Nissan is hoping to reinforce the link between the infamous Nürburgring and its GT-R sports car by returning to Germany this summer in the Nismo model to compete in the 24-hour race. Three factory supported GT3-spec cars will compete, and many GT Academy drivers are included in the line-up.
Two cars will be run by Nissan GT Academy Team RJN, in conjunction with Nismo factory engineers from Japan. Racing numbers reflect significant anniversaries for the company. Car 80 marks the 80th anniversary of Nissan and is driven by GT Academy Germany judge, Nick Heidfeld. Partnering Nick is Florian Strauss, who won the German GT Academy eight months ago and has competed in three international races to date. Completing the driver line-up are two more GT Academy graduates: Lucas Ordonez, and Alex Buncombe.
The second Team RJN car, number 30, celebrates 30 years of Nismo. Michael Krumm, who is no stranger to either the GT-R or the Nürburgring, is one of four drivers competing in this car. Krumm drove a road-going GT-R Nismo around the Ring in 7 minutes 8.679 seconds to claim the lap record for a volume production car. Sharing the driving seat with Michael are Kazuki Hoshino, Katsumasa Chiyo and Tetsuya Tanaka.
Schulze Motorsport will enter the third GT-R with two drivers who are familiar with virtual racing as well as the real thing: Gran Turismo creator Kazanori Yamauchi and the 2009 winner of GT Academy, Jordan Tresson.
Anything else?
Nissan GT Academy Team RJN was at the Nürburgring on Saturday for the VLN 3 four-hour endurance event. Alex Buncombe took poll position with a time of 8 minutes 7.059 seconds; the car - driven by Buncombe, Lucas Ordonez and Florian Strauss - finished in eighth place.