On the eve of the final round of the FIA World Championship, the Russian company BR Engineering announces the decision to continue the participation in the championship in 2018 in the LMP1 class with a prototype of its own manufacture.
Boris Rotenberg, president of BR Engineering, and Andrea Pontremoli, CEO of Dallara, signed a collaboration agreement. The joint development and creation of a racing prototype BR1 in 2018 is the target of the Russian and Italian team work.
The BR Engineering new project started in Italy yesterday, and the process of creating the future prototype has already been launched. The company intends to spend 2017 on design, constructoen, all the necessary studies and tests, as well as the whole homologation process. In 2018 Russian team SMP Racing team once again take part in the FIA WEC on BR Engineering prototype. The team of specialists from ART Grand Prix is also involved into participation of the development of the new car and subsequent technical and operational services.
The BR1 will be created in accordance with the FIA regulations for LMP1 prototypes in the FIA World Endurance Championship. The newest prototype is the next step after the launch in 2015 of the BR01 (LMP2), which had several podium finishes and achieved an overall third place in the ELMS this season and finished third in the 2016 Le Mans 24 Hours.
For next season some fundamental changes in the LMP2 class will be introduced; reducing the list of manufacturers. This influenced the decision of BR Engineering to focus its efforts on the development of a new prototype in the LMP1-L class with the target to continue in the 2018 FIA WEC championship and the Le Mans 24 Hours, in a new car and stepping up to the top class of endurance racing.
"We raised a challenge to ourselves", - said Boris Rotenberg. - It was possible to buy on the chassis of one of the four manufacturers, also it was possible to leave prototype racing, but we have always chosen our path. Not necessarily, and not always the easiest, but it is for sure - the most interesting and promising. The aim of the project was and remains the development of Russian motor sport, including the field of technology. We invest a lot in support of the Russian pilots to help talented young drivers to start a career in karting and successfully continue in GT, prototypes or single seaters. Our LMP2 BR01 prototype was the first Russian car on the Le Mans podium. BR1is the continuation of this project, aimed primarily at attracting higher technology in our country. Dallara's name is known to anyone who is familiar with motor racing. Now we have become partners, and BR Engineering's new project started here in Italy, where the best designers and engineers, both from Russia and from Europe will create a Russian prototype for the Russian SMP Racing team. They will face a lot of work. "
The world-famous manufacturer of racing technology of the highest level, Dallara, is the chassis supplier for the cars involved in IndyCar, FIA WEC, ELMS, GP2 , GP3, Formula 3,5 V8, Super Formula, represented in Formula 3, and Formula E. Dallara is also collaborating with Alfa Romeo, Audi, Bugatti, Ferrari , KTM, Lamborghini, Maserati and many other manufacturers. Every weekend, about 300 racing cars built by its plant in Parma, where the BR Engineering office is now open, successfully performing on tracks around the world.
