The sad news reaches DSC this morning that after 11 years as a Factory Nissan NISMO Driver, Alex Buncombe will step away from the Japanese marque for the 2019 season with another long-serving member of the marque’s factory roster also set to be announced as leaving in the next 24 Hours too as Nissan look set to dramatically scale back their racing programmes outside Japan, with the exception of Formula E.
During that more than a decade with the Japanese marque Buncombe has raced in Europe and around the World helping to develop the GT-R GT3 from the birth of the programme.
He has been a regular fixture behind the wheel of the GT-R throughout its life, predominantly with the RJN Motorsport team.
There were many successes in VLN, the Nurburgring 24 Hours, Bathurst 12 Hours, British GT and of course the Blancpain Endurance Series including becoming Pro Cup Drivers Champion in 2015.
Alex also made a number of appearances for Nissan in the Australian V8 Supercar Series for the Endurance events and made his Le Mans 24 Hours debut with the GT-R LM in LMP1 in 2015.
“It’s been a fantastic journey with the Nismo brand but I feel that now is time for a change. It’s unfortunate that their GT programmes have become more limited and now with no European Factory programme I felt the time was right to explore new opportunities. We are enjoying a great era for GT racing and in particular GT3, so I’m excited about what the future could hold for the next chapter of my career.
“I would like to thank Nissan and Nismo for their support through the years and for giving me the opportunity to gain the huge experience that I now have in GT racing. I now look forward to what is ahead for 2019 and to be able to fight again for another Championship.
“I learnt earlier this year that I now have driven the second most races in Blancpain Endurance Series history (only Stephane Ortelli has started every race), having missed only one race since the Championship began. I would certainly like to keep racing in Blancpain but I’m also exploring various other opportunities and options”
Nissan NISMO Statement –
Nissan will not renew the driving contracts for Lucas Ordonez and Alex Buncombe in 2019 as the brand switches its international motorsport focus from GT racing to the ABB FIA Formula E Championship.
Both drivers have given incredible service to Nissan over the past ten years, and we thank them for their efforts and wish them the best of luck in the future.
They have enjoyed a successful 10-year championship-winning career with the brand with Ordonez claiming the first-ever Nissan PlayStation GT Academy gamer-to-racer competition and Buncombe acting as a key mentor for many of the competition’s graduates.
GT Sport Motul Team RJN contested the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup in 2018 as a Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 customer team with Ordonez and Buncombe as teammates.
The Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 will continue to be raced around the world by leading customer teams in 2019. RJN Motorsport’s plans for 2019 have not been revealed at this stage.
