NISMO Athlete Hoping for Home Success

CIRCUIT ZOLDER, Belgium – Round Two of the 2013 FIA GT Series takes to the track at Zolder in Belgium this weekend and it's going to be a very special event for one of the NISMO Athletes. 2012 GT Academy Europe winner, Wolfgang Reip, is from Brussels and this will be his first-ever home race and the first opportunity to show his family and friends what he can do in the Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3.

'Wolfie' put in a great performance at Monza last weekend, improving his position by an astounding 12 places during the opening stint. If he shows his usual turn of pace at Monza he will be in for a successful weekend.

He said: "I'm already really excited that I will be taking part in my first home race. It feels like I have been given a boost and I will try to make my friends and family proud. I've been to Zolder many times as a spectator so I know a lot about the place."

Wolfie's teammate is Russsian racer Mark Shulzhitskiy and the duo are looking to take it all the way to the podium this weekend.

Wolfie explained: "I think the Nissan GT-R will go well at Zolder. The first sector is quite fast, which is good for us and the slow corners are not too long so you can get back on the power quickly.  This will be the third race for Mark and me and we are feeling confident. We are learning more with every race and I think a pro-am podium is definitely achievable."

Lucas Ordonez and Alex Buncombe already have a pro-am podium under their belts after taking the YouTube liveried Nissan GT-R to third place at the opening round in Nogaro. You can follow the Nismo Athletes on track at Zolder with the live streaming at www.fiagtseries.com. The one-hour Qualifying Race is this Saturday at 14:15 CET and the Main Race takes place on Sunday at 14:15 CET.

FIA GT SERIES: HOW IT WORKS
The FIA GT race weekend consists of two one-hour sprint races: the qualifying race and then the main race at the end of the weekend.  Before they can race though the drivers have to qualify. The FIA GT Qualifying procedure involves the first driver setting a time during a 15-minute session, followed by his teammate then doing the same in a second 15 minute session.  The 10 fastest cars are then entered into the Superpole, during which each nominated top 10 driver takes his turn to do two clear timed laps of the track to grab the highest places on the grid for the qualifying race.

Both the qualifying and main races include a mandatory pit stop where a driver and tire change must take place between the 25th and 35th minutes of the race.  Points are awarded for both races but the big points are earned in the main race. This means it is vital to have a clean run in the qualifying race to set yourself up for a high position in the main race.

2013 FIA GT SERIES CALENDAR

April 1: Nogaro, France
April 21: Zolder, Belgium
July 7: Zandvoort, Netherlands
August 18: Slovakia Ring, Slovakia
October 13: Navarra, Spain
November 16 or 23: Middle East (date and location tbc)

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