At the final round of the World Endurance Championship (WEC), the BR1 LMP1 was presented and will compete in the 2018/2019 World Endurance Championship "Super Season." The car is the fruit of the collaboration between the Russians of BR Engineering (who unveiled it this evening) and the Italians of Dallara. The BR1 has a carbon fiber chassis capable of hosting several engines such as the AER, Gibson or Mecachrome. Three BR1s will be entered in the head class: two by SMP Racing who will rely on ART Grand Prix to run the car, and one by DragonSpeed from the European Le Mans Series.

The SMP Racing team led by Boris Rotenberg will entrust the cars to now-confirmed drivers including Vitaly Petrov, Mikhail Aleshin and Matevos Isaakyan. The two cars will be powered by a twin-turbo V6 AER, but the third prototype for DragonSpeed will be equipped with an aspirated V8 Gibson engine.

In attendance at the presentation:

Boris Rotenberg, founder and President of BR Engineering

Pierre Fillon, President of the l’Automobile Club de l’Ouest

Gérard Neveu, head of the FIA WEC

Luca Pignaca, chief Dallara designer

Dmitry Samorukov, head of SMP Racing

Mikhail Aleshin, Vitaly Petrov and Matevos Isaakyan: development drivers for the car

DragonSpeed Team Principal Elton Julian: “After looking carefully at an impressive range of options to enter the LMP1 class, we’ve concluded that a combination of the new Dallara BR1 chassis and a purpose-designed Gibson V8 normally aspirated engine will give DragonSpeed the best opportunity for racing success. We expect the car and engine to be delivered in time for testing prior to the pre-season Prologue Test in April, with more testing before the season gets underway at Spa in May. We’re under no illusions as to the scale of the challenge – in fact, that’s why we are stepping up. The entire team can’t wait to get started.”

Good news for the LMP1 class. The new Ginetta LMP1 should be unveiled in early 2018. 

Quotation from press release.

VIDEO: YouTube - SMP Racing