Nissan are back in the ADAC GT Masters. New Nissan customer team MRS GT-Racing will field two models of the 550-bhp Nissan GT-R in the Super Sports Car League, beginning with the season opener (April 24th-26th) in the etropolis Motorsport Arena Oschersleben. Florian Strauß (30, Berlin) has already signed to drive one of the GT-Rs. He came out top in 2013 as the winner of Nissan´s extraordinary GT Academy programme for young drivers.

MRS GT-Racing have lined up in the ADAC GT Masters since 2011, deploying a McLaren until last year. Now the team have decided to swap marques and plan to work with Nissan long term. The Nissan GT-R that will see duty with MRS GT-Racing has been further improved for the 2015 season. The driveability of the Japanese GT sports car has been optimised, as have aerodynamics, weight distribution and brakes.

MRS GT-Racing team boss Karsten Molitor: "We are delighted to be working with Nissan and already feel really at home in the Nissan family. We are very confident that Nissan will be competitive after the GT-R´s recent success at the 12-Hours of Bathurst. We thank Nissan Germany for their support which has enabled us to realise this project at such short notice. We hope to be in a position to announce our full driver line-up soon and can´t wait to see how Florian Strauß will fare in the ADAC GT Masters."

After a win at the 12-Hours of Bathurst in Australia last weekend, Strauß will be contesting the ADAC GT Masters for the first time with the Nissan GT-R. The racing career of the Berlin-based driver is most unusual. He has had a racing licence for just 18 months but in that short time has already competed in three 24-hour races in the 550-bhp Nissan. In 2013, Strauß won the German version of the Nissan GT Academy in which Nissan turns Playstation players into racing drivers. He beat off competition from more than 60,000 contestants and lined up last year at the side of ex Formula 1 driver Nick Heidfeld in the ADAC Zurich 24-hour race at the Nürburgring. Strauß will share the cockpit with a pro racing driver in the ADAC GT Masters, whose name will be announced at a later date. The drivers of MRS GT-Racing´s second Nissan GT-R have not yet been decided.

Strauß: "I had an incredible time last year with my move into GT racing and thought that nothing could ever top that season, but it´s just one highlight after another in 2015. Lining up regularly in the ADAC GT Masters will be the icing on the cake after my victory in Bathurst and contesting the ADAC Zurich 24-hour race in May. The ADAC GT Masters is a hard-fought championship with a top-class field of drivers and a challenge that I shall relish. I´m very proud that Nissan and the GT Academy have shown such confidence in me by entrusting me with this exciting task. I want to thank Nissan Germany in particular for making it all possible in the first place with their support."