DISAPPOINTMENT FOR TINCKNELL BUT NISSAN WINS WORLD'S BIGGEST GT CHAMPIONSHIP

Nissan GT Academy Team RJN heads to the Nürburgring in Germany next week for the final round of the 2015 Blancpain Endurance Series. The team is currently fourth in the PRO Teams Championship standings but with a gap to the leaders of 14 points and a pot of 25 points still up for grabs, there is plenty to play for. In the PRO Driver's Championship the battle is even closer and the Nissan PRO squad is just nine points adrift of the leaders.

Nissan's PRO line-up in the #23 Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 consists of Alex Buncombe (GB), Katsumasa Chiyo (JAP) and Wolfgang Reip (BEL). This is the team's first season in the PRO class and after taking their first outright win at Paul Ricard the #23 squad has its sights locked firmly on another win at the Nürburgring.

The line-up in Nissan's #22 PRO AM GT-R includes 2014 GT Academy winners, Gaetan Paletou (FRA) and Ricardo Sanchez (MEX). Although out of title contention the #22 squad will be gunning for a podium, especially as they have a secret weapon on the team.

For the Nürburgring round, Sanchez and Paletou will be joined by Nissan LM P1 driver, Harry Tincknell (GB). Although he has competed in top-level single-seaters and sports cars, Tincknell has never raced a GT car but that's not something that will slow him down!

"This is something I've been keen to do for a while, said Tincknell. "It's a fantastic opportunity to drive the Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 and despite it being a case of 'in at the deep end' I am in a great team so I can't wait to get started. I'm going to immerse myself in data so I get as much of a head start as possible and I will be taking lots of tips from my LM P1 team-mate, Alex Buncombe.

"It will be good to drive with Gaetan and Ricardo, he continued. "I first met them both in 2014 when I was working as an instructor for the GT Academy finals. Now, just a year later, they are my team-mates. It's amazing to see the progression made by these guys and maybe they'll be teaching me a thing or two at the start of the weekend!"

"It's great to see drivers we have discovered - through GT Academy - from Mexico, France and Belgium come together to compete with a Japanese driver via our global driver exchange and some of the best talent the UK has to offer, all with a strong will to win, said Darren Cox, Global Head of Brand, Marketing & Sales, NISMO.

"Our GT Academy winners and NISMO drivers gain valuable experience competing in the toughest GT series in the world. This year we opted to run a fully PRO car for the first time and that has shown how competitive the GT3 GT-R is against some of the strongest competition out there."

The three-hour Blancpain Endurance Series race gets underway on Sunday 20th September at 14:45 CET