Russian Time

Last updated
Flag of Russia.svg Russian Time
RT Russian Time logo.jpg
Founded2013
Founder(s) Igor Mazepa
Timo Rumpfkeil
Folded2018
Base Norwich, Norfolk, England
Team principal(s) Svetlana Strelnikova
Former series FIA Formula 2 Championship
GP2 Series
Noted drivers Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Sam Bird
Flag of New Zealand.svg Mitch Evans
Flag of Italy.svg Luca Ghiotto
Flag of Italy.svg Raffaele Marciello
Flag of Russia.svg Artem Markelov
Teams'
Championships
GP2 Series :
2013
FIA Formula 2 Championship :
2017
Website http://www.rus-time.com

Russian Time (previously known as RT Russian Time) was a Russian motor racing team founded by Igor Mazepa to compete in the GP2 Series, a category of open-wheel racing cars designed to prepare drivers for Formula One.

Contents

The team was managed by Motopark in 2013, iSport International in 2014 and Virtuosi Racing from 2015 to 2018. [1]

Racing history

GP2 Series

Russian Time was established by former Russian racing driver and manager Igor Mazepa and Motopark Academy team principal Timo Rumpfkeil in 2013. [2] [3] The team had sought an entry to the GP2 Series for two years before finally being accepted in 2013, replacing iSport International. [3] iSport International withdrew from the series after being unable to secure a budget to compete in the upcoming season, and so its management elected to shut the team down in order to avoid bankruptcy. [4]

The team won its first race in only its fourth appearance, when Sam Bird won the sprint race of the Bahrain round of the championship. [5] The team took a second win on the streets of Monaco, with Bird finishing ahead of Kevin Ceccon after a fourteen-car pile-up on the opening lap forced nine drivers out of the race. [6] In 2014, the team made their debut in GP3 Series, taking Bamboo Engineering's slot and continue to participate in GP2, German Formula Three and ADAC Formel Masters. [7] [8]

The team's preparations for the 2014 season were disrupted by the death of Mazepa from complications relating to thrombosis in February 2014. [9] Following this, Motopark Academy ended their partnership with team, leaving their participation in the 2014 GP2 and GP3 seasons in limbo. [10] The team reunited with iSport International to continue their GP2 programme, signing Mitch Evans and Artem Markelov, but chose to abandon their plans for their GP3 entry, selling it on to Hilmer Motorsport.

Evans and Markelov were retained for the 2015 season, the first time a GP2 team has entered back to back seasons with the same lineup since DAMS retained Kamui Kobayashi and Jérôme d'Ambrosio in 2009. But the team changed the management from iSport to Virtuosi Racing. [11] The team finished fifth in the team's championship, with two sprint race wins for Evans.

For the 2016 season, Markelov was retained for a third season with Raffaele Marciello joining the team. Markelov achieved his maiden victory at the Monaco feature race, having started fifteenth on the grid. Marciello finished fourth in the standings and Markelov tenth with the team taking third in the constructor's championship.

FIA Formula 2 Championship

In 2017, Markelov remained with the team for a fourth season with Luca Ghiotto joining the team, moving from Trident. [12] Their combination brought six winsfive for Markelov and one for Ghiottoand the first teams' title in the history of FIA Formula 2 Championship. [13] The team was omitted from the preliminary entry list for the 2018 championship, [14] but later confirmed their participation, [15] retaining Markelov and hiring European Formula 3 driver Tadasuke Makino to replace Ghiotto. [16] [17] The team was not able to repeat their success with the new F2 car, finishing the season fourth in the teams' standings, while Markelov downgraded to fifth in the drivers' championship with three wins. Makino won a feature race at Monza, but finished outside the top-ten in the drivers' standings. The team were sold before the 2018 finale and became UNI-Virtuosi Racing. [18]

Results

GP2 Series

YearCarRun byDriversRacesWinsPolesF.L.PointsD.C.T.C.
2013 Dallara GP2/11-Mecachrome Motopark Academy Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Sam Bird 225231812nd1st
Flag of France.svg Tom Dillmann 220129210th
2014 Dallara GP2/11-Mecachrome iSport International Flag of New Zealand.svg Mitch Evans 222011744th5th
Flag of Russia.svg Artem Markelov 22000624th
2015 Dallara GP2/11-Mecachrome Virtuosi Racing Flag of New Zealand.svg Mitch Evans 212031355th5th
Flag of Russia.svg Artem Markelov 210004813th
2016 Dallara GP2/11-Mecachrome Virtuosi Racing Flag of Italy.svg Raffaele Marciello 220001594th3rd
Flag of Russia.svg Artem Markelov 221039710th

FIA Formula 2 Championship

YearCarRun byDriversRacesWinsPolesF.L.PointsD.C.T.C.
2017 Dallara GP2/11-Mecachrome Virtuosi Racing Flag of Russia.svg Artem Markelov 225162102nd1st
Flag of Italy.svg Luca Ghiotto 221001854th
2018 Dallara F2 2018-Mecachrome Virtuosi Racing Flag of Russia.svg Artem Markelov 243051865th4th
Flag of Japan.svg Tadasuke Makino 241004813th

In detail

GP2 Series

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

YearChassis
Engine
Tyres
Drivers12345678910111213141516171819202122T.C.Points
2013 GP2/11
Mecachrome
P
SEP
FEA
SEP
SPR
BHR
FEA
BHR
SPR
CAT
FEA
CAT
SPR
MON
FEA
MON
SPR
SIL
FEA
SIL
SPR
NÜR
FEA
NÜR
SPR
HUN
FEA
HUN
SPR
SPA
FEA
SPA
SPR
MNZ
FEA
MNZ
SPR
MRN
FEA
MRN
SPR
YMC
FEA
YMC
SPR
1st273
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Sam Bird 7Ret612112124151381081142481104
Flag of France.svg Tom Dillmann 1411845261125368Ret20115935614RetDNS
2014 GP2/11
Mecachrome
P
BHR
FEA
BHR
SPR
CAT
FEA
CAT
SPR
MON
FEA
MON
SPR
RBR
FEA
RBR
SPR
SIL
FEA
SIL
SPR
HOC
FEA
HOC
SPR
HUN
FEA
HUN
SPR
SPA
FEA
SPA
SPR
MNZ
FEA
MNZ
SPR
SOC
FEA
SOC
SPR
YMC
FEA
YMC
SPR
5th180
Flag of New Zealand.svg Mitch Evans 1471420267417111129543202435
Flag of Russia.svg Artem Markelov 151011RetRetRet21161817Ret1216207Ret21Ret1612Ret19
2015 GP2/11
Mecachrome
P
BHR
FEA
BHR
SPR
CAT
FEA
CAT
SPR
MON
FEA
MON
SPR
RBR
FEA
RBR
SPR
SIL
FEA
SIL
SPR
HUN
FEA
HUN
SPR
SPA
FEA
SPA
SPR
MNZ
FEA
MNZ
SPR
SOC
FEA
SOC
SPR
BHR
FEA
BHR
SPR
YMC
FEA
YMC
SPR
5th183
Flag of New Zealand.svg Mitch Evans 6172DNSRetDNS105Ret2017225331118313C
Flag of Russia.svg Artem Markelov 1312125Ret145DSQ2114221835514Ret12168RetC
2016 GP2/11
Mecachrome
P
CAT
FEA
CAT
SPR
MON
FEA
MON
SPR
BAK
FEA
BAK
SPR
RBR
FEA
RBR
SPR
SIL
FEA
SIL
SPR
HUN
FEA
HUN
SPR
HOC
FEA
HOC
SPR
SPA
FEA
SPA
SPR
MNZ
FEA
MNZ
SPR
SEP
FEA
SEP
SPR
YMC
FEA
YMC
SPR
3rd256
Flag of Italy.svg Raffaele Marciello 85633113496483745214621013
Flag of Russia.svg Artem Markelov 4418Ret5Ret11101294Ret95211010DNS1337

FIA Formula 2 Championship

YearChassis
Engine
Tyres
Drivers123456789101112131415161718192021222324T.C.Points
2017 GP2/11
Mecachrome
P
BHR
FEA
BHR
SPR
CAT
FEA
CAT
SPR
MON
FEA
MON
SPR
BAK
FEA
BAK
SPR
RBR
FEA
RBR
SPR
SIL
FEA
SIL
SPR
HUN
FEA
HUN
SPR
SPA
FEA
SPA
SPR
MNZ
FEA
MNZ
SPR
JER
FEA
JER
SPR
YMC
FEA
YMC
SPR
1st395
Flag of Italy.svg Luca Ghiotto 722754167144626823417435
Flag of Russia.svg Artem Markelov 1889254581431791Ret9155116
2018 F2 2018
Mecachrome
P
BHR
FEA
BHR
SPR
BAK
FEA
BAK
SPR
CAT
FEA
CAT
SPR
MON
FEA
MON
SPR
LEC
FEA
LEC
SPR
RBR
FEA
RBR
SPR
SIL
FEA
SIL
SPR
HUN
FEA
HUN
SPR
SPA
FEA
SPA
SPR
MNZ
FEA
MNZ
SPR
SOC
FEA
SOC
SPR
YMC
FEA
YMC
SPR
4th234
Flag of Russia.svg Artem Markelov 31RetRet891414148164813652211527
Flag of Japan.svg Tadasuke Makino 1917999Ret14Ret8Ret761211912121111410119Ret

References

  1. "Virtuosi to run Russian Time GP2 team". eurosport.com. 19 February 2015. Retrieved 28 November 2017.
  2. Игорь Мазепа: Мы ведём переговоры с Диллманом и Фряйнсом (in Russian). F1news.ru. 7 March 2013. Retrieved 24 April 2013.
  3. 1 2 Kabanovsky, Aleksander (5 March 2013). "Russian Time hopes Motopark tie-up will build driver ladder into F1". Autosport.com. Haymarket Publications . Retrieved 5 March 2013.
  4. Bradley, Charles (22 February 2013). "iSport on verge of selling GP2 entry". Autosport.com. Haymarket Publications . Retrieved 4 March 2013.
  5. Bradley, Charles (21 April 2013). "Bahrain GP2: Bird wins thrilling sprint race victory by 0.08s". Autosport.com. Haymarket Publications . Retrieved 21 April 2013.
  6. Bradley, Charles (24 May 2013). "Monaco GP2: Sam Bird wins in Monte Carlo again". Autosport.com. Haymarket Publications . Retrieved 24 May 2013.
  7. Allen, Peter (27 September 2013). "Russian Time joins GP3 field for 2014". Paddock Scout. Retrieved 27 September 2013.
  8. "Lotus team to compete in the 2014 ATS Formula 3 Cup". German Formula Three Championship . Formel-3-Vereinigung e.V. 30 October 2013. Retrieved 3 November 2013. We will contest the ADAC Formula Masters, the GP3 and GP2 in 2014. Therefore we can pave the way for young talents to smoothly advance from karting towards Formula 1. We will announce the drivers shortly before the end of the year.
  9. Allen, Peter (5 February 2014). "Russian Time team principal Igor Mazepa dies". Formula Scout. Retrieved 13 December 2021.
  10. "Motopark splits with Russian Time following Igor Mazepa's death - F2 - Autosport". Autosport. 17 February 2014.
  11. Mills, Peter (18 March 2015). "Virtuosi to run Russian Time GP2 team". eurosport.com. Eurosport . Retrieved 25 April 2017.
  12. "RUSSIAN TIME announces 2017 drivers". 15 February 2017. Retrieved 15 February 2017.
  13. Allen, Peter (26 November 2017). "Charles Leclerc snatches last-lap victory in final F2 race". formulascout.com. Retrieved 26 November 2017. Luca Ghiotto and Artem Markelov finished fifth and sixth to secure the teams' title for Russian Time in its final race in the category ahead of Prema and DAMS.
  14. Kalinauckas, Alex (16 November 2017). "Carlin among three new teams on 2018 F2 entry list". motorsport.com . Motorsport Network . Retrieved 16 November 2017.
  15. "FIA Formula 2 Championship's 2018 teams confirmed". fiaformula2.com. FIA Formula 2 Championship. 8 February 2018. Retrieved 8 February 2018.
  16. Allen, Peter (9 February 2018). "F2 runner-up Artem Markelov to continue in 2018 with Russian Time". formulascout.com. Retrieved 9 February 2018.
  17. Allen, Peter (9 February 2018). "Honda protege Tadasuke Makino steps up to F2 with Russian Time". formulascout.com. Retrieved 9 February 2018.
  18. Benyon, Jack (25 November 2018). "Russian Time sells Formula 2 team". motorsport.com . Motorsport Network. Archived from the original on 25 November 2018. Retrieved 25 November 2018.
Achievements
Preceded by GP2 Series Teams' Champion
2013
Succeeded by
Preceded by
Prema Racing
(GP2 Series)
FIA Formula 2 Teams' Champion
2017
Succeeded by