Just two weeks after the 6 hours of Bahrain FIA WEC race, Jordan Tresson and the Signatech Nissan team took to the track again, this time at the Fuji International Speedway for the 6 hours of Fuji.
After a successful Bahrain race where they achieved a class podium, the team were hoping to continue their good form and Olivier Lombard started well for them. However, when he pitted to swap with Franck Mailleux, the car refused to start again and the team lost eight minutes to what turned out to be a faulty starter motor. Jordan ran the anchor leg and brought the car home ninth in class (seventh in the teams’ LMP2 championship). The team face another short rest period before the season-ending 6 hours of Shanghai in two weeks.
Meanwhile, the newest graduates found themselves facing a very stiff test indeed – a 24 hour kart endurance race at Daytona, albeit the Daytona outdoor karting centre at Milton Keynes, UK.
As one of 43 teams entered for the 2012 Daytona 24 Hours, the GT Academy winners faced one of the toughest endurance races in the world. With average lap speeds approaching 73mph in these karts, the challenge is nothing to be sniffed at – a challenge made much harder when the power failed at the circuit twice in the night.
The four man team of Wolfgang Reip, Mark Shulzhitskiy and the two unnamed Academy winners from Germany and the USA managed to turn their 18th place qualification into an 8th place finish, 25 hours and 994 laps later – the clock having been extended for an hour following the second power cut.
Images courtesy of GT Academy.
See more articles on Jordan Tresson, Mark Shulzhitskiy, and Wolfgang Reip.
Are you serious!!! They have 24 hours in a go kart? It would be cool if they put that in the game!!!
24H in a kart wow that much be fun and a special thing to do :)
Good drive! Now can you please give us the Fuji track as DLC, GT5 not GT6 please!!!!!!
Fuji is on GT5 already you must mean a different track.
Maybe they should change the name of this website to gtacademyplanet?
But then we’d be restricted only to GT Academy news, rather than having it as a mere part of the world (or indeed “planet”) of GT.
Maybe folk should stop complaining when we bring them the GT news we can bring them (at a maximum of two posts a week), rather than news about GT5 or GT6 that doesn’t exist. We’re not going to make stuff up just so we can post about the games to satisfy people who don’t recognise that GT Academy is part of GT…
Personally I have no issues with any of the GT related news here on GTP including GTAcademy news. I always have the choice to bypass any news thread I dont want to comment in.
Seeing as how Kaz has been silent about upcoming GT5 DLC (if any are being considered ) or GT6 progress, other than a snipet here or there, the staff is doing their best to relay any GT news they can find and share it with us, still attempting to incite heated debates amongst the GTP masses.
Bravo and keep up the good work :tup
Actually I was referring to the state of GT5.. being dead, not complaining about news here. On top of that I wasn’t actually trying to suggest you guys should actually change the name. I mean.. really?
I know that feel. Everytime I see a new headline I hope it’s a patch or new DLC for GT5…
Wow, I want to watch 24h karts. Who needs Le mans when you have something like that!?
I dont know what to say anymore…I…I dont care anymore (cries)
Hahaha. You’re funny @SaintSaiya. :)
Isn’t that a Genesis song?
@BWX Yup Phil Collins lead Singer lol
If it wasnt for the academy GT would have new news at all :(
I must say I agree. :(
Told ya
They only news I’m after I’d when the hell are the servers going to get sorted out, at least have an ounce of respect for us (the game users) and give us some information on the problem. Even if it’s just to say yes we’re aware of the problem and are trying our best to resolve the issue, just taking down the comment that it’s been sorted just isn’t good enough.
I actually met Jordan Tresson and got a photo with him at the Paris Motor Show on the 4th October – he seemed like a very nice guy!
Think you mean 9th overall Famine, not in class. A 24 hour kart race would be nuts…
The article does say a 24 hours kart race…
No, they were fifteenth overall. Though, curiously, they’re listed as eighth in class rather than the ninth stated in the press release – official results, for some reason classify the #26 Signatech car last despite it finishing seventh in class – and they scored the points of seventh position due to two privateer entries ahead of them.
First, and congrats… poor audi with the drive through penalty after the hood replacement… as if that didnt take long enough as is….
Second, and that car looks quite nice.
Congrats on being 1st,your trophy is in the mail.
Great race guy’s,well done.
Good luck for the last race of the season.