SMP Racing crews have finished the next stage of the World Endurance Championship

07.05.2016 22:46:00

Two crews of Russian SMP Racing team finished the next stage of the World Endurance Championship, which took place at the Belgian circuit Spa-Francorchamps. The crew numbered 37 composed of Vitaly Petrov, Kirill Ladygin and Victor Shaitar finished the race ninth, and the car numbered 27 under the control of David Markozov, Nicolas Minassian and Maurizio Mediani finished 11th in its LMP2 category.

"It was one of the most exciting and unpredictable races in recent years, - Vitaly Petrov said. - There were a lot of interesting overtakings, accidents, retirements, rearrangements. I am sure that the audience had incredible fun and a lot of emotion.
As for our team, unfortunately, we were not lucky from the beginning. At the coming out of the first corner one of the rivals hit me in the rear right wheel, causing the damage of the exhaust system and the bottom. More than 10 laps the car had to spend in the boxes. After the appearance of Victor Shaitar in the track there was another bump - this time a rival tried to overtake him, but didn’t estimate. Boxes and waste of time again. In spite of that, we remained on the track, working on the car, on its settings.
We see problems, we see the main reasons that do not allow us to climb the podium - is the lack of speed and tire degradation. We are doing everything possible to eliminate them. Before the race in the "Le Mans" we will have two days of tests, which we also use to deal with the situation. Also our similar car goes to the European series, we plan to make some changes in it and see them on the stage at Imola.
I want to repeat once again that BR01is a new prototype. Yes, right now in this championship it loses at speed to the rivals, but we will deal with this problem as well as examine well the Dunlop tire, which composition has been changed this year.
The most important thing is that our car is reliable. In the race at Le Mans it can play a decisive role. Perhaps by that time we will be able to eliminate all the problems and we will show the result that all the Russian fans expect."

The next stage of the World Endurance Championship will be celebrated daily marathon "24 hours of Le Mans", which starts on June 18 at the French Sarthe circuit.