Daniil Kyvat will make his sportscar racing debut this year, joining G-Drive Racing for an assault on the FIA World Endurance Championship.
The 27-year-old former Formula One driver will partner James Allen and Rene Binder aboard an Algarve Pro Racing-operated ORECA 07-Gibson.
It will be Kyvat’s first race experience in a closed-cockpit prototype, having competed in 110 Grands Prix between 2014 and 2020. He debuted with Toro Rosso and scored two podiums after being promoted to Red Bull.
After he was dropped back to Toro Rosso, he scored an additional podium in 2019 before losing his AlphaTauri seat to Yuki Tsunoda. He was also a third driver for Ferrari and was contracted as Alpine’s reserve driver in 2021.
“I’m very happy to join G-Drive Racing, an extremely successful Russian sportscar team,” Kyvat said.
“Endurance racing has always fascinated me and to compete in the legendary 24 hours of Le Mans, one of the most famous and prestigious races on the planet, is every driver’s dream but first I am looking forward to the first race in Sebring.
“This form of racing is a new challenge for me and the competition in this year’s FIA World Endurance Championship will be very tough, but together with my teammates and the G-Drive Racing team, we are ready to fight.”
Kyvat joins another former Grand Prix racing in making his debut in the fiercely competitive LMP2 grid, as Esteban Gutierrez will race for Inter Europol Competition.
“We are honored and very happy to have Daniil join G-Drive Racing for our full-time return to the FIA World Endurance Championship,” said team manager Roman Rusinov. “He is without a doubt one of Russia’s sporting heroes and most successful racing drivers.
“And while I have no doubt, he will find his way back into Formula One, I am very much looking forward to having him at our side and fighting, together with Rene and James, for glory, victory at Le Mans, and of course the world title.”
In addition to confirming Kvyat’s signing, G-Drive also announced that it has signed Sophia Floersch to be part of its line-up in the European Le Mans Series.
