By alley - Nov 17, 2017, 12:09 PM ET

BR1 LMP1 Prototype shown off in Bahrain

The brand-new BR1 LMP1 chassis, developed by BR Engineering and Dallara was launched at the Bahrain International Circuit this evening.

Boris Rotenberg, president of BR Engineering, was on hand at the event this evening to take the wraps off the new car which will race in the 2018/19 FIA WEC 'Super Season.' Shortly after, he announced that 2017 ELMS champion

10Star DragonSpeed will also be a new customer team

, alongside the expected two-car SMP Racing program which is set to become the first ever Russian-flagged LMP1 WEC effort next year.

SMP Racing's expected two-car effort is set to be campaigned by French Formula 2 outfit ART Grand Prix, powered by the AER P60 twin-turbo V6 engine. DragonSpeed, meanwhile, will run a normally aspirated Gibson V8 with its BR1.

At the launch, Rotenberg explained that DragonSpeed will take the third BR1 chassis, and explained that five drivers have thus far tested the Dallara-built chassis at Motorland Aragon, prior to the launch.

Ex-F1 driver Vitaly Petrov, IndyCar veteran Mikhail Aleshin (sporting a broken arm after a recent cycling accident), Sergei Sirotkin, Kirill Ladygin and Viktor Shaitar have all driven the BR1 in testing so far, where the car completed well over 1000km over two days of running.