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The BR Engineering BR01 is a Le Mans Prototype built by BR Engineering in 2015. It was designed by Paolo Catone, the same man behind the Peugeot 905 and the 908 HDi FAP design.
The car uses a carbon fibre composite tub and outer bodywork panels, which have been manufactured by Italian company ARS Technology. The key areas BR Engineering looked at was the front bulkhead and driver cockpit, which were developed to work outside of the box. For the rear, steel composite tubes come from the back of the survival cell to the spacer in between the gearbox and engine, which makes it a type of hybrid chassis design.
When the BR01 project began way back in 2014, there was a large array of possible engines to use as the powertrain. As the technical regulations state, your chassis must be able to carry two engines. And for BR Engineering they went for the very popular Nissan VK45DE unit, and the Judd HK 48. Starting off with the Nissan VK engine, which is the one SMP Racing recommend, and the one which all of its customers use. The engine is a V8 with a bank angle of 90°. It has a placement of 4494cc. The engine weighs 145kg with a bore and stroke off 93mm x 82.7mm.
SMP Racing originally planned a full-season program in the European Le Mans Series in 2015. After missing the first round, in which the team ran the Oreca 03, the BR01 was unveiled at the 4 Hours of Imola run. In 2016 SMP Racing entered the 24 Hours of Daytona, ahead of their planned 2-car assault on the 2016 FIA World Endurance Championship season in 2016. Mikhail Aleshin took pole position in a wet qualifying session however the car fell back during the race, eventually finishing 38th overall.
Unfortunately the BR01 LMP2 car won’t be able to race from 2017 onwards. Due to new chassis regulations from the FIA and ACO.
Specs:
This thread is for the 2016 car, the only difference from 2015 being that it started using the badass Russian double-headed eagle in its liveries.
