Nürburgring, Germany – Nissan athletes and GT-R NISMO GT3 drivers Lucas Ordóñez, Mitsunori Takaboshi and Alex Buncombe stormed to a podium finish with third place in the final round of the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup at the Nürburgring yesterday.
Qualifying was delayed and later shortened to just a single driver session thanks to fog at the Nürburgring, and Alex Buncombe pulled out a strong lap put the Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 11th on the grid.
Lucas Ordóñez made a storming start to go around the outside at the first corner to slot into sixth place. He continued to make progress to eventually hand over the car to Mitsunori Takaboshi in third place.
The Japanese driver continued the strong pace throughout his stint before handing over to Alex Buncombe.
After finishing third here last year in the same event, Buncombe began to reel in the two race leaders in the closing laps to be only 1.9 seconds off the race winner at the checkered flag.
The podium finish was the first in European competition for Takaboshi and the first for Nissan this year in the Blancpain Series – beating the fourth place finish at Monza and fifth at Circuit Paul Ricard.
"We had to save our brakes during our stints because the Grand Prix Course of Nürburgring was hard for brake, but all three drivers were fast and the team did fantastic jobs at pit stops," said Takaboshi said. "I am really happy to get on the podium. I am not 100 percent satisfied, as there are higher places to go, but third place is very valuable that was earned by the whole team."
The No.22 GT-R of Sean Walkinshaw and GT Academy aces Matt Simmons and Romain Sarazin were disappointed after qualifying when a red flag ruined Walkinshaw's "hot" lap – pushing the team back to 41st on the grid.
The trio were strong in the race however, moving up 10 positions to eventually finish 31st.
Next up for the Nissan GT Academy Team RJN squad will be the final sprint round of the season in Barcelona on October 1-2.
P3! Feels like a victory with such a tough season! Great battle from P11 @NISMO @al_buncombe @TAKAX32 🏆👏🍻 pic.twitter.com/99JBPOiThT
— Lucas Ordonez (@Lucas_Ordonez) September 18, 2016
Lots of smiles for a podium to finish the @BlancpainGT Endurance Cup. #NISMOnation #OMGTR pic.twitter.com/6apznuTQTS
— Nissan NISMO (@NISMO) September 18, 2016
NISMO Calendar
September 24-25
European Le Mans Series, Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium
Nissan Micra Cup, Mont Tremblant, Quebec, Canada
Japanese Formula 3, Sugo, Japan
October 1-2
Blancpain GT Series Sprint Car, Barcelona, Spain
October 8-9
Super GT, Chang International Circuit, Thailand
Australian Supercars, Bathurst 1000, Mount Panorama, NSW, Australia
Pirelli World Challenge, Laguna Seca, Monterey, California, USA
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Contact
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