French GT team steps up from GT Tour to contest BES with JR Motorsports driver Jody Fannin. Fifth Nissan GT-R Nismo to compete in the Blancpain Endurance Series.
Daventry, UK – Following the recent purchase of its JR Motorsports (JRM)-built Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3 car for the French GT Tour championship, JMB Racing has confirmed it will also enter the next two rounds of the Blancpain Endurance Series. Starting with JMB’s home track Paul Ricard on June 29th and followed by an outing at the series’ final round at the Nürburgring in September, the Nissan will be driven by JRM’s Jody Fannin, Nicolas Misslin and Nicolas Marroc.
The JMB Racing Nissan is the fifth GT-R to enter what is widely recognised as the most competitive GT championship the world. “After the first two rounds, the Nissan GT Academy Team RJN car shares the top of the Pro Am points table, confirming the 2013 specification GT-R is among the strongest packages in GT racing,” says James Rumsey, JRM Group executive director. “Thanks to the use of high quality parts, many produced in-house, JRM can create a competitive GT3 car, with a low purchase price and class-leading running costs. This cost advantage enables top teams to take in Blancpain Endurance Series on top of a domestic campaign.”
“Blancpain is the pinnacle of GT racing in Europe and we are delighted to be tackling the next rounds with the Nissan,” says Nicolas Misslin, JMB Racing team principal. “We still have a lot to learn about the car but it is user friendly and with Jody on board we can start to progress.”
For 19 year old driver Fannin, the reigning British GT4 champion, the Blancpain outings are a logical progression, following an exploratory outing in JRM’s own GT3 car at the opening round of the British GT. “Since Oulton, I’ve shadowed the JRM team, putting in the time with the race engineers and drivers to learn more about the car. JMB is a world championship winning team. To debut with them at its home track is pretty special.”
In line with all its customer programmes, JRM is providing technical support at all levels to help its customers whether experienced or not, get up to speed. “It’s up to all of us to make it work,” adds Fannin. “We’ll need to learn quickly for Blancpain but we know it’s a really strong package.”
JMB Racing is the latest in a growing number of customer teams to opt for the 2013 Nissan Nismo GT-R GT3, with cars running in British GT, Blancpain, GT Tour and VLN. Constructed in Daventry, Northamptonshire, JRM is responsible for the build, sales and ongoing technical support for Nissan Nismo GT-R GT3 cars in Europe, Russia and Middle East.
