Buncombe & Co take GT3 crown

Buncombe & Co take GT3 crown
Posted on September 20, 2025

The #23 Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 line-up of LM P1 ace Alex Buncombe (GB) plus Katsumasa Chiyo (JAP) and Wolfgang Reip (BEL) has won the Blancpain Endurance PRO Driver’s Championship. Third place in a nail-biting, season-closing race at the Nürburgring in Germany sealed the title win for Nissan after a season of hard racing in what is accepted to be the biggest GT championship in the world. Nissan has previously taken the GT4 European title and more recently the Blancpain Endurance PRO AM title. 2015 is the Nissan GT Academy Team RJN’s first attempt at the PRO title so it is a huge accomplishment to win in its debut PRO season. The Nissan drivers set themselves up for a good race when Buncombe took second overall in qualifying, bagging a front row starting spot for the #23 GT-R. Gaetan Paletou (FRA) then continued the great form he has shown at the Nürburgring, taking the PRO AM pole position, which was eighth place on the overall grid. When the lights went green it was the #173 Always Evolving Nissan GT-R of Craig Dolby that dived to the inside to take the race lead. Chiyo took the outside line from his side of the grid and came out in fourth place despite a shove from one of the Bentleys. By the end of lap one the #23 car was in fourth with Buncombe’s LM P1 teammate Harry Tincknell in 10th place in the sister #22 GT-R. Chiyo managed to slip into third place after a few minutes and set off after the second placed Lamborghini but despite his best efforts there...
Mardenborough for GP2 debut

Mardenborough for GP2 debut
Posted on September 2, 2025

Nissan’s LM P1 ace and former GT Academy winner Jann Mardenborough will take another step up the ladder towards Formula 1 this weekend when he competes in the GP2 Series at Monza in Italy. Dubbed the ‘Cathedral of Speed’, Monza is a great place to make a GP2 debut and Mardenborough will be out to show the form that has made him one of the standout winners of the Nissan PlayStation GT Academy. Jann will jump into the #4 GP2 car of Sean Gelael - who is racing in the Formula Renault 3.5 Series at Silverstone this weekend – to compete at Monza. Throughout 2015, Mardenborough has been racing in the GP3 Series with Carlin Motorsport, one of the most successful single-seater teams outside of Formula 1. Team boss Trevor Carlin is one of the industry’s best talent-spotters and counts Sebastian Vettel, Daniel Ricciardo and Kevin Magnussen amongst the Carlin alumni. “With Sean busy completing his full season in Formula Renault 3.5, we had the ideal opportunity to give a driver a taste of GP2 at one of the greatest circuits in Europe,” said Carlin. “Jann is a very talented and fast driver and has suffered some bad luck this season which means he hasn’t claimed the results he’s capable of. Although this weekend will be a big learning curve for him, we’re pleased to give one of our GP3 drivers the opportunity to step up to the next level and will be focused on helping Jann get the most from the experience.” For now this is the only GP2 event for Jann so the 23 year-old from Cardiff...
Buncombe heads “down under”

Buncombe heads “down under”
Posted on August 31, 2025

Nissan LM P1 driver and the longest standing NISMO Athlete of them all, Alex Buncombe, has just arrived in Australia for the first of the three V8 Supercars ‘Enduros’. The British driver joins Todd Kelly in the #7 Nissan Altima V8 in the Sandown 500, the Bathurst 1000 and the Gold Coast 600 in September and October. Buncombe wasted no time in getting down to business and is already behind the wheel of the #7 Nissan at Winton Motor Raceway, to reacquaint himself with the car, mindful of the fact that he had a lot to learn when he made the same swap last year. “Last year was tough as it was my first time in a V8 Supercar but what I did then will stand me in good stead for this year,” said Buncombe. “Knowing the car is what it’s all about so I’ll know what to expect and I should be a lot more comfortable than last year. I’ll also have good knowledge of Sandown and Gold Coast, which are tricky circuits and were new to me last time out.” Buncombe heads “down under” was last modified: August 31st, 2015 by Paul...

Nissan to address technical issues
Posted on August 7, 2025

Nissan today announced that it will delay its return to the LM P1 class of the FIA World Endurance Championship and instead focus on technical issues that challenged its race team during the Le Mans 24 Hours. Issues with the energy recovery system (ERS) meant that Nissan had to run at the Le Mans 24 Hours on engine power alone. The bespoke Nissan V6 3-litre twin turbo petrol engine and the unique aerodynamics of the GT-R LM NISMO proved to be the main strengths of the car at Le Mans but without a fully working ERS, many of the car’s other systems were compromised. “We know people will be disappointed but be assured that nobody is more disappointed than us,” said Shoichi Miyatani, President of NISMO. “We are racers and we want to compete but we also want to be competitive. That is why we have chosen to continue our test programme and prepare the GT-R LM NISMO for the strong competition we face in the World Endurance Championship. When you innovate you don’t give up at the first hurdle. We are committed to overcoming this challenge.” This news only affects Nissan’s LM P1 programme. The manufacturer’s global motorsport programmes continue unabated as Nissan strives to add to its tally of victories in the Blancpain Endurance Series, Super GT and the many other championships it competes in. Nissan’s pioneering GT Academy programme is now entering the ‘Race Camp’ phase where the first of the 2015 graduates will be chosen before going on to compete as NISMO Athletes all over the world. “We’ve said it before but innovation hurts,” said...
LM P1 aces set for Spa 24

LM P1 aces set for Spa 24
Posted on July 17, 2025

The longest and toughest race on the Blancpain Endurance Series schedule takes place at Spa-Francorchamps on 25-26 July and Nissan has entered a global cast of drivers from six different countries, including two drivers from Nissan’s LM P1 squad. One of the best racing circuits in the world plays host to the best GT3 cars and drivers in the world for a 24-hour rollercoaster ride through the Ardennes forest in Belgium. Last year’s Spa 24 Hours was marred by accidents occurring throughout the early stages and it wasn’t until darkness fell that the race finally settled down. All of the Blancpain competitors will be hoping for a smoother start this year, not least Alex Buncombe who had to take evasive action through Eau Rouge to avoid being wiped out! Nissan has entered a Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 in the PRO class for the first time this year. Current championship-leaders led by LM P1 ace Alex Buncombe (GB) along with Katsumasa Chiyo (JAP) and local man and GT Academy winner Wolfgang Reip (BEL) will be battling hard for outright honours in the #23 Nissan. “As always I will push hard to get the best possible result, remembering that anything can happen in 24 hours,” said Reip. “I love this track. I know it better than any other circuit and having the support of my friends and the Belgian people gives me great motivation. I had a practice run in the 25 hour Fun Cup race last weekend. Ok the car was nothing like the GT-R but I drove for almost 10 hours in a lot of traffic so it has...
Tincknell wins in Austria

Tincknell wins in Austria
Posted on July 13, 2025

Nissan LM P1 driver Harry Tincknell has taken his first victory of the year in LM P2 competition in the latest round of the European Le Mans Series. JOTA Sport dominated the LM P2 class and despite being given a run for their money by another Nissan-powered team, TDS Racing, Harry Tincknell took the chequered flag as overall race winner. This is the first European Le Mans Series victory of 2015 for the 2014 LM P2 Le Mans winners and the result takes them straight to the top of the leaderboard. Tincknell, who also took outright pole position in the JOTA Sport Gibson-Nissan said after the race: “I’m really, really happy with our performance in Austria. Achieving pole-position at the Red Bull Ring for a second consecutive year was great. Filipe (Albuquerque) drove a perfect opening stint at the start but kept having his lead eroded by the Safety Cars. In my opinion, Simon (Dolan) drove his best ever race which meant that I was right in the hunt when I took over to the chequered flag. Safety Cars disrupted my own stints but I just got my head down each time and pulled away and thankfully it was enough! A stunning effort by all of the team as always. Pole, win, fastest lap and championship lead – job done!” Nissan powered the top four finishers in the LM P2 class: JOTA Sport, Thiriet by TDS Racing, SMP Racing and Greaves Motorsport. All of the European Le Mans Series teams will be back in action at Paul Ricard, France on 5-6 September. In LM P3 competition, Sir Chris Hoy...
GoPro launch new HERO4 Session

GoPro launch new HERO4 Session
Posted on July 7, 2025

Nissan NISMO LM P1 partner GoPro has launched the new HERO4 Session, the smallest, lightest, most convenient GoPro yet with the GT-R LM NISMO playing a starring role in the product launch video. 50% smaller and 40% lighter than GoPro’s best-selling HERO4 Black and Silver cameras, HERO4 Session packs GoPro’s Emmy® Award-winning image quality and performance into an exciting new low-profile form factor. HERO4 Session benefits from a durable waterproof design that eliminates the need for a separate housing and features simple one-button control to make capturing immersive photos and video quicker and more convenient than ever before. During testing at NCM Motorsports Park in Kentucky, the GoPro creative team put the HERO4 Session to work on board the team’s Le Mans challenger to capture amazing vision for the product launch. HERO4 Session is compatible with existing GoPro mounts and will retail for $399.99 MSRP at authorized GoPro retailers around the world and on GoPro.com beginning July 12, 2015. Check out the video below….   GoPro launch new HERO4 Session was last modified: July 7th, 2015 by Paul...
2016 NISSAN NISSAN GT-R LM NISMO