Another GP3 Podium for Jann Mardenborough, as GT Academy Champs Finish Spa 24h

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Jann Mardenborough had another successful weekend in the GP3 Series, taking a podium finish at the Hungarian round of the championship. The young Brit had to work hard in Saturday’s race – he qualified in 13th place after a red flag stopped his fastest run – but he got stuck in and took a very creditable seventh. This put him on the front row of the grid for race two on Sunday.

“I didn’t get as good a start as yesterday and Patrick (Niederhauser) got the jump on me,” explained Jann. “I settled in to third place and managed to hold onto it for the full race, despite the pace not being as good as yesterday.

“It’s great to get a podium, and of course last week’s win, which takes me into the summer break with lots of new points. This also builds my confidence for the next round at Spa so I can’t wait for that to come around now.”

Meanwhile, the Nissan GT Academy Team RJN GT-Rs have made it to the end of one of the toughest Spa 24 Hours in recent times. The No.80 Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 of Alex Buncombe (GB), Wolfgang Reip (BEL), Florian Strauss (GER) and Nick McMillen (USA) took the chequered flag in 13th position in class and 25th overall after 24 hours of hard graft. The sister No.35 GT-R of Katsumasa Chiyo (JAP), Mark Shulzhitskiy (RUS), Miguel Faisca (POR) and Masataka Yanagida (JAP) also finished the race in 38th place overall and 19th in the Pro-Am class.

It was Reip and Chiyo who took the start of the race in numbers 80 and 35 respectively after taking fourth and seventh in class in Saturday’s Superpole shootout. Those class positions put them in 13th and 19th positions overall on a grid of over 60 GT3 cars.

The early part of the race was marred by serious accidents, which kept the two safety car drivers fully employed. The No.80 Nissan GT-R managed to avoid the drama but only because Buncombe proved himself capable of some incredibly fast evasive action when he was almost wiped out through Eau Rouge. Chiyo was less fortunate and was hit by a Porsche at the Bus Stop Chicane during his first stint, which put the No.35 GT-R in the garage for 1.5 hours while the team repaired some suspension damage.

After four safety car periods the race was red flagged at 21:25hrs to give the safety team the time and space they needed to help the driver of the No.111 Ferrari after an alarming accident at Stavelot. At 22:25 the race was restarted and by the six-hour mark the no.80 GT-R was 16th overall and seventh in class. After it’s lengthy stop the No.35 GT-R was lying 52nd overall and 25th in class.

It wasn’t until darkness fell that the race really settled down. With no more big accidents the drivers were able to finally get into the rhythm of the race and for the two Nissan GT-Rs it was time to begin the fight back.

The early accident put the No.35 right to the back of the field and, as the team circulated through the driving squad, the GT-R steadily climbed back up the order but it was a hard slog. From 25th in class at the six-hour mark to 23rd after 12 hours, to 19th at the finish. The fight back wasn’t helped by punctures but there were no more major troubles for No.35.

“Everyone knows this is a hard race,” said the man who took the chequered flag in the No.35 GT-R, Mark Shulzhitskiy. “We had bad luck at the start with the contact with the Porsche and after that we tried to stay out of trouble, be consistent and gain as much as we could. It was a good result for me as I didn’t finish here last year. Next year will be better.”

The No.80 GT-R was seventh in class after six hours but had fallen to 16th by the halfway mark. This is because of a brake change and then a further brake change that was needed due to a punctured tyre rupturing a brake hose.

It was local man and 2012 GT Academy Europe winner, Wolfgang Reip, who took the fastest time of the race in the No.80 Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3.

“It was great to race at Spa in the GT3 GT-R,” said Reip. “We showed in qualifying that we had the pace as we were comfortably through to Superpole. I took the start and it was immediately obvious that with the higher temperatures, the car just wouldn’t work in the heat. During the night when I did two double stints the situation switched as the cool temperatures made the car handle like magic. Despite us having the brake issue, which probably cost us a Pro-Am podium I really enjoyed racing here at Spa.”

“That was one of the toughest 24 hour races we have ever done,” said NISMO’s Darren Cox. “Having said that at least we got our cars and our drivers back in one piece. All of our best wishes go to everyone who was less fortunate than us. We can take some positives out of the race though. Our newest NISMO Athletes got a good amount of track time so they should be on great form when we get to the Nurburgring 1000kms in September. This race was great experience for them as it is a tough track and they were racing within a world-class field.”

Source: Another GP3 Podium for Jann Mardenborough, as GT Academy Champs Finish Spa 24h

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2014 Spa 24 Hours: Preview and Live Stream

Written by DGambino1 | posted in GTPlanet News Feed | 0 Comments

Nissan and GT Academy head back to the fabled Spa-Francorchamps Circuit for their third run at the Blancpain Endurance Series flagship race. The team and drivers’ have experience on their side and are more determined than ever to take the top step on the podium in 2014.

Nissan GT Academy Team RJN will be fielding two cars in the event. 2012 Russian Champion Mark Shulzhitskiy, Nissan Global Driver Exchange drivers Masataka Yanagida & Katsumasa Chiyo, and 2013 European Champ Miguel Faisca (Portugal) will be piloting the #35 car.

Local Champion from 2012 Wolfgang Reip, 2013 German Champ Florian Strauss, 2013 US Champion Nick McMillen, and Nissan journeyman driver Alex Buncombe are taking command of the #80. Both cars belonging to the Pro-AM Cup class, which is rated second. The two cars have showed good pace in an extremely competitive qualifying session, with cars #35 and #80 achieving fourth and fifth positions in class, respectively.

Race begins at 16:30 local time (click here to convert time to your local time zone). The race will definitely be one to watch as weather always plays a part in Spa. Reports indicate rain has a good chance of affecting the race, which is good news for the ultra stable GT-R package.

Resources

• Live broadcast at Blancpain Endurance Series
• Nismo.tv‘s live onboard streams
• Full race commentary from radiolemans
• The Twitter account of Nissan, @Nissan_OnTrack
• Official GT Academy flickr
• The discussion thread in our motorsports forum

Stay tuned to this thread for important updates and race wrap ups!

Source: 2014 Spa 24 Hours: Preview and Live Stream

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Gran Turismo 6 Update 1.10 Brings Two New Vision GT Cars

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A new update for Gran Turismo 6 has gone live, and brings with it two highly anticipated Vision GT project cars from Aston Martin and Nissan. Here’s a closer look at what’s new in 1.10, now available worldwide as a free 2.1GB download:

Aston Martin DP-100 Vision Gran Turismo

The new car can be purchased in the Vision GT section of GT6, or you can win it in a new Seasonal Event, available for a limited time. The car is powered by a twin-turbo, mid-engined V12 which produces 800 BHP.

“NISSAN CONCEPT 2020 Vision Gran Turismo”

Nissan’s radical Vision GT car focused on aerodynamics, and – despite its aggressive appearance – actually contains a 2+2 seating arrangement inside. The powertrain utilizes a high performance hybrid FR-4WD system with a V6 twin turbo engine, combined with 3 electric motors.

Brake Caliper Paint

It is now possible to repaint the brake calipers on cars equipped with [Racing Brakes] purchased within the [Suspension] menu of [Tuning Parts]. Please note there are certain cars that cannot be repainted using this feature.

More Car Number Customization Options

More cars have been made compatible with the [Driver Number] feature in the [Garage]. There is also an increased selection of [Base] sheet designs on which the numbers can be displayed.

Engine brake reduction control on formula cars disabled

Engine brake reduction control that was active on certain formula cars has been disabled. This is a feature that helps you avoid spinning out from excessive braking forces generated by the engine while the throttle is in the off position. This was accomplished by slightly opening the throttle while cornering even with no input to the accelerator.

Other Changes?

As always, our community is already busy inspecting the latest update for any and all changes which were not mentioned in the official release notes. See you in the forums!

Source: Gran Turismo 6 Update 1.10 Brings Two New Vision GT Cars

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Video Documents Kazunori Yamauchi’s Nurburgring 24H Accident

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Schulze Motorsport has published a video which documents the team’s dramatic experience at this year’s Nurburgring 24 Hours.

Titled “Rise After Falling”, it shows the drama encountered by the team after Kazunori Yamauchi had an accident in qualifying which sent him to the hospital. Thankfully, he was OK, but it placed an additional level of stress on the team who had to stay up all night rebuilding the heavily damaged GT-R to prepare it for the race.

Details of the crash and the experience were documented by Kazunori on the PitStop blog, which hosts a complete series of posts and photos from the event.

Source: Video Documents Kazunori Yamauchi’s Nurburgring 24H Accident

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New A-Spec Seasonal Events Now Available in GT6

Written by DGambino1 | posted in GTPlanet News Feed | 0 Comments

A new batch of A-Spec races are now available, ranging from a beginner’s challenge to that of an expert while overtaking as many opponents as possible within the allotted time.

Beginner Level Non-Racecar Challenge

• Brands Hatch Indy Circuit, 5 Laps
• Period of Availability: 07/23/2014 23:00 – 08/06/2014 23:00
• 500PP Max, Sports/Hard compounds or less
• Gold: 50,000cr, Silver: 30,000cr, Bronze: 25,000cr
• Gift: GT Gunmetal 002-C

Intermediate Level Non-Racecar Challenge

• Nurburgring GP/F, 5 Laps
• Period of Availability: 07/23/2014 23:00 – 08/06/2014 23:00
• 600PP Max, Sports/Soft compounds or less
• Gold: 95,000cr, Silver: 37,000cr, Bronze: 47,500cr
• Gift: GT Japanese 006-C

Expert Level Racecar Challenge

• Circuit de la Sarthe 2009, 2 Laps
• Period of Availability: 07/23/2014 23:00 – 08/06/2014 23:00
• 700PP Max, Racing/Hard compounds or less
• Gold: 200,000cr, Silver: 120,000cr, Bronze: 100,000cr
• Gift: GT Pasteltone 006-W

Be sure to stop by the new GT6 Seasonal Events forum for in-depth analysis and discussion, and tips and tricks.

GT6 Photomode image by Grand Prix.

Source: New A-Spec Seasonal Events Now Available in GT6

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