Mardenborough to make international racing return at Spa 24 Hours


The 32-year-old Briton will contest the blue riband spherical of the GT World Problem Europe Endurance Cup on 29/30 June aboard a McLaren 720S GTE Evo run by RJN Motorsport, the staff with which he took his first steps in racing after profitable Nissan’s gamer-to-racer academy scheme in 2011.

Mardenborough, whose story was instructed in 2023 movie Gran Turismo, will share the Professional-Am class entry with the Buncombe brothers, Alex and Chris, and new RJN proprietor Simon Watts.

The centenary working of the Spa traditional can be his first worldwide begin since he was launched from Nissan’s Tremendous GT roster after a five-year stint on the finish of 2020.

Mardenborough has raced solely twice since 2020, in final 12 months’s Fuji 24 Hours Tremendous Taikyu fixture aboard a Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 after which final month’s three-hour British GT Championship race at Silverstone with RJN in preparation for the outing at Spa.

“We had been approached to see if we might match Jann into our Spa line-up and because of the assist of Simon we had been in a position to do it,” RJN founder Bob Neville, who continues to run the staff for Watts, instructed Autosport.

“We all know what Jann can do, so we had been joyful to place him the automotive.

“He did a few checks earlier than Silverstone and he was straight on the tempo, which didn’t come as an important shock.”

Picture by: DPPI

Mardenborough mentioned: “I am grateful to be on the grid and to compete on this nice race in its centenary 12 months.

“It’s been a goal of mine for some time and I am happy to be undertaking it.

“I’ve obtained massive ambitions, so it is time to get to work with the entire staff.”

Mardenborough revealed within the wake of his class win and third general within the Silverstone 500 British GT spherical that he’s aiming to return to racing full-time in 2025.

“I’d like to race top-level sportscars in Europe and USA,” mentioned Mardenborough, who contested the Le Mans 24 Hours in 2013-15 in Nissan-engined LMP2 equipment after which its front-engined GT-R LM NISMO LMP1.

“Hypercar, I imagine, can be a golden period of sportscar racing so I might like to be part of that.”

He admitted that he wanted to show himself after his absence from the cockpit and that he took step one in that course at Silverstone with a race-leading efficiency within the RJN McLaren shared with Chris Buncombe.

“Persons are conscious of what I did previously, however they nonetheless must see me performing outdoors of Japan,” mentioned Mardenborough, who retained a System E simulator position with Nissan into 2022.

“I proved that I can combine it with the most effective GT drivers on the planet in blended circumstances in a automotive I’ve by no means raced earlier than.”

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