After a spectacular opening to the 2012 Spa 24 hours, the GT Academy RJN Motorsport team were forced to retire from the race with undiagnosed electrical issues.
Having qualified in 41st on Thursday the team had plenty of work to do, but Alex Buncombe’s opening stint was exactly what was needed – gaining eight places to 33rd before handing over to Jann Mardenborough for the second hour. Jann – who’d never driven Spa before this weekend- immediately picked up where Alex had left off, gaining another 13 places in the next hour to put the big Nissan GT-R in 20th overall, running times equal to the top three cars.
Spa’s traditional weather intervened at that point and Jann was called in for a quick switch to wet tyres, but the car suddenly developed an electrical issue reminiscent of their Silverstone round of the Blancpain Endurance Series and the team pulled it into the garage.
The fault remained untraced but the car eventually got going again with Chris Ward, only to cut out two laps later halfway round the track at Radillon, forcing retirement.
Bryan Heitkotter’s excellent pole position didn’t prevent his race being brought to Earth in a similarly premature manner at Indianapolis. A first lap incident saw the Doran Racing 370Z lose position but, through torrential rain and red flags, Bryan and teammate BJ Zacharias brought the car home 10th overall.
Images courtesy of Nissan, Grand-Am and Red Square Images.
See more articles on Bryan Heitkotter, Jann Mardenborough, and Lucas Ordonez.
Idk what a niggle is, but The Elctrical Niggles Force sound like a fantastic band name
Those damn niggles always be causin’ trouble…
Stupid niggles, can’t learn to go somewhere where they’re actually wanted
No DLC ???? LOL
Just because you said that, you get this GTR and every time you are in first place the car dies due to “niggles”.
HAHA WAYYYYYYY!!!!
I was at the Indy race and didn’t even know he was racing until they announced him. I’m pretty sure he had help with the spin but he actually did a great job charging back through the field. I think he might have been as high as 7th but fell back. Got to see him make a few good passes going into turn 1. :)
That’s good stuff.
It was 30th to 4th in the first hour and a half. :) And yeah I had help into the spin. Glad you enjoyed the action in turn 1 – three wide many times. We had a winning car but lost out with the race control decisions surrounding the weather.
Sorry to hear about the electrical niggles.
My dad said that word when I was working with him once and I said “you better be careful where you say that because I am sure a lot of people don’t know what it means and may take it the WRONG way”
“Niggles”
Verb:
Cause slight but persistent annoyance, discomfort, or anxiety: “a nasty leg wound which still niggled at him”.
Noun:
A trifling complaint, dispute, or criticism: “it is an excellent book except for my few niggles”; “I have a few niggles about design”.
Term of interment: What’s up my niggle? :)
Correct(stupid IPad): term of inderment
@tpark103 oh yeah stupid iPad, always havin niggles and such… Actually mine is doin a great job, no niggles in my ipad
Great video about the SPA 24h.
youtube.com/watch?v=bD2gBGLky9s
Thank you for sharing that! The amount of rain was insane!!! I hope one day Gran Turismo will incorporate those cars with that kind of damage!
Was funny to see the mustang driver push the car over the line to finish,thats the FORD WAY!!!!
I swear that the team have accidents every race
Was there to support the Nissan, it was wonderfull to see them gaining place by place in the beginning of the race, I was so dissapointed when they had to pull out. Nevertheless well done, and the car had one of the best motorsounds :tup:.
Hope to see them again next year !
*Submits wishlist comment related to News article*
Haha :D
What a shame. They were doing so well. Btw, Audi.tv was a great stream for the race thanks
Interestingly enough, Kaz doesnt seem to have had the same issues in his GTR.
Maybe its the teams engineers and not so much NISSAN…
Well that was a different car entirely from the one that the GT Academy is using.
My point is that the engineers for Kaz GTR have a better handle on quality control, which lends to a more reliable and consistent car, whereas the team Janns racing with, after 2 races where rain has been a factor has suffered electrical “hiccups” resulting in an unworthy finish.
I kinda blamed NISSAN in an earlier post, but in hindsight may have let Janns team engineers off the hook for their role in that GTR’s catastrophic race.
Janns still a beast.
I personally know both teams. Both as good as each other. There were a lot of electrical problems with many if the teams at Spa.
the GTR looks awesome with those colors and that huge spoiler
The GTR looks awesome because it’s actually a 370Z
Despite that GT-R which is a 370Z actually being a GT-R, yes.
Gamerdogs right, the GTR that’s actually a 370z that’s really a GTR is undoubtedly a GTR
*Sigh* My thoughts told me something wrong was going to happen, and look, it was right… l:\
They were probably too focused on the horn and getting just the right tone…
It’s a Nissan… what do you expect.
A win.
Reliability?
Not I! They only made cool cars when they where called “Datsun”, and all those rusted out years ago.
Nissan hipster… =P
You could call it that XD
Two poles and still out of the top 5, that’s racing but it sucks.
Do not worry ppl! That gtr will be in the next dlc with the red designs
Nobody cares.
Id laugh if it wasn’t, actually id complain even though im sick of them
On another note. USA GT Academy 2nd place Sean Johnston is winning all over the place in his Porsche. He should have won that final Academy race.
Something to do with the Cigarette Lighter
Private joker : did you get an invite with your 21st position to the gt academy? just wondered where the invites finished.
I could be wrong but didnt it rain at “The Stone ” also? Could that be an faulty Insulation issue?
Get it right NISSAN Janns a natural, a “Beast” in anything he drives. He and L O deserve better.
It’s not Nissan’s fault they are having these issues, it’s the team just not setting them up to be reliable by being cheap most likely.
WTF are “niggles”????
Gremlins, annoyances, glitches, hiccups, gripes, narks…
…poorly wired electronics, corner-cutting builders, under-engineering, low quality wire… Or what famine said.
A highly offensive term according to urban dictionary.. and yes i have herd it been used that way before at school.
A term commonly used in Europe. It’s not so common here in the US, which I’m assuming you’re from…
Fudge! I guess things happen out your control in racing sometimes.
YLOD
I want that mclaren looks awesome in those colours
:tup: that. McLaren in Gulf colors? Sign me up!
Man, that is horrible.
When are we getting that Z in GT5?
Better luck next time lads :(
Awwww Darn