On the day that Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. and Nissan Motorsports International Co. Ltd (NISMO) announced their 2011 motorsports activities British entrepreneur James Rumsey announced his JRM Group will enter four cars in the FIA GT1 World Championship: two cars under the familiar Sumo Power GT banner and two under the JR Motorsports banner.
After the 2010 FIA GT1 World Championship in which Sumo Power GT scored several podium finishes and two wins James Rumsey successfully negotiated a new deal with NISMO and expanded the racing operations of the Rye-based team. JRM Group will use its 2010 race cars and has also bought the two Nissan GT-Rs that were raced by Swiss Racing Team in last year’s championship.
“For the FIA GT1 World Championship and for NISMO, it is important to have four Nissan GT-Rs running in this year’s series”, explains JRM Group 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.”
In order to be successful in the 2011 season Sumo Power GT and JR Motorsports will have strong driver lineups, three of the line ups were also confirmed today. JR Motorsports will run with the car numbers used by Sumo Power GT in 2010 (#22 and #23). Peter Dumbreck, who was part of the Sumo Power GT team in 2010, will compete in the #22 Nissan GT-R and will share the car with another quick British driver, Richard Westbrook. Dumbreck’s team mate from 2010, Michael Krumm, will race in the #23 GT-R and will share the car with another quick German, Lucas Luhr – who was already seen at the JRM stand at the Autosport International in Birmingham last month.
The Sumo Power GT cars will run with car numbers #20 and #21 in the new season. The #20 Nissan GT-R will be driven by two drivers who already won in the 2010 season, albeit for different teams. Ricardo Zonta and Enrique Bernoldi will team up for 2011. Their team mates at Sumo Power GT are to be decided at a later date.
“We learnt a lot in 2010 and therefore we will use the information we gained for 2011”, said James Rumsey. “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.”
A decision on the final two drivers will be made after team testing at the Losail circuit in Qatar. The team has 12 drivers lined up for the test, which will take place during the first week of March.
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