G-Drive Racing entered both the World Endurance Championship (WEC) and the European Le Mans Series (ELMS) again in 2017. SMP Racing ran a less far-reaching campaign, with the goal of joining the LMP1 class in 2018.

G-Drive Racing’s season of contrasts - 2017 began well, with wins at Spa-Francorchamps (WEC) and Monza (ELMS). Things took a turn for the worse at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, despite the team starting from the front of the LMP2 pack. The Russian was hit with a hefty penalty subsequent to a collision with a GT. The incident had repercussions on the rest of the WEC season, entailing several driver changes. Spa remained the only world championship victory in 2017. However, the team went from strength to strength in ELMS, taking a top five place in each of the six rounds (on win, four second places and one fourth place), which earned them a second LMP2 crown.

SMP Racing, gearing up for 2018 - Having skipped the first two ELMS races of the year, SMP Racing took to the track in June, at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The team’s two homegrown drivers Matevos Isaakyan and Egor Orudzhev were quick to find their feet in the ELMS, snapping up a win and two third places while also driving in the Formula V8 3.5 World Series. SMP Racing fielded the Dallara P217 chassis, also selected by the team’s owner Boris Rotenberg for the LMP1 prototype, the BR1, which will be seen in action in 2018. The car was unveiled at the 6 Hours of Bahrain, the closing round of the World Endurance Championship.

Photo: SMP Racing’s P217 was the fastest Dallara chassis in the LMP2 class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, but technical issues hampered progress and it finished 17th in LMP2.