With most of the hybrid prototypes having now left
the series, the LMP1 class of the FIA World Endurance Championship and its
headline event, the 24 Hours of Le Mans, is now wide open to privateer teams
eager to take on Toyota for outright victory. And they're starting to line up
for their chance at the top prize.
The latest comes from Russian firm BR Engineering,
which has unveiled its own conventionally powered LMP1 prototype at the season
finale in Bahrain this weekend. Called the BR1, it's based on a Dallara chassis
with power from either an AER twin-turbo V6 rated at 720 horsepower, or a
Mecachrome-based Gibson V8 good for about 700 hp. Whatever engine is fitted
will drive the rear wheels through a six-speed paddle-shift Xtrac gearbox with
a Tilton clutch and limited-slip differential.
Brembo provides the brakes, Kayaba the electric
power steering, OZ the 18-inch magnesium wheels, and Michelin the tires – all
fitted to a package weighing approximately 930 kilograms (or about 2,050
pounds).
Having already passed all the FIA's homologation
procedures and undergone extensive track, wind-tunnel, and simulator testing,
the chassis is ready for privateer teams. Among them will be DragonSpeed and
Russia's SMP Racing, which has an all-star Russian driver roster lined up
including former F1 pilots Vitaly Petrov and Sergey Sirotkin, IndyCar veteran
Mikhail Aleshin, and Le Mans endurance racers Kirill Ladygin and Victor
Shaytar.
