The JRM Group will enter four 2011 spec Nissan GT-R in the upcoming FIA GT1 World Championship.
The team were behind the two Sumo Power GT cars which competed in the championship's inaugural season, and 2011 will see two more cars added to the stable under the JR Motorsports banner after the off-season acquisition of the two cars run by Swiss Racing Team in 2010. The two teams will run as separate entities, Sumo Power GT continuing to use the black and white livery, JR Motorsports using an all new colour scheme on their two cars.
“For the FIA GT1 World Championship and for NISMO, it is important to have four Nissan GT-Rs running in this year's series,” said JRM Group's Executive Director James Rumsey. “Therefore, acquiring another two cars means that, not only does this satisfy these two issues, but it also strengthens our association with NISMO and gives us, as a group, a greater opportunity for success.”
“We learnt a lot in 2010 and therefore we will use the information we gained for 2011. I believe that this year, between our two teams, we will have the strongest driver line-up on the grid, a factor that will help us to achieve our goal of becoming 2011 champions.”
Also announced today were six of the eight drivers for the cars.
Peter Dumbreck and Michael Krumm – teammates last year at Sumo Power, move to JR Motorsports and are split up – going into the no.22 and no.23 respectively. There former Audi driver Lucas Luhr will join Krumm in an all German line-up. Richard Westbrook, who raced for Matech Competition last season will complete the no.22 driver pairing.
The first of the Sumo Power cars will be another driven by two countymen – Enrique Bernoldi and Ricardo Zonta handed the responsibility. Both won races in their 2010 FIA GT1 seasons. Bernoldi was part of the Vitaphone Maserati team that won the teams' title and scored a single race win, Zonta took two wins aboard a Reiter Engineering Lamborghini.
The team will test 12 drivers next month at the Losail circuit in Qatar before confirming the drivers for the final GT-R.
