SMP BR01 appears at Paul Ricard

The Russian LMP2 car, which was made by BR Engineering and designed by Paolo Catone, the same guy behind the Peugeots 905 and 908 HDI FAP, will appear in double in the European championship, as the current FIA WEC LMP2 champions decided that limiting their competition with the new car to a single continent would pay off more dividends. Both machines will be powered by Nissan V8 engines and will shoe Michelin tires, going against the troop of Dunlop users.

Delays in the production of the BR01 forced SMP Racing to bring the model they will use in the last hour. In fact, the car wasn’t complete, as some essential parts are still to come.The main concerns about the car, according to Catone, are to complete the car, pass through the homologation and, if possible, do some shakedown tests and give to the car some mileage before the 4 Hours of Silverstone, on April 11^th, to at least be able to perform well.

But, while the pair of BR01s weren’t ready, SMP Racing used during the tests the ORECA 03R of the last season, to prepare all the six drivers of the team for LMP racing. And although the model has the name of BR Engineering’s Boris Rotenberg on it, he won’t be driving the LMP2 car.

From the prototype team that raced last year, experienced Frenchman Nico Minassian and the Ladygin brothers Anton and Kirill continue for the BR01 project, but in different cars. The Italian Maurizio Mediani comes back to and LMP2 after a year in the GTs, while David Markozov goes up in the latter from SMP Racing GT ranks. Mikhail Aleshin, who raced in IndyCar Series last year but was unable to secure a seat for 2015, comes to complete the lineup.

PHOTO: SMP Racing