Although Nissan is shaking up its motorsports program for 2019, one driver who’s going nowhere for now is Jann Mardenborough.
Nissan recently revealed Mardenborough as its simulator driver for the current Formula E season. Although he started out as a gamer, it was unlikely he’d stay out of a race car for long.
Over the weekend, Nissan has announced its racing plans for this year, and Mardenborough is again driving in the top category of Super GT. It’ll be his fourth season in the series, joining NDDP in the GT300 category in 2016 before moving to Team Impul and GT500 for 2017.
For 2019, Mardenborough will move from Team Impul to Kondo Racing, replacing 2015 runner-up João Paulo de Oliveira. There he’ll partner Mitsunori Takaboshi, his Formula E team-mate, in the #24 car. The team is part of Nissan’s four-car campaign for the 2019 title, along with Team Impul #12, NDDP #3 and the traditional #23 NISMO entry.
Mardenborough has a solid record in Super GT. In 24 races to date, he’s never recorded a DNF and has managed 15 points finishes including three podiums. In his first season, in GT300, he took a victory at Fuji Speedway and is no doubt looking to add to the trophy collection.
Those of us outside Japan may have little opportunity to see the GT Academy winner race in 2019. Nissan has cut support to several series, with only limited outings for its GT3 cars. Kondo Racing and KCMG will race GT3 GT-Rs at the Nurburgring 24hr in June, with KCMG also entering two cars in the Intercontinental GT Challenge. However these seats are all-but occupied already.
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