JRM Racing will field two Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3 cars for the opening round of the Blancpain Endurance Series at Monza.
The #23 Pro Car entry will be shared by the strong duo of Lucas Luhr, returning to the team after his FIA GT World Championship victory in 2011, and Peter Dumbreck, who raced for the team in the 2012 FIA World Endurance Championship. Northern Irish Steven Kane completes the line-up.
“I’m really looking forward to this weekend.” said Dumbreck. “There are so many cars out there – it is definitely the hardest and most competitive sportscar championship in Europe at the moment. Both the Pro and the Pro Am class are full of good cars and drivers – some of whom I’ve raced with over the years – so both the win and points are up for grabs. It should be a lot of fun, particularly with the car we have. We’ve had a bit of testing and the overall promise seems good. There’s some work to do over the weekend but everyone else is in exactly the same position – it’s going to be an interesting challenge.”
The #230 Pro Am car will see Matt Bell, Charles Bateman and Humaid Al Masaood join forces to tackle the season ahead.
“This season I think we’ve got a car to do well.” said Bell, “The Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3 has shown good potential so far in testing, we just need to get in there and unlock it even more. Knowing this is actually very positive going into the race weekend – we’ve got a good basis and there is even more to come. From what we’ve seen in testing the car seems to be quick in high-speed sections and straights, which should really suit Monza. I’m looking forward to getting out and going racing – it’s going to be hard with so many cars on track, but we’ll do our best to bring the car to the finish and in the points.”
The two cars will line up against 60 other cars, with 22 cars entered into the Pro category, more than double the average number from 2011.
“We have a very tough weekend ahead of us!” commented JRM team principal James Rumsey. “To be racing against more than 60 cars, and some of the most competitive teams and drivers in Europe will be a stern test for the team and the Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3. All the same we are confident about what we can do. We had a very positive first outing with the cars in the British GT championship over the Easter weekend, just missing out on points. The reliability of the car was also excellent, which stands us in very good stead. We’ve got very aggressive targets this year so we need to be competitive from the off.”
