1 campaign and was replaced in the #26 car by Sam Bird, alongside Roman Rusinov and Julien Canal. The season got off to a fine start with an LMP2 class win at Silverstone. The team ran into bad luck at the next race, however, forced to retire early after engine failure . Their fortunes then improved with a third place at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and three wins, one in the USA, one in Japan and one in Bahrain. Enough points for the G-Drive Racing crew in the #26 Ligier JS P2 to take the FIA Endurance Trophy for LMP2 Teams!
The #28 Ligier JS P2 was steered by Luis Felipe "Pipo" Derani, Ricardo Gonzalez and Gustavo Yacaman, three talented drivers who triumphed at the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps. That car positioned fourth at Le Mans, just behind its sister car. Over the rest of the FIA WEC season, the trio scored several podiums but didn’t manage another win. In the end, the #28 finished third in the FIA Endurance Trophy for LMP2 Teams2, 44 points behind the winners.

     There were several changes in 2016 with a major overhaul of the team and a new partnership between G-Drive and Jota Sport. An Oreca 05 - Nissan was chosen instead of the Ligier chassis. Still sporting #26, the team also made changes to its driver line-ups: Roman Rusinov was joined by Nathanaël Berthon, former GP2 Series driver and Murphy Prototypes driver in ELMS (LMP2), and René Rast, who raced the 24 Hours of Le Mans in an Audi R18 e-tron quattro (#9) in the LMP1 class in 2015. However, after the 24 Hours of Le Mans Test Day, Nathanaël Berthon was dismissed and replaced by Will Stevens (18 F1 Grand Prix). After claiming the LMP2 class pole, the trio finished the race in the runner-up spot, less than a lap behind the winner. After a somewhat complicated start to the FIA WEC season, the Rusinov/Rast crew, joined by Alex Brundle from the Nürburgring race onwards, finished the 2015 campaign in style with three wins in the last three rounds, finishing third in the FIA Endurance Trophy for LMP2 Teams.

     G-Drive Racing also competed in the European Le Mans Series in 2016. In fact, Jota Sport changed their name to G-Drive Racing, but the British outfit kept its own staff. The squad again entered its #38 Gibson 015S Nissan, driven by Harry Tincknell, Simon Dolan and Giedo van der Garde, a former Formula One driver who competed for Catherman F1 Team in 2013. They claimed two wins (Silverstone and Estoril) plus the ELMS title! At the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Harry Tincknell competed in the LM GTE Pro class with Ford, leaving his seat in the #38 to Jake Dennis, a regular in Formula 3. Unfortunately the three men failed to make it to the chequered flag.  

And so to 2017 and another new partnership! This time, G-Drive Racing will get its logistics support from TDS Racing throughout the FIA WEC season. The team has entered an Oreca 07 - Gibson with Alex Lynn (GP3 Series champion), Pierre Thiriet and Roman Rusinov at the wheel. At Silverstone, the #26 took pole but had to make do with fifth place in the race, after problems with a door that kept opening on track! At Spa-Francorchamps, things went better with pole on Friday and victory during the race the next day. G-Drive Racing currently stands second in the FIA Endurance Trophy for LMP2 Teams rankings and hopes to triumph at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and come away with maximum points to move to the top of the standings before the ‘flyaway’ races.

Over in ELMS, G-Drive Racing has opted for a different logistics partner: DragonSpeed is taking charge of the #22 Oreca 07- Gibson raced by Memo Rojas, Ryo Hirakawa and Léo Roussel. The three drivers get on marvellously and were well on course for victory at Silverstone until the last lap when Ryo Hirakawa (with worn tyres) let Filipe Albuquerque (Ligier United Autopsorts) slip past. At Monza, Léo Roussel put in two excellent stints, placing the orange and black car in the lead. Despite a drive-through penalty for failing to comply with the pitlane speed limit, Ryo Hirakawa was first to cross the line. As they arrive in La Sarthe, the crew sits at the top of the ELMS standings. 

The two G-Drive Racing cars will take to the 24 Hours of Le Mans grid with their regular line-ups and the same goal: victory!

Photo : PASCAL SAIVET / VISION SPORT AGENCY