Blancpain Endurance Series

Kunos Simulazioni has announced the first season of its new Assetto Corsa Competizione esport series. Called the SRO E-Sport GT Series, it will kick off next month alongside the Blancpain race at the historic Monza circuit.

Right after its playable reveal on the floor of E3 last week, another opportunity to try Assetto Corsa Competizione is coming this weekend.

Remember when we told you Kunos had big plans for today? Well, here they are: say hello to Assetto Corsa Competizione, the official game of the Blancpain GT Series.

You’d be excused for calling the beginning of 2016 a rough start for most of the previous GT Academy grads. While veterans like Ordonez, Mardenborough, and Heitkotter all had their positions announced by Nissan in February – joined by recent grads like Matt Simmons – an alarming number of winners were notable for their absence. Gaetan Paletou and Wolfgang Reip were just two of the drivers that found themselves without a seat in the new year.

The Le Castellet circuit in France, better known to the motorsport community as the Circuit Paul Ricard, was this week’s home to the Blancpain GT Series as the official pre-season testing began for the upcoming season.

The #23 Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 line-up of Alex Buncombe (GB), 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.

NISMO Athlete and 2014 Nissan GT Academy winner Nic Hammann kicks off his first racing season for Nissan in a big way, co-driving with Russian GT Academy champ Mark Shulzhitskiy in an RJN Nissan GT-R GT3 NISMO racer in the first-ever Blancpain Sprint Series event at Moscow Raceway in Russia July 3 to 4.

Nissan’s Alex Buncombe (GB), Katsumasa Chiyo (JAP) and Wolfgang Reip (BEL) took a commanding victory in Saturday’s 1000km Blancpain Endurance Series race, which ran into the night at Paul Ricard in France. This was the first overall Blancpain Endurance Series win for Nissan and the best possible warm up for next month’s Spa 24 Hours for Nissan GT Academy Team RJN.

All Nissan factory-backed cars racing this weekend will be carrying a small black ribbon logo to mark the death of the spectator. Meanwhile the unfortunate driver, Jann Mardenborough – who was also taken to hospital as a result of the incident – has resumed driving duties in the GP3 test this weekend, topping the timesheets amongst his Carlin team-mates in 7th overall.

In just a few weeks’ time two more winners of the Nissan PlayStation GT Academy will start their dream job, racing a Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 in the Blancpain Endurance Series.

This guest contribution is by Nick McMillen, 2013 United States GT Academy Champion. This is the account of his journey as one of the newest Nismo Athletes. Stay tuned for future articles from our racing driver contributor coming soon as he experiences and progresses through his professional career.

This guest contribution is by Nick McMillen, 2013 United States GT Academy Champion. This is the account of his journey as one of the newest Nismo Athletes. Stay tuned for future articles from our racing driver contributor coming soon as he experiences and progresses through his professional career.

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.

This guest contribution is by Nick McMillen, 2013 United States GT Academy Champion. This is the account of his journey as one of the newest Nismo Athletes. Stay tuned for future articles from our racing driver contributor coming soon as he experiences and progresses through his professional career.

This guest contribution is by Nick McMillen, 2013 United States GT Academy Champion. This is the account of his journey as one of the newest Nismo Athletes. Stay tuned for future articles from our racing driver contributor coming soon as he experiences and progresses through his professional career.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtCmK_gugpE