Nissan's Russian Racer Sets Sights on Victory at Interlagos

This weekend's "6 Hours of Sao Paulo" heralds the start of the second half of the FIA World Endurance Championship season.  The teams have had a two-month break since a particularly exhausting Le Mans 24 Hours and have arrived in Brazil refreshed, invigorated and ready to race.  Nissan power has dominated the early part of the LM P2 season and one man looking to make sure that trend continues is Russian racer, Roman Rusinov.

"We have been working hard since Le Mans and I think we are more than prepared for this race," said Roman. "I love racing at Interlagos as it is a very technical track that suits my driving style. Last year our Oreca-Nissan was very fast there but we can never forget how close the competition is in LM P2.

"Our main target here is victory," he continued. "We missed the win at Le Mans due to the problems with the number plate panels so we really need to be on top in this race. It's important for the team, for G-Drive and for Nissan. G-Drive Racing is a great team and we have every thing we need to be on top so that is where we will be aiming."

Roman shares the no.26 G-Drive Racing entry with the rapid Mike Conway and John Martin. They face competition from the other side of their own garage from James Walker, Tor Graves and Robbie Kerr and of course from seven other LM P2 cars in Brazil. 

Seven of the nine LM P2 cars will be powered by the NISMO-tuned Nissan VK45DE V8 engine at Interlagos. Oak Racing will field three Morgan Nissans, one of which will be raced by Nissan Ambassador Keiko Ihara.  The team took a fantastic 1-2 finish at Le Mans and have taken podium finishes at every WEC race so far this year. With drivers like Alex Brundle and Bertrand Baguette on the squad they will be a force to be reckoned with in Brazil. Another racer well known to Nissan appears in the No.41 Greaves Motorsport entry as ex-Nissan DeltaWing racer Gunnar Jeannette joins the team.  Pecom Racing, winners at Spa, will also be fast so expect some very tight racing in LM P2.

The 6 Hours of Sao Paulo gets underway this Sunday at 12:00hrs local time (-5hrs CET). The race will be broadcast live on Motors TV and Radio Le Mans and the team from Dailysportscar.com will report live from Interlagos throughout the event.

THE NISMO G-DRIVE SHOW EXCITES ACROSS RUSSIA
Nissan and G-Drive have also been collaborating off track recently, bringing the excitement of their partnership to cities across Russia. Roman Rusinov and 2012 GT Academy Russia winner Mark Shulzhitskiy thrilled the crowds at these heavily attended roadshows, lighting up city streets throughout the summer in an array of Nissan NISMO machinery.

"We took the roadshow to four different cities in Russia which was a great," said Roman.  "We had 50-80,000 people come to see us in each city. It was really important to show our LM P2 Nissan race car fueled by G-Drive to the fans in those cities. It's a great way for the fans to get up close and personal with the car and get to know what racing is really about."

The Nismo G-Drive shows also gave visitors the chance to experience GT Academy powered by G-Drive, with 15,000 people grabbing the opportunity to compete for a wild card entry into the final stages of the Russian contest. The Russian National Final was then held at the conclusion of the tour in Yekaterinburg on Sunday when 12 gamers were selected to travel to Silverstone in September to battle for the chance to follow in Mark Shulzhitskiy's footsteps.

2013 FIA WORLD ENDURANCE CALENDAR

April 14: Silverstone, UK
May 4: Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium
June 22-23: Le Mans 24 Hours, France
September 1: Interlagos, Brazil
September 22: Circuit of the Americas, USA
October 20: Fuji, Japan
November 10: Shanghai, China
November 30: Bahrain

# # #