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Stephen Errity Stephen_Errity@dennis.co.uk
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RISING British star Harry Tincknell will be among the drivers to take on the World Endurance Championship and Le Mans 24 Hours in Nissan’s radical new front-engined GT-R LM racer.
Tincknell, 23, joins Spanish ex-F1 driver Marc Gene and Frenchman Olivier Pla for a full-season campaign, while Japanese GT champion Tsugio Matsuda will be in the third car that Nissan will run at Le Mans. Further names for the nine-strong squad will be announced in the coming weeks.
“To be offered my first factory contract in racing with a manufacturer as big as Nissan is something I’ve dreamt about since I began karting 13 years ago,” said Tincknell, who won the LMP2 class at Le Mans last season and is mentored by triple overall winner Allan McNish.
The GT-R LM Tincknell will drive was unveiled in a US Super Bowl commercial earlier this month. It’s powered by a 3.0litre V6 turbocharged petrol engine with a Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS), and unlike the other factory LMP1 racers, it sends its power to the front wheels, which is claimed to produce a power output of at least 1,250bhp.
Nissan will take on the established might of Audi, Porsche and Toyota in the series’ top LMP1 class, and all
■ Nissan, Toyota, Audi and Porsche all sign British talent for 2015 ■ Full grid for championship
Radical new Nissan GT-R LM will take on Audi, Porsche and Toyota in the WEC and the Le Mans 24 Hours
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Nick Tandy Porsche (Le Mans) Harry Tincknell Nissan (full season) Mike Conway Toyota (full season) Oliver Jarvis Audi (full season)
three rivals have also signed up young British driving talent for 2015.
At Audi, Oliver Jarvis is stepping up to a full-season campaign, having raced only at Le Mans last year, while Toyota has promoted Mike Conway from test to race driver. Nick Tandy will drive a third Porsche 919 at Le Mans alongside F1 star Nico Hulkenberg and New Zealander Earl Bamber.
The LMP2 class sees a healthy increase in full-season entries, going from four in 2014 to 10 for this year.
British outfit Strakka Racing will be on the grid with its new Dome coupé, driven by the 2010 Le Mans LMP2 class-winning line-up of Jonny Kane, Nick Leventis and Danny Watts.
The production-based GT class will once again see Ferrari, Porsche and Aston Martin battle it out for honours over the course of the eight-round season. Corvette will join for the Le Mans 24 Hours in June only.
Marussia could return to F1 grid
THE Marussia Formula One team could return to the grand prix grid – but under its original name of Manor Motorsport.
Former Sainsbury’s supermarket boss Justin King is reported to be one of the investors aiming to bring the squad back. It missed the last three races of the 2014 season when Russian backer Andrey Cheglakov ceased his funding after seeing the team race at his home grand prix in Sochi.
King’s 20-year-old son Jordan was British Formula 3 champion in 2013 and recently confirmed he would be graduating to the GP2 Series in 2015 with top team Racing Engineering.
A planned auction of Marussia’s race equipment and cars was called off at the last minute and administrators have announced that the company will exit bankruptcy on 19 February.
However, the F1 Strategy Group, composed of Red Bull, Mercedes, Ferrari, Williams and Force India, has rejected the team’s request to run a modified version of its 2014 car.
When Manor Motorsport entered F1 in 2010, it was initially known as Virgin Racing, before being renamed after new backer Marussia in 2012.
Father of F3 star Jordan King (left) is behind the bid bid to to rescuerescue MarussiaMarussia
■ BMW REVEALS M6 GT3
BMW has released the first images of its new M6 GT3, which is set to make its competition debut in 2016.
The car will succeed the current BMW Z4 GT3 racer and, like its predecessor, will be eligible to compete in events such as the British GT Championship and the Blancpain GT Series in Europe.
Power comes from a 4.4-litre V8, producing over 500bhp, while the car weighs less than 1,300kg.
