Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3 all set to attack 2014 Nurburgring 24 Hours

Nissan has announced that it is bringing back the Nissan GT-R to the Nordschleife with an assault on the 2014 Nurburgring 24 Hours. The event, held on 21-22 June, is one of the toughest endurance races in the world, providing the ultimate test of man and machine as they compete on the daunting Nurburgring Nordschleife.

The Nordschleife is the scene of many Nissan road car time attacks over the years, the latest of which saw the new Nissan GT-R NISMO complete a lap in just 7 minutes 8.679 seconds – a record time for a volume production car. Behind the wheel for the record-breaking lap was Nissan’s racing driver Michael Krumm, who will also be in Nissan’s driver line-up for the Nurburgring 24 Hours.

Nissan and NISMO have assembled a varied group of top racers from its global stable for its first official assault on the event in recent years. Leading the charge will be a two-car entry from Nissan GT Academy Team RJN, which will be run in conjunction with NISMO Factory engineers from Japan and a further GT-R entered by Schulze Motorsport.

GT Academy Germany Judge and former F1 driver, Nick Heidfeld, will race the No.80 Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3, numbered to celebrate Nissan’s 80th year. He will team up with the most recent GT Academy Germany winner, Florian Strauss. Nick and Florian will be joined by the two men who know the GT3 GT-R better than most: another GT Academy graduate, Lucas Ordonez, and Alex Buncombe.

“I’m delighted to increase my involvement with Nissan from my judging role on the German GT Academy show to now also include racing the Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 at the Nurburgring 24 Hours,” said Heidfeld.

“To be team-mates with Florian who I helped select as the 2013 winner of the GT Academy competition is quite incredible and is a great chance for me to continue the mentoring process with him at the Nordschleife. Together with Alex and Lucas we will tackle one of the most beautiful and challenging circuits in the world.”

Lining up alongside them will be the No.30 Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3, which celebrates 30 years of NISMO. This car will be engineered predominately by a team from NISMO who will travel from Japan for this event. Nissan Super GT racers, Michael Krumm and Kazuki Hoshino, will team up with Nismo Global Exchange Driver Katsumasa Chiyo and ‘Ring regular Tetsuya Tanaka in this car.

“Driving a Nissan GT-R at the Nurburgring is pure pleasure,” said Krumm. “To have the opportunity to battle for top positions makes this year’s race very special for me. I have been waiting for this opportunity for a few years now, and it looks like this could be the shot for a good position.”

“Having said that, anything can happen at the Nordschleife. So we also need luck of course. For the young drivers in our team it will be a huge challenge. The Nordschleife is the most challenging circuit in the world and when you add rain and fog to the equation, things can get even more uncomfortable. I’m sure they will all do a great job, as everyone has been prepared by Nissan and NISMO very well,” continued Krumm.

The third Schulze GT-R has another star driver from the virtual world, the creator of Gran Turismo, Kazanori Yamauchi and the 2009 winner of GT Academy, Jordan Tresson.

“The Nurburgring 24 Hours is a special event for Nissan,” said Darren Cox, Global Head of Brand, Marketing & Sales, NISMO.