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Nissan Adds Reip, Shulzhitskiy to 24 Hours of Spa Lineup

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With less than two weeks to go before the 2014 24 Hours of Spa, Nissan has made some alterations to its NISMO driver lineup. Pray they do not alter it further. With the 24 Hours of Spa only a few weeks away, Nissan is making some changes to their NISMO driver lineup. Stanislav Aksenov will be replaced behind the wheel of the No. 35 Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 by Mark Shulzhitskiy; and GT Academy winner and native Belgian Wolfgang Reip will join Alex Buncombe, Florian Strauss, and Nick McMillen behind the wheel of the No. 80 GT-R.

“We like to shake up our driver line-ups every now and again,” said Darren Cox, NISMO Global Head of Brand, Marketing & Sales. “I’ve said it before that winning GT Academy doesn’t guarantee anyone a race seat for life. We expect maximum effort and top performances from our guys and recently Mark and Wolfie have shone.”

Shulzhitskiy was the 2012 GT Academy Russia competition winner and most recently found himself behind the wheel of the No. 35 Oak Racing Ligier-Nissan at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Shulzhitskiy (and teammates Alex Brundle and Jann Mardenborough) led the LM P2 pack for more than 14 hours before being felled by an electrical system problem that dropped them to fifth.

Reip also experienced his fair share of heartbreak at Le Mans when his day behind the wheel of the revolutionary ZEOD RC was cut short due to a gearbox issue. Nonetheless, the Belgium native piloted the ZEOD into history when he completed the first full-electric lap at Circuit de la Sarthe. Reip was part of Nissan GT Academy Team RJN during the 2013 24 Hours of Spa; the team of Reip, Mardenborough, Peter Pyzera, and Lucas Ordonez took a podium finish in the Pro-Am Cup and a Top 10 finish overall.

The 24 Hours of Spa will begin on July 23 and run through the 27th. Check www.total24hours.com for more information on how you can follow the action.