Sergei Zlobin

Sergey Yuryevich Zlobin (; born 29 May 1970) is a Russian racing driver, who competed twice in the 24 Hours of Le Mans alongside being a test driver for Minardi.

Career

Zlobin began racing in 1996 at the later age of 26, and took part in several competitions, such as Danian Cup in rallycross. In 1998, he made a switch to single-seater racing, initially competing in Russian Formula Three Championship and Euro Formula 3000 for several years.

In August 2002, Zlobin was announced as a test driver for the Minardi Formula One team, becoming the first Russian to test a Formula 1 car. His signing was a part of the sponsorship deal that Minardi made with Gazprom, brokered by Oksana Kosachenko. However, Gazprom paid only 2 million dollars out the promised 9 million during the season, which led to the contract breaking down. After a one-year hiatus, Zlobin returned to motorsport in 2004, and continued the testing programme with Minardi.

Zlobin competed at Le Mans twice, in 2005 and 2014. He competed in a number of GT and Endurance racing series, including the FIA GT Championship, Blancpain Endurance Series and European Le Mans Series.

Personal life On 24 September 2007, Zlobin survived a car bomb which had been planted in his Mercedes-Benz G500. The explosion caused minor injuries to Zlobin's legs, but he was able to get out of the vehicle himself to call police.

Zlobin's son Nikita, born in 1996, is also a racing driver who raced in junior single-seaters.

Career summary

24 Hours of Le Mans results Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps 2005 Intersport Racing Cirtek Motorsport Juan Barazi Bastien Brière Courage C65-AER LMP2 30 DNF DNF 2014 SMP Racing Anton Ladygin Mika Salo Oreca 03R-Nissan LMP2 303 37th 12th