Next month will see the long awaited return of the Nissan GT-R to the Bathurst 12 Hour race, following a 22-year absence from the Australian circuit. The racer will be the GT-R Nismo GT3; and will be piloted round the circuit by four successful Nismo Global Exchange Drivers.
Rick Kelly is the first of the four - a former V8 Supercars Champion who has also won the Bathurst 1000 event twice. He currently races for Australia's Nissan V8 Supercars team. Next up is Wolfgang Reip, the driver that beat 830,000 entrants to win the GT Academy in 2012. He has since taken podium finishes in the GT-R in both the Blancpain Endurance and FIA GT Series events.
Katsumasa Chiyo is next on the list for Bathurst who is currently racing in the Super GT competition as part of Nissan's driver development programme in Japan. Finally, Alex Buncombe completes the driver list - making his name in the GT Academy competition from its inaugural outing in 2008 by racing alongside the event's winners.
"It's great that we can field a team that shows the international nature of our driving talent," comments Darren Cox, Nissan's Director of Global Motorsport. "They are competing with history at Bathurst. Last time we were there with 'Godzilla', Jim Richards and Mark Skaife scored back-to-back Bathurst 1000 wins in 1991 and 1992. We have wanted to return to Bathurst with a factory Nissan GT-R for a long time."
Anything else?
Those wanting to catch the Bathurst 12 Hours can do so on the weekend spanning the 7th-9th February 2014.