Russian Bears Motorsport, also known as

SMP Racing SMP Racing is the motor sport endurance racing team and also motorsport management created in 2013 by Boris Rotenberg, founder of the SMP Bank of Russia. Description The goal of SMP Racing is to train and unveil new talents. The team's training ...

, is a Russian

auto racing Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organise ...

team based in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

. They ran the works team for Lada in the

World Touring Car Championship The FIA World Touring Car Championship was an international touring car championship promoted by Eurosport Events and sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). It has had several different incarnations, including a sin ...

(WTCC), under the banner of Lada Sport in the 2009 season.

Team history

Russian Bears Motorsport was formed in March 2007, and started by running BMW 320is in the

Dutch Supercar Challenge The Supercar Challenge is a motor racing series centered on the Benelux. A special feature is that touring cars, GTs and Sportscars can all participate on an equal basis within the same class, enabled by very open regulations. The championship was ...

, with drivers

Viktor Shapovalov Viktor Shapovalov (born 4 March 1965 in Sterlitamak, Bashkir ASSR) is a Russian auto racing driver. Most of his career has been in touring cars, competing in the Russian Touring Car Championship as well as the Dutch Supercar Challenge. In 1998 he ...

(who also owns the team), Lev Fridman, Evgeny Zelenov and Oleg Petrikov. Shapovalov, Fridman and Zelenov all made their WTCC debuts in the BMWs at

Circuit Park Zandvoort Circuit Zandvoort (), known for sponsorship reasons as CM.com Circuit Zandvoort, and previously known as Circuit Park Zandvoort until 2017, is a motorsport race track located in the dunes north of Zandvoort, the Netherlands, near the North Sea ...

, and Shapovalov and Fridman also competed in the following round at

Circuit de Valencia Circuit Ricardo Tormo, also known as ''Circuit de Valencia'' and officially named ''Circuit de la Comunitat Valenciana Ricardo Tormo'', is a motorsport race track located in Cheste (Valencian Community, Spain) and built in 1999. The track is n ...

Jaap van Lagen 2009 WTCC Race of Japan (Free Practice)

The team returned to the WTCC to run

Lada 110 The Lada 110 or VAZ-2110 is a compact car built by the Russian automaker AvtoVAZ from 1995 to 2009. It spawned two close derivatives: the Lada 111 estate and the Lada 112 hatchback. History The prototype of the Lada 110, known as the 300 serie ...

s in

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

, with Dutch driver

Jaap van Lagen Jaap van Lagen (born 22 December 1976 in Ede) is a Dutch racing driver, who is a former competitor in the Formula Renault 3.5 Series and a former Eurocup Megane Trophy champion. He has also raced in the World Touring Car Championship. Racing c ...

joining Shapovalov with driving duties.

Kirill Ladygin Kirill Sergeyevich Ladygin (born 17 December 1978 in Ekaterinburg) is a Russian professional auto racing driver. He is twice champion of the Russian LADA Revolution Cup in 2004 and 2006. In 2008 he competed in the FIA World Touring Car Championsh ...

joined the team in a third car for the final four rounds. For 2009, the team attracted support from Lada, with the Russian company thus becoming the fourth manufacturer in the championship alongside SEAT, BMW and Chevrolet. The introduction of the new Priora at

Porto Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropol ...

and the addition of former British Touring Car Champion James Thompson to the driver lineup helped the team to increase their competitiveness during the season. Drivers points were achieved by Thompson for a pair of 6th places at the Imola round, which were also the first for either a Russian Bears driver or a Lada driver in the series. In order to make room for Thompson, Shapovalov had stepped down from driving duties to concentrate on team management. For 2011, the team participated in the new European Production Series (EP Series) with

and Vyacheslav Maleev driving two SEAT Leons and in the Lada Granta Cup driving two Lada Grantas Sport. Kirill was the 2011 Granta Cup Champion. For 2012, Russian Bears Motorsport began a new

FIA GT3 European Championship The FIA GT3 European Championship was a sports car racing series organized by the Stéphane Ratel Organisation (SRO) and regulated by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). It was a championship derived from the international FIA ...

campaign. This time

and Vyacheslav Maleev drove a Ferrari 458 GT3 Italia. In 2013, Russian Bears Motorsport renamed themselves to SMP Racing. The team entered the

International GT Open The International GT Open is a grand tourer-style sports car racing series founded in 2006 by the Spanish GT Sport Organización. It was a spin-off of the now-defunct Spanish GT Championship, but is now a distinct series featuring FIA GT3-spec ca ...

. For 2014 the team campaigned in the World Endurance Championship, running a Ferrari 458 GT3 Italia in the LMGTE-am class and a pair of Oreca 03Rs in the LMP2 class.

References

External links

* * {{in lang, ru Auto racing teams in Russia World Touring Car Championship teams International GT Open teams Blancpain Endurance Series teams Auto racing teams established in 2007