Roman Aleksandrovich Rusinov (Russian: Рома́н Алекса́ндрович Ру́синов, IPA: [rɐˈman ɐlʲɪˈksandrəvʲɪtɕ ˈrusʲɪnəv], born 21 October 1981 in Moscow) is a Russian auto racing driver who competed in the FIA World Endurance Championship with G-Drive Racing from the Championship's first season in 2012 until 2021 and the European Le Mans Series from 2018 until 2021. He has four titles in international endurance championships.

Roman Rusinov
NationalityRussia Russian
Born21 October 1981 (1981-10-21) (age 42)
Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Racing licence FIA Gold
24 Hours of Le Mans career
Years2008 – 2009, 2012 –
TeamsIPB Spartak Racing, Team Modena, Signatech-Nissan, G-Drive Racing
Best finish2nd (2016)

Rusinov is the first Russian driver to win an international race in Europe.

Racing record edit

In 2000 Rusinov won the International Renault Finals in French Formula Renault, becoming the first Russian driver to win an international race in Europe. In 2002 he led the Formula Palmer Audi championship till the last event, but collided with his main rival and finished third overall. In 2003 he competed in Euro Formula 3000, taking a pole position at the Nürburgring.

The same year he won the LMP675 class at the first race of the Le Mans Series, the 1000 km of Le Mans. In 2004, Rusinov raced with Ferrari Modena and became the Le Mans Series Champion in the GT2 class. In 2005, he competed in a Maserati MC12 in the FIA GT Championship and was appointed one of Russia's A1GP drivers. The A1GP team lasted only three events before running out of funding.

In 2006, Rusinov was one of four test drivers signed to Formula One team MF1 Racing. The team's owner, Russian-born Canadian businessman Alex Shnaider, had announced an ambition to get a Russian driver into F1. Rusinov participated in the first MF1 tests at Jerez, but was the only test driver not to participate in at least one Friday practice session, due to the absence of Russian sponsors on the MF1 Racing car and the difficult financial situation of the team.

In 2008, Rusinov switched to endurance racing, driving a Reiter Engineering-prepared Lamborghini Murcielago racing under the IPB SPARTAK RACING name in the FIA GT Championship and the Le Mans Series, and a Lamborghini Gallardo in the ADAC GT Masters series. In the latter series he won two of the three races, with his driving partner Peter Kox.

In 2012 Rusinov entered the inaugural running of the FIA World Endurance Championship, joining the reigning Intercontinental Le Mans Cup champions Signatech-Nissan from round two onwards.[1]

In 2013 Rusinov's association with G-Drive Racing began, with the Gazprom brand sponsoring the 26 car in the LMP2 category. In subsequent years until 2021 the brand and Rusinov moved through several partnerships as they expanded across WEC and in the European Le Mans Series.

 
Rusinov at the 2018 Le Mans 24

At the 2018 24 Hours of Le Mans Rusinov's G-Drive LMP2 crossed the finish line first, but was disqualified during post-race scrutineering for a modified refuelling rig in their fuel system assemblies.

In 2022 the team formally entered the 53 car to ELMS under G-Drive Racing. However, on 6 March 2022 Rusinov announced via an Instagram post that the team would not be competing, citing that he was not willing to sign off the conditions of competition for Russian athletes introduced by the FIA in response to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.[2]

Career summary edit

Season Series Team Races Wins Poles F/Laps Podiums Points Position
2000 Championnat de France Formula Renault 2.0 Graff Racing 8 1 0 0 1 25 7th
2001 Championnat de France Formula Renault 2.0 Graff Racing 11 0 0 0 1 53 10th
Formula Renault 2000 Eurocup 4 0 0 0 0 0 42nd
2002 Formula Palmer Audi N/A 12 1 1 5 7 198 3rd
2003 Euro Formula 3000 GP Racing 7 0 1 1 0 6 9th
2004 Le Mans Endurance Series - GT JMB Racing 4 1 0 0 2 25 1st
2005 FIA GT Championship - GT1 JMB Racing 5 0 0 0 0 17 11th
Formula One Midland F1 Racing Test driver
2005–06 A1 Grand Prix A1 Team Russia 2 0 0 0 0 0‡ 25th‡
2006 Formula One Midland F1 Racing Test driver
2008 Le Mans Series - GT1 IPB Spartak Racing 5 0 1 0 3 27 3rd
24 Hours of Le Mans - GT1 1 0 0 0 0 N/A NC
FIA GT Championship - GT1 Reiter Engineering 4 0 0 0 0 9.5 17th
ADAC GT Masters 5 2 0 1 2 20 14th
2009 Le Mans Series - GT1 IPB Spartak Racing 1 1 0 0 1 10 8th
24 Hours of Le Mans - GT2 Team Modena 1 0 0 0 0 N/A 7th
2012 FIA World Endurance Championship Signatech-Nissan 7 0 0 0 0 11.5 25th
24 Hours of Le Mans - LMP2 1 0 0 0 0 N/A 4th
2013 FIA World Endurance Championship - LMP2 G-Drive Racing 8 4 0 0 5 132 3rd
24 Hours of Le Mans - LMP2 1 0 0 0 0 N/A DSQ
24 Hours of Nürburgring - SP9 G-Drive Racing by Phoenix 1 0 0 0 0 N/A 8th
2014 FIA World Endurance Championship - LMP2 G-Drive Racing 8 4 6 0 6 137 2nd
24 Hours of Le Mans - LMP2 1 0 0 0 0 N/A DNF
United SportsCar Championship - Prototype OAK Racing 1 0 0 0 0 26 45th
Blancpain GT Sprint Series - Pro G-Drive Racing[a] 8 0 0 0 0 16 16th
24 Hours of Nürburgring - SP9 G-Drive Racing 1 0 0 0 0 N/A DNF
2015 FIA World Endurance Championship - LMP2 G-Drive Racing 8 4 0 0 7 178 1st
24 Hours of Le Mans - LMP2 1 0 0 0 1 N/A 3rd
2016 FIA World Endurance Championship - LMP2 G-Drive Racing 9 3 3 0 6 162 3rd
24 Hours of Le Mans - LMP2 1 0 0 0 1 N/A 2nd
European Le Mans Series - LMP3 Eurointernational 2 0 0 0 0 6 25th
2017 FIA World Endurance Championship - LMP2 G-Drive Racing 9 1 0 0 1 82 9th
24 Hours of Le Mans - LMP2 1 0 0 0 0 N/A DNF
2018 European Le Mans Series - LMP2 G-Drive Racing 6 3 0 0 3 100.25 1st
24 Hours of Le Mans - LMP2 1 0 0 0 0 N/A DSQ
24H GT Series - 991 RScar Motorsport 1 0 0 0 0 0 NC
2019 European Le Mans Series - LMP2 G-Drive Racing 6 2 0 0 2 101 2nd
24 Hours of Le Mans - LMP2 1 0 0 0 0 N/A 6th
2019–20 Asian Le Mans Series - LMP2 G-Drive Racing with Algarve 4 2 0 0 4 83 1st
2020 European Le Mans Series - LMP2 G-Drive Racing 5 1 0 0 3 61 3rd
24 Hours of Le Mans - LMP2 1 0 0 0 0 N/A 5th
2021 European Le Mans Series - LMP2 G-Drive Racing 6 1 1 1 2 74 4th
FIA World Endurance Championship - LMP2 2 0 0 0 0 0 NC†
24 Hours of Le Mans - LMP2 1 0 0 0 0 N/A 7th

† Guest driver ineligible to score points

‡ Teams' Standings

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results edit

Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps Pos. Class
Pos.
2008   IPB Spartak Racing
  Reiter Engineering
  Peter Kox
  Mike Hezemans
Lamborghini Murciélago R-GT GT1 266 NC NC
2009   Team Modena   Leo Mansell
  Pierre Ehret
Ferrari F430 GT2 GT2 314 27th 7th
2012   Signatech-Nissan   Pierre Ragues
  Nelson Panciatici
Oreca 03-Nissan LMP2 351 10th 4th
2013   G-Drive-Nissan   John Martin
  Mike Conway
Oreca 03-Nissan LMP2 327 EX EX
2014   G-Drive Racing   Olivier Pla
  Julien Canal
Morgan LMP2-Nissan LMP2 120 DNF DNF
2015   G-Drive Racing   Sam Bird
  Julien Canal
Ligier JS P2-Nissan LMP2 358 11th 3rd
2016   G-Drive Racing   René Rast
  Will Stevens
Oreca 05-Nissan LMP2 357 6th 2nd
2017   G-Drive Racing   Pierre Thiriet
  Alex Lynn
Oreca 07-Gibson LMP2 20 DNF DNF
2018   G-Drive Racing   Andrea Pizzitola
  Jean-Éric Vergne
Oreca 07-Gibson LMP2 369 DSQ DSQ
2019   G-Drive Racing   Job van Uitert
  Jean-Éric Vergne
Aurus 01-Gibson LMP2 364 11th 6th
2020   G-Drive Racing   Mikkel Jensen
  Jean-Éric Vergne
Aurus 01-Gibson LMP2 367 9th 5th
2021   G-Drive Racing   Franco Colapinto
  Nyck de Vries
Aurus 01-Gibson LMP2 358 12th 7th

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results edit

Year Entrant Class Car Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Rank Points
2012 Signatech-Nissan LMP2 Oreca 03 Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8 SEB SPA
25
LMS
8
SIL
10
SÃO
14
BHR
10
FUJ
EX
SHA
13
25th 11.5
2013 G-Drive Racing LMP2 Oreca 03 Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8 SIL
6
SPA
4
LMS
EX
SÃO
1
COA
1
FUJ
2
SHA
1
BHR
1
3rd 132
2014 G-Drive Racing LMP2 Morgan LMP2 Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8 SIL
1
SPA
1
LMS
Ret
2nd 137
Ligier JS P2 COA
3
FUJ
1
SHA
1
BHR
3
SÃO
Ret
2015 G-Drive Racing LMP2 Ligier JS P2 Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8 SIL
1
SPA
9
LMS
2
NÜR
2
COA
1
FUJ
1
SHA
2
BHR
1
1st 178
2016 G-Drive Racing LMP2 Oreca 05 Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8 SIL
3
SPA
5
LMS
2
NÜR
Ret
MEX
7
COA
3
FUJ
1
SHA
1
BHR
1
3rd 162
2017 G-Drive Racing LMP2 Oreca 07 Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 SIL
5
SPA
1
LMS
Ret
NÜR
6
MEX
4
COA
8
FUJ
6
SHA
7
BHR
7
9th 82

Complete European Le Mans Series results edit

Year Entrant Class Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 Rank Points
2016 Eurointernational LMP3 Ligier JS P3 Nissan VK50VE 5.0 L V8 SIL IMO
8
RBR
9
LEC SPA EST 25th 6
2018 G-Drive Racing LMP2 Oreca 07 Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 LEC
4
MNZ
1
RBR
1
SIL
1
SPA
12‡
ALG
4
1st 100.25
2019 G-Drive Racing LMP2 Aurus 01 Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 LEC
4
MNZ
1
CAT
1
SIL
2
SPA
4
ALG
6
2nd 101
2020 G-Drive Racing LMP2 Aurus 01 Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 LEC
2
SPA
Ret
LEC
2
MNZ
Ret
ALG
1
3rd 61
2021 G-Drive Racing LMP2 Aurus 01 Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 CAT
4
RBR
2
LEC
1
MNZ
8
SPA
Ret
ALG
5
4th 74

Half points awarded as less than 75% of race distance was completed.

Notes edit

  1. ^ At the first three rounds, G-Drive Racing ran as a support team for the W Racing Team. At the fifth round, G-Drive Racing formed part of the Reiter Engineering entry.

References edit

  1. ^ Mercier, Laurent (18 April 2012). "Roman Rusinov dernière recrue chez Signatech-Nissan" [Roman Rusinov last rookie in Signatech-Nissan]. Endurance-Info (in French). Infomaniak Network SA. Archived from the original on 18 May 2012. Retrieved 18 April 2012.
  2. ^ "Roman Rusinov (G-Drive Racing) ne signera pas le document de la FIA". Endurance Info (in French). Retrieved 2022-03-06.

External links edit

Sporting positions
Preceded by FIA Endurance Trophy for LMP2 Drivers
2015
With: Sam Bird & Julien Canal
Succeeded by
Preceded by
Memo Rojas
Léo Roussel
European Le Mans Series
LMP2 Champion

2018
With: Andrea Pizzitola
Succeeded by
Preceded by Asian Le Mans Series
LMP2 Champion

2019–20
With: James French & Léonard Hoogenboom
Succeeded by