Russian Bears Motorsport
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|
| Founded | 2007 |
|---|---|
| Team principal(s) | Viktor Shapovalov |
| Current series | International GT Open |
| Former series |
FIA GT3 European Championship Lada Granta Cup European Production Series World Touring Car Championship, Dutch Supercar Challenge |
Russian Bears Motorsport, also known as SMP Racing, is a Russian auto racing team based in Moscow. They ran the works team for Lada in the World Touring Car Championship (WTCC), under the banner of Lada Sport in the 2009 season.
Russian Bears Motorsport was formed in March 2007, and started by running BMW 320is in the Dutch Supercar Challenge, with drivers Viktor Shapovalov (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, and Shapovalov and Fridman also competed in the following round at Circuit de Valencia.
The team returned to the WTCC to run Lada 110s in 2008, with Dutch driver Jaap van Lagen joining Shapovalov with driving duties. Kirill Ladygin 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 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.
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