Founded 2013 Team principal(s) Svetlana Strelnikova | Founder(s) Igor Mazepa Former series GP2 Series | |
Base Norwich, Norfolk, England Current series FIA Formula 2 Championship | ||
Russian Time (previously known as RT Russian Time) is 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.
The team is currently managed by Virtuosi Racing.
GP2 Series
Russian Time was established by former Russian racing driver and manager Igor Mazepa and Motopark Academy team principal Timo Rumpfkeil in 2013. The team had sought an entry to the GP2 Series for two years before finally being accepted in 2013, replacing iSport International. 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.
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. 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. 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.
The team's preparations for the 2014 season were disrupted by the death of Mazepa from complications relating to thrombosis in February 2014. Following this, Motopark ended their partnership with team, leaving their participation in the 2014 GP2 and GP3 seasons in limbo. 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 will be 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. 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 constructer's championship.
In 2017, Markelov remained with the team for a fourth season with Luca Ghiotto joining the team from Trident.