Russian Time

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.

Russia Russian Time
Founded2013
Founder(s)Igor Mazepa
Timo Rumpfkeil
Folded2018
BaseNorwich, Norfolk, England
Team principal(s)Svetlana Strelnikova
Former seriesFIA Formula 2 Championship
GP2 Series
Noted driversUnited Kingdom Sam Bird
New Zealand Mitch Evans
Italy Luca Ghiotto
Italy Raffaele Marciello
Russia Artem Markelov
Teams'
Championships
GP2 Series:
2013
FIA Formula 2 Championship:
2017
Websitehttp://www.rus-time.com

From 2015 to 2018, the team was managed by Virtuosi Racing.[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 wins—five for Markelov and one for Ghiotto—and 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.
2013Dallara GP2/11-MecachromeMotopark Academy Sam Bird225231812nd1st
Tom Dillmann220129210th
2014Dallara GP2/11-MecachromeiSport International Mitch Evans222011744th5th
Artem Markelov22000624th
2015Dallara GP2/11-MecachromeVirtuosi Racing Mitch Evans212031355th5th
Artem Markelov210004813th
2016Dallara GP2/11-MecachromeVirtuosi Racing Raffaele Marciello220001594th3rd
Artem Markelov221039710th

FIA Formula 2 Championship

YearCarDriversRacesWinsPolesF.L.PointsD.C.T.C.
2017Dallara GP2/11-Mecachrome Artem Markelov225162102nd1st
Luca Ghiotto221001854th
2018Dallara F2 2018-Mecachrome Artem Markelov243051865th4th
Tadasuke Makino241004813th

In detail

GP2 Series

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

YearChassis
Engine
Tyres
Drivers12345678910111213141516171819202122T.C.Points
2013GP2/11
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
Sam Bird7Ret612112124151381081142481104
Tom Dillmann1411845261125368Ret20115935614RetDNS
2014GP2/11
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
Mitch Evans1471420267417111129543202435
Artem Markelov151011RetRetRet21161817Ret1216207Ret21Ret1612Ret19
2015GP2/11
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
Mitch Evans6172DNSRetDNS105Ret2017225331118313C
Artem Markelov1312125Ret145DSQ2114221835514Ret12168RetC
2016GP2/11
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
Raffaele Marciello85633113496483745214621013
Artem Markelov4418Ret5Ret11101294Ret95211010DNS1337

FIA Formula 2 Championship

YearChassis
Engine
Tyres
Drivers123456789101112131415161718192021222324T.C.Points
2017GP2/11
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
Luca Ghiotto722754167144626823417435
Artem Markelov1889254581431791Ret9155116
2018F2 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
Artem Markelov31RetRet891414148164813652211527
Tadasuke Makino1917999Ret14Ret8Ret761211912121111410119Ret

References

Achievements
Preceded by GP2 Series Teams' Champion
2013
Succeeded by
Preceded by
Prema Racing
(GP2 Series)
FIA Formula 2 Teams' Champion
2017
Succeeded by