GT Academy Team Tackle the Spa 24 Hours

Andrew Evans · · 58 Comments

As reported earlier in the month, 2009 GT Academy champion and LMP2 racer Lucas Ordonez has joined the RJN Motorsport Blancpain Endurance team for the Spa 24 Hours this weekend.

The event marks the second time Lucas and 2011 GT Academy champion Jann Mardenborough have raced together and the second 24 hour race in which they’ve done so this year!

The race gets underway at 14.00 GMT/UTC (convert to your local time zone here) with the team in 41st place on the grid and can be followed through:

To give viewers a perspective of the RJN Nissan Nismo GT-R GT3 the team will be driving, Nissan have released this video of Jann comparing the car to the GT-R road car (bonus points on offer to anyone who can spot the GTPlanet staff in the video!):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFtUv9h293w

Meanwhile in North America, 2011 US GT Academy winner Bryan Heitkotter has scored yet another pole position in the Continental Tires Sports Car Challenge, with a 1’35.922 time around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway infield course. His race has already started (and not started well), but is currently suspended under red flag regulations due to severe standing water on the circuit.

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Comments (58)

    3. Amac500

      I try to keep myself from the Bugatti because if I get into it it will become my dream and then I’ll look at the price tag and cry, lol. Nissan road cars have good technology but the styling seems either bland or weird to me and the interior way to dull (if ya sit in the GT-R you couldn’t say “Oh yeah I can tell I’m in a sports car). But that’s just my personal taste, lol. However the Nissan Leaf is just dumb, not liking the drive a pebble for 2 hours, charge for 8 formula, Nissan can honestly tell me it makes sense for my every day car, haha. My taste for the average street car, I like the Audi A series (not the SUVs) and some of the BMW’s are sharp, liking that new Cadillac ATS as well!

  3. Foxiol

    PD BUY THE GOD DAMN FIA GT LICENCE NOW!!! WE NEED THOSE CARS.

    Sorry for caps…i had a long day today helping my aunt because he is moving to other place…lol Cool Story bro!

    4. TeamCZRRacing

      Not only does it depend on whether PD has the cash to pay for it, it also depends on whether the FIA wants to sell it. If it’s not for sale, it’s not for sale, and there’s nothing PD can do about it.

    6. TomBrady

      I got an idea, why don’t they just add RM options for GT1 cars. Maybe even 2 or more RM options for each car. They could model the RMs directly after GT1s. As long as they’re accurately modelled, I wouldn’t care if they were labelled as the real GT1s, as long as they handled just like them.

  4. Amac500

    I’m pulling for that Audi Sport Pheonix Racing team. They got Dindo Capello, Benoit Treluyer, and the best performing driver at Le Mans this year in Andre Lotterer in the #3 car.

    How much fun would it be if they added GT3 spec cars to GT5? I really want another racing league like how we have Super GT and NASCAR. GT3 spec cars would due it! What would we get with that spec then? We would have the Audi R8, Mercedes-Benz SLS-AMG, BMW Z4 I think is the model they use, what other ones would we get?

    1. A_Higher_Place

      It’s the only league I’d drive if it were implemented. As long as they implement it so all cars have 100% chance of winning. In SUPER GT the NSX is always the fastest because the AI drive the same robotic lines.

    2. TeamCZRRacing

      We’d also have the Lamborghini Gallardo GT3, Porsche 911 GT3, Ford GT GT3, Aston Martin DBRS9, McLaren MP4-12C GT3, and the Ferrari 458 GT3. Of course, licensing costs of all those cars would be in the tens of millions of dollars, which is way more than PD can afford to pay at the the moment.

    3. Amac500

      Well we won’t have the Porsche for obvious resions (**** you Electronic Arts). But yeah, thats 8 GT3 spec cars. And if they do it like NASCAR and Super GT then that’s obviously at least 2 livery options, and probably a bunch for the Audi R8’s, there is a bunch of them. GT3 license probably isn’t as hard to get as other major leagues like F1 and NASCAR or even the indycars I want but I know probably won’t get, lol. But yeah, GT3 for GT5!

    4. A_Higher_Place

      They already have GT3 Audi’s in the game. the R8 LMS Racecars. Would just be nice to have cars to compete directly with them… and differently liveries..

    6. Amac500

      Oh and I guess we have to add the Nissan GT-R GT3 to that list. Idk how many will use it because I know the GT-R is pretty much dead to many of us, lol. So thats 9 GT3 models.

  8. another_jakhole

    It’s insane how wet it is. I wonder how long it’ll be before they can get going again.

    1. m8h3r

      The site is about a game, partially, and that game is partnered with Nissan. I’d be confused is there wasn’t so much about Nissan on here.

    2. Famine

      We report on all things Gran Turismo. We report on the progress of GT Academy. GT Academy is sponsored by Nissan. The four graduates of the GT Academy program drive Nissan (370Z, GT-R) or Nissan-powered (LMP2 chassis) cars.

      What do you want us to do about it? Pretend they all drive Hispano-Suizas?

    4. another_jakhole

      “What do you want us to do about it? Pretend they all drive Hispano-Suizas?”

      Apparently. Maybe typing Nissan backwards would help. :D

    6. Pit Crew

      @Famine Peeps join GTP then insult your mission? I just dont get it, but you edumacated him lol. +1,0000000

  15. COLOSAL TOSSLE

    i use proxfree website to watch,coz our country misses out for some odd reason,oh well works fine with proxfree website :)

  16. Chadders85

    A few laps of onboard footage from each race would be nice, they have cameras mounted in the car so why can’t we watch them at work from in the car? A youtube search doesn’t bring anything up. Good luck guys.

    1. COLOSAL TOSSLE

      old mal,did he race at calders thunderdome,im sure i remember him,and proddy cars….memories :)

    2. ENFORCER 98

      im pretty sure he did over the years hes procured a GRM VY commodore the one that bargs destroyed at phillip island and was rebuilt GRM-VX03 i believe it was for the 2003 season im pretty sure it was updated to VY spec and after it was deregistered from AVESCO Mal bought it and started racing it overseas in spa 24hr and dubai 24hr and nordschliefe etc so yer that cars been around… although i could be wrong on some of the details

  19. lebes14

    As much as I’d love them to win, they happen to be racing for Nissan, a brand I hate very strongly. So any news about a loss or win tends to be bitter sweet. Haha

    3. tpark103

      Ouch! Preseption is everyting and it seems that we are now looking at Nissan in a way that we wouldn’t have two years ago, You know, before there presence in GT5.

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