SMP Racing explained

SMP Racing
Founded:2013
Nation: Russia
Base:Moscow, Russia
Founders:Boris Rotenberg

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 3 January 1957 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

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

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.

Other championships

List Of Drivers

Series Results

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship Results

YearClassDrivers123456789T.C.Points
2014LMP2 Sergey Zlobin
Maurizio Mediani
Nicolas Minassian
Anton Ladygin
Mika Salo
27SIL
SPA
LMS
COA
FUJ
SHA
BHR
SÃO
1st146
Kirill Ladygin
Viktor Shaytar
Anton Ladygin
Maurizio Mediani
Nicolas Minassian
37SIL
SPA
LMS
COA
FUJ
SHA
BHR
SÃO
4th60
2015LMGTE
AM
Viktor Shaytar
Aleksey Basov
Andrea Bertolini
72SIL
SPA
LMS
NÜR
COA
FUJ
SHA
BHR
1st165
2016LMP2 Maurizio Mediani
Nicolas Minassian
David Markozov
Mikhail Aleshin
27SIL
SPA
LMS
NÜR
MEX
COA
FUJ
SHA
BHR
8th62
Vitaly Petrov
Viktor Shaytar
Kirill Ladygin
37SIL
SPA
LMS
NÜR
MEX
COA
FUJ
SHA
BHR
6th71
2018–19LMP1 Mikhail Aleshin
Vitaly Petrov
Jenson Button
Brendon Hartley
Stoffel Vandoorne
11SPA
LMS
SIL
FUJ
SHA
SEB
SPA
LMS
4th94
Stéphane Sarrazin
Egor Orudzhev
Matevos Isaakyan
Sergey Sirotkin
17SPA
LMS
SIL
FUJ
SHA
SEB
SPA
LMS
14th27

24 Hours of Le Mans

YearEntrantCarDriversClassLaps
2014 SMP Racing27Oreca 03R-Nissan Anton Ladygin
Mika Salo
Sergey Zlobin
LMP230337th12th
37 Kirill Ladygin
Maurizio Mediani
Nicolas Minassian
9DNFDNF
72Ferrari 458 Italia GT2 Aleksey Basov
Andrea Bertolini
Viktor Shaytar
LMGTE Am196DNFDNF
2015 SMP Racing27BR Engineering BR01-Nissan David Markozov
Maurizio Mediani
Nicolas Minassian
LMP234014th6th
37 Mikhail Aleshin
Anton Ladygin
Kirill Ladygin
32233rd13th
72Ferrari 458 Italia GT2 Aleksey Basov
Andrea Bertolini
Viktor Shaytar
LMGTE Am33220th1st
2016 SMP Racing27BR Engineering BR01-Nissan Mikhail Aleshin
Maurizio Mediani
Nicolas Minassian
LMP234711th7th
37 Kirill Ladygin
Vitaly Petrov
Viktor Shaytar
3537th3rd
2017 SMP Racing27Dallara P217-Gibson Mikhail Aleshin
Viktor Shaytar
Sergey Sirotkin
LMP233033rd16th
2018 SMP Racing11BR Engineering BR1-AER Mikhail Aleshin
Jenson Button
Vitaly Petrov
LMP1315DNFDNF
17 Matevos Isaakyan
Egor Orudzhev
Stéphane Sarrazin
123DNFDNF
35Dallara P217-Gibson Norman Nato
Harrison Newey
Viktor Shaytar
LMP234514th10th
2019 SMP Racing11BR Engineering BR1-AER Mikhail Aleshin
Vitaly Petrov
Stoffel Vandoorne
LMP13793rd3rd
17 Egor Orudzhev
Stéphane Sarrazin
Sergey Sirotkin
163DNFDNF

GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup

Notes

Branding

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

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Laurent Mercier . 9 May 2014 . The present and future of SMP Racing . Motorsport.com.
  2. Web site: About the program . 2023-07-19 . smpracing.ru.
  3. Web site: Track Record . 2023-07-19 . 24h-lemans.com . en.
  4. Web site: List of series which SMP compete in on official website .
  5. https://www.gt-world-challenge-europe.com/driver/2447/sergey-sirotkin Sergey Sirontkin GTWC stats page
  6. https://www.gt-world-challenge-europe.com/driver/2422/miguel-molina Miguel Monilana gtwc page
  7. https://www.gt-world-challenge-europe.com/driver/2364/davide-rigon davide rigon GTWC stats page
  8. https://www.gt-world-challenge-europe.com/driver/2554/antonio-fuoco antonio fuoco GTWC page
  9. https://www.gt-world-challenge-europe.com/driver/2555/toni-vilander Toni Vilander GTWC stats page