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 and the European Le Mans Series from 2018 until 2021. He has four titles in international endurance championships.

Quick Facts Nationality, Born ...

Roman Rusinov
Nationality	Russian
Born	21 October 1981 (1981-10-21) (age 42) Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Racing licence	FIA Gold
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)

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

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 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 Racing began, with the Gazprom brand sponsoring the 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 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]

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

More information Year, Team ...

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
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

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