On its first visit to the Hockenheimring the #25 shared by Steven Kane (GBR) and Jody Fannin (GBR) finished 14th with the #24 driven by Peter Dumbreck (GBR) and Matt Bell (GBR) 20th.

Yet again the 60 minute sprint race delivered incident and intrigue right from the start - one of them unfortunately involving the #25 Nissan. Steven had jumped four positions from his starting slot but on only the third lap he was punted into a spin by the #17 Corvette on the exit of the hairpin. ‘Going into the hairpin I was taking my normal line and then another car just came into the side of me and spun me round,´ the Irishman said after the race. ‘It seemed like he came out of nowhere and I couldn´t do anything to avoid it. From that point it was about getting back into position. By the end of my stint I was right back into it but got caught behind the Camaro, and couldn´t find a way past. All the same I enjoyed it out there - with less weight on the car we were able to push a lot more. Without the spin I think we really could have been mixing it in the top 12.´

As other cars stopped, Steven got up into seventh by the mandatory driver change. ‘We gained a couple of positions by stopping quite late,´ Jody commented. ‘When I came out I was in a pack of cars but able to catch and stay with them after a while. I got right up to the rear of the Camaro but it was so quick in a straight line that I stayed behind it for a few laps. A Porsche caught me at this point and I had to defend against it until we both saw an opportunity to pass the Camaro into the first corner. We both went for it at the same time - losing some of the weight penalty definitely helped in this respect,´ Jody reflected. ‘The car was more nimble under acceleration and braking. It was good to get to the finish, particularly with how chaotic it was at the end.´

The #24 again had a difficult race, with the final position of 20th belying the performance of the car. Peter was running in P11 before the driver change, managing to keep clear of the various incidents in the first few laps. ‘It was a good, physical race and a lot of fun,´ the Scot said. ‘I was just trying to keep out of trouble in the first part - there were cars all over the place! I managed to keep clear of the accident Steven got caught in and sat right on the tail of the Camaro for most of my stint. I just couldn´t get past though as it was like a train on the straights - even if I was stuck right on its wing in the corners.´

Soon after Matt took over he was also involved in an incident, ‘I left the pits and was tucked up into a group of cars but then the #7 Porsche came from nowhere. I was going into the hairpin in the stadium section and was half way through the corner when he just came up on the inside. He hit my left rear wheel and spun me right round. I went onto the grass and was just watching people go past - it was really frustrating, particularly as I then got the call about the penalty.´

Unfortunately, the car was awarded a drivethrough penalty for not respecting the minimum pit lane time. In the space of one lap, the car went from running in the thick of the action to the very rear of the field. From that point on it was a case of trying to minimize the gap to the cars in front.

‘I was right at the back but I was in clear air so I could push quite a lot. In the last couple of laps I was reeling them back in and with a few more laps could have made up a few more positions. In this respect the times were very consistent - I was only a tenth off Peter´s best time even at the end of the race on the used tyres. We were also pretty rapid, doing low 42s that were close to the pace of the top seven. It was just a shame we got caught by those two incidents.´

‘The championship is definitely one of the hardest we´ve competed in,´ team manager and chief engineer, Nigel Stepney said after the race. ‘It´s a shame both cars got caught in incidents as without them we could have been in the top 10, which would have been a major achievement in our first-ever ADAC race. But that´s the nature of this type of sprint racing, unfortunately.´

‘Our aim this weekend was to gauge the performance of the GT-R against the big names of GT3 racing,´ summarised team principal James Rumsey. ‘The ballast undoubtedly hurt us a lot and we couldn´t fully show our hand. Even with 40kg of weight in the second race, we were on the pace of the top 10 and without the various penalties and issues we could have finished much higher up. Nevertheless it´s been a good learning experience and one we can draw on for our customers wishing to compete in the German championship.´