By the mid-2010s, GP2 had become one of the main stops for drivers seeking a route to Formula 1. The series raced at many Formula 1 venues and shared several weekends with the world championship. Its 2015 grid included drivers such as Stoffel Vandoorne, Alexander Rossi and Pierre Gasly. For a small British team, entering GP2 was therefore a much larger undertaking than competing in a regional series. Virtuosi Racing reached that point in 2015 through Russian Time. The arrangement gave the Norfolk team a chance to operate within the GP2 paddock without immediately creating a separate entry under its own name. For Declan Lohan, it also changed the scale of his involvement in racing.
The deal came together quickly. In February 2015, Russian Time confirmed that Virtuosi would take over the service contract for its GP2 cars, replacing iSport in the management role. The Russian operation kept its name, and Strelnikova remained team principal. Andy Roche became team manager. Lohan, described by contemporary reporting as Virtuosi’s owner, said the approach had come from GP2 and Russian Time. Representatives then met in Geneva before reaching an agreement. The arrangement allowed Virtuosi to continue its Auto GP programme while also taking responsibility for a GP2 operation. It was an unusual transition for a team established only in 2012.
The first year was a learning period. Russian Time entered the 2015 GP2 Series with Evans and Markelov. Evans had previously won the GP3 Series title in 2012, while Markelov was making his first full GP2 campaign. Neither driver challenged for the championship, but Evans won the sprint races at the Hungaroring and Monza. He finished fifth in the drivers’ standings with 135 points. Markelov scored 48 points and placed 13th. Russian Time ended fifth among the teams with 183 points. Those numbers were modest beside the leading squads. Yet, they gave Virtuosi its first full season running cars in a championship positioned close to Formula 1.
The following season was stronger. Markelov stayed with Russian Time, while Marciello joined the team after finishing third in the 2015 GP2 standings. Marciello had also won the 2013 European Formula 3 Championship. He finished third again in the 2016 GP2 drivers’ standings, this time with 159 points. Markelov scored 97 and ended 10th. Russian Time collected 256 points and moved up to fourth in the teams’ championship. Markelov also took his first GP2 victory at Monaco. The improvement was clear on paper, although the team remained behind Prema Racing, Racing Engineering and DAMS in the wider fight for the title.
Then the results changed. The series evolved into the FIA Formula 2 Championship in 2017, and Russian Time debuted in the championship in partnership with Markelov and Ghiotto. The old car combination of Dallara GP2/11 chassis and Mecachrome V8 engines was employed in the year. Markelov won five races, and Ghiotto won one more. By the time of the last round of the championship, Russian Time became one of the three teams with championship chances. The difference in scores before the sprint race in Abu Dhabi was three points between the leading DAMS (376) and third Russian Time (373).
Russian Time ended up the championship with 395 points and won the first FIA Formula 2 Teams’ Championship in the history of the series. Prema Racing (380) and DAMS (369) finished second and third, respectively. Markelov ended up second in the drivers’ championship with 210 points behind Leclerc, who scored 282 points. Ghiotto finished fourth with 185 points. FIA records also show that Russian Time scored points in every race during the season. The title gave Virtuosi a major result only two years after it entered GP2 management. It also placed the organisation among the leading teams in a series directly tied to Formula 1.
Lohan’s role during this period was mainly on the ownership and business side. Motor Sport Magazine later reported that Lohan became involved with Roche and Paul Devlin after Roche and Devlin approached him in 2011. The same account described Lohan as the businessman who helped provide the commercial base needed to establish the team. When the Russian Time opportunity appeared, the financial scale was different. Roche recalled that the three men had only a short period to prepare a budget before travelling to Geneva, where they agreed a deal reported at about £3 million, and under the arrangement, Russian Time covered the costs connected with its cars.
The collaboration continued into the successful title-winning season. Virtuosi ran Russian Time until 2018, with the team winning four races, achieving eight podium finishes, and finishing fourth in the championship standings. The season ended with the Russian squad ceding its team space to UNI-Virtuosi for 2019. Roche said the new team would retain the same engineering staff and structure. He also identified Roche, Devlin and Lohan as UNI-Virtuosi’s owners. The change meant that the organisation had moved from managing another team’s entry to operating its own Formula 2 identity.
The Russian Time years were therefore a turning point in Virtuosi Racing’s development. The team entered GP2 in 2015, finished fifth that year, moved to fourth in 2016 and then won the first FIA Formula 2 Teams’ Championship in 2017. The progression was competitive, but it was also organisational. Lohan remained connected to the ownership and commercial side while Roche and Devlin handled key operational and technical duties. The next stage, UNI-Virtuosi, carried that structure into a new identity. Declan Martin Lohan’s role during this period was tied to expanding a business he had helped establish, from its early Auto GP programme into international Formula 2 racing.
