Roman Rusinov

Roman Aleksandrovich Rusinov (, 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 and the European Le Mans Series from 2018 until 2021. He has four titles in international endurance championships.

Rusinov is the first Russian driver to win an international race in Europe.

Racing record In 2000, Rusinov won the International Renault Finals in French Formula Renault, becoming the first Russian driver to win an international race in Europe. 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, Rusinov 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.

In 2013, Rusinov's association with G-Drive Racing began, with the Gazprom brand sponsoring the No. 26 car in the LMP2 category. In subsequent years until 2021, the brand and Rusinov moved through several partnerships as they expanded across WEC and in the European Le Mans Series.

At the 2018 24 Hours of Le Mans, Rusinov's G-Drive LMP2 crossed the finish line first, but was disqualified during post-race scrutineering for a modified refuelling rig in their fuel system assemblies.

In 2022, the team formally entered the No. 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.

Rusinov began to compete in rally raids in 2023, driving a Can-Am Maverick in the T3 category for G-Drive Racing. He finished eighth in class in his debut at the Russian Rally-Raid Championship's Gold of Kagan Baja, then runner-up at the Silk Way Rally. The following year, Rusinov won the Silk Way in T3.

Rusinov returned to endurance racing in early 2025, driving a Graff Racing-run Rossa LM GT at the Dubai 24 Hour alongside former teammate Harrison Newey.

Career results Career summary † Guest driver ineligible to score points

‡ Teams' Standings

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps 2008 IPB Spartak Racing Reiter Engineering Peter Kox Mike Hezemans Lamborghini Murciélago R-GT GT1 266 NC NC 2009 Team Modena Leo Mansell Pierre Ehret Ferrari F430 GT2 GT2 314 27th 7th 2012 Signatech-Nissan Pierre Ragues Nelson Panciatici Oreca 03-Nissan LMP2 351 10th 4th 2013 G-Drive-Nissan John Martin Mike Conway Oreca 03-Nissan LMP2 327 EX EX 2014 G-Drive Racing Olivier Pla Julien Canal Morgan LMP2-Nissan LMP2 120 DNF DNF 2015 G-Drive Racing Sam Bird Julien Canal Ligier JS P2-Nissan LMP2 358 11th 3rd 2016 G-Drive Racing René Rast Will Stevens Oreca 05-Nissan LMP2 357 6th 2nd 2017 G-Drive Racing Pierre Thiriet Alex Lynn Oreca 07-Gibson LMP2 20 DNF DNF 2018 G-Drive Racing Andrea Pizzitola Jean-Éric Vergne Oreca 07-Gibson LMP2 369 DSQ DSQ 2019 G-Drive Racing Job van Uitert Jean-Éric Vergne Aurus 01-Gibson LMP2 364 11th 6th 2020 G-Drive Racing Mikkel Jensen Jean-Éric Vergne Aurus 01-Gibson LMP2 367 9th 5th 2021 G-Drive Racing Franco Colapinto Nyck de Vries Aurus 01-Gibson LMP2 358 12th 7th

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results

Complete European Le Mans Series results Year Entrant Class Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 Rank Points 2016 Eurointernational LMP3 Ligier JS P3 Nissan VK50VE 5.0 L V8 SIL IMO RBR LEC SPA EST 25th 6 2018 G-Drive Racing LMP2 Oreca 07 Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 LEC MNZ RBR SIL SPA ALG 1st 100.25 2019 G-Drive Racing LMP2 Aurus 01 Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 LEC MNZ CAT SIL SPA ALG 2nd 101 2020 G-Drive Racing LMP2 Aurus 01 Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 LEC SPA LEC MNZ ALG 3rd 61 2021 G-Drive Racing LMP2 Aurus 01 Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 CAT RBR LEC MNZ SPA ALG 4th 74 ‡ Half points awarded as less than 75% of race distance was completed.