SMP Racing withdraws from the World Championship

Le WEC va perdre un sérieux concurrent pour la saison 2019-2020 à venir. Comptant parmi les opposant à Toyota en LM P1, SMP Racing announced this Monday morning the end of its program with the BR1, with immediate effect.

Boris Rotenberg's team joined the premier class of the World Championship for the Super-Season, fielding two non-hybrid prototypes, powered by the AER turbo unit. Operation of the car was entrusted to ART Grand Prix.

After a delicate start, including a double abandonment to 24 Hours of Le Mans 2018, the team raised the bar by securing four consecutive podiums at the end of the season, including the one won at Le Mans with the Vandoorne – Aleshin – Petrov crew.

But the ax fell on the Russian clan, undoubtedly partly discouraged by the overall performance gap with the TS050 Hybrid. In addition to this major program, SMP Racing is also present in GT this year in the Blancpain GT Series with the support of 'AF Corsica.

“It was a difficult season for us, admits Boris Rotenberg, founder and director of SMP Racing. We worked a lot on our BR1 prototype.

We were able to show and prove to everyone that the Russian team, Russian drivers and the Russian car are capable of achieving the best results in the most difficult world championships and in such a prestigious race as the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

It is a well-deserved success for everyone who participated in this ambitious project – drivers, SMP Racing and ART GP, BR Engineering and Dallara (at the helm of LM P1 development).

Our goal has always been just one victory and we believe we achieved this victory with the highest result possible under the circumstances. After the last race at Le Mans, we decided that SMP Racing was leaving the WEC. Our team will not participate in the 2019-2020 season.”

A real blow for the series promoted by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest, SMP Racing having nevertheless confirmed its presence on the entry list for the 2019-2020 campaign during the press conference held on the sidelines of the 24 Hours of Le Mans .

So for the moment remaining provisionally registered in LM P1, the two Toyota TS050 Hybrids, the two Ginetta G60-LT-P1 – Team LNT and the two Rebellion R13s, as indicated by the ACO last June.