Roman Rusinov

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.

Roman Rusinov

24 Hours of Le Mans career
Years	2008 – 2009, 2012 –
Teams	IPB Spartak Racing, Team Modena, Signatech-Nissan, G-Drive Racing
Best finish	2nd (2016)
Class wins	0

Rusinov was the first Russian driver to win an international race in Europe; in 2000 he won the International Renault Finals in French Formula Renault. 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 began, with the Gazprom brand sponsoring the 28 car entered as "G-Drive Racing by Delta-ADR." In subsequent years until 2021 the brand and Rusinov moved through several other partnerships as they expanded across WEC and additional teams in the European Le Mans Series.

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]