The team has shown consistently good results throughout the season, with car 26 taking first place four times — in Great Britain, the USA, Japan and Bahrain — and car 28 taking gold in Belgium.
By the final round in Bahrain, with the G-Drive Racing team having a sixteen-point lead on their nearest rivals, they needed only to finish with points in order to make their claim on the trophy. The race was held over a difficult track, designed by German Formula One architect Hermann Tilke. With Russia taking the first half of the race in power-saving mode, the G-Drive team launched a series of attacks as night fell, with car 26 taking the lead. The car won through a total 183 circuits — almost 1,000 kilometres at an average speed of around 173 kilometres per hour.
Roman Rusinov, racing driver of the G-Drive Racing team recalled: “The engineers advised us, very strongly, not to take any risks, and to take care in attacking. I understood we needed to look after the car, and to just finish — even if that were in fifth place. But you have to admit, it’s brilliant to win the final race of the season and take the world championship in such an intense contest!”
Gazprom Neft Regional Sales Director Alexander Krylov commented: “This is our third year competing in the title, having taken bronze in 2013 and silver in 2014. And, at the start of this season, we resolved to win. Now, finally, the G-Drive Racing team have a well-deserved gold! We’ve had some pretty intense moments, running the gamut of emotions at races all over the world — taking victories and consolidating our lead, seeing the Russian flag above the podium, and winning trophies! This year’s WEC season was far from easy, but it was precisely our perseverance that has taken us to victory”.
The Gazprom Neft G-Drive Racing initiative, directed at supporting motor racing in Russia, sponsors the G-Drive Racing team, competing in the LMP2 class of the FIA World Endurance Championship