Jann Mardenborough and Bryan Heikotter made further progress with their quest to gain an International race licence this weekend after a strong performance in the Britcar Dunlop Production GTN championship race at Snetterton.
European GT Academy winner Mardenborough and his American counterpart followed up a second in class from the previous race at Castle Combe in their Nissan 370z with a solid run in the Production GTN Class 1 after Britcar organisers promoted them to competed against the winged BMWs and Ginettas, finishing 26th overall in qualifying.
Heitkotter started the race before handing over to Mardenborough who put on a fine performance battling up to 17th place collecting another top 10 finish in class as he crossed the line in 8th.
Talking about the weekend Mardenborough said: “It was wicked to race on the new Snetterton. The tight infield is a lot of fun. It was a real experience racing in the GTN Class 1 and Bryan and I knew we needed to be more consistent than ever to put in a decent result. It was a really satisfying race as we were the underdogs in the class and had to work really hard for a decent result.”
Bob Neville, the PlayStation Nissan team boss, said: “Both Jann and Bryan drove a really impressive race weekend. They didn't put a foot wrong and they had a great result against a much stronger opposition. They were not flustered by the promotion into Class 1 and took the opportunity to demonstrate they are learning all the time. No podium this weekend but a very good, well-executed race.”
The pair are now set to gain the required signatures next weekend as they take part in the Nippon Challenge at Rockingham; this will see their National A licence upgraded to an International licence as they look to gain as much racing experience before taking part in the 2012 Dubai 24 Hour endurance race in a full race-spec 370Z GT4 car.