RJN Motorsport have become something of a perennial contender in GT racing recently – but it wasn’t an overnight success. The team has been around since 2000 – but it wasn’t until 2008 that they became one of Europe’s flagship GT teams.
“We did GT4 for Nissan. When I went to Nissan Motorsport in Oxfordshire, we were racing the Primeras mostly in the BTCC and European championships. Then Nissan Motorsport closed in 1999 and RJN Motorsport carried on, and well, was formed,” says Team Principal Bob Neville.
“We were extremely lucky that we had some good results, and that led to us doing the Paris Dakar for them. Budgets though have been always very tight and it’s only been in recent times with the success of the Nissan GT Academy really that things have come together. It’s helped us race cars successfully, we still hold the record for wins in GT4 I think.”
So RJN have moved from operating as a standalone team to an operation heavily linked with a variety of Nissan programmes.
“When the guys win the (GT Academy) competition online, the first stop for them is with RJN Motorsport, which is obviously the Nissan GT Academy team,” He says. “In that initial stage we take them club racing and from that moment on, it really starts for them.”
Since 2008 RJN have been working closely with Nissan to develop drivers, some of whom have gone on to race on the world stage at Le Mans. Bob himself mentors the drivers closely, and learns more and more each year about how to get the most out of the influx of raw talent each year that the Academy produces.
“It’s great to see them progress and it’s fun for us. We have been going international racing with Nissan for many years but we still enjoy going UK club racing. We take the appropriate car for whatever we are trying to achieve and we train the drivers using a variety of mentors. The drivers we use for mentoring are experienced drivers in their own right and together as a team, we try and bring them on and on and on.”
Part of the challenge is not to overwhelm the GT Academy drivers, by putting them in machinery that requires experience to squeeze the best out of too early in their racing careers. Getting the drivers to drive the Nissan 370Z GT4 at smaller events first is key to their progression.
The current upper echelon of Academy drivers including Lucas Ordoñez and Jann Mardenborough weren’t thrown straight into an LMP2 car at Le Mans but instead learned their new trade, the preparation required, the feedback that helps the team to help them, the handling limits and the circuits for instance.
Their time spent in GT racing involved races at club, National and International levels including the Spa, Dubai and the Nürburgring 24 Hour races before moving on to perhaps even more challenging machinery.
“(The 370z) is still a perfect stepping stone, in national series. It’s just a great way of gauging if a driver will be able to handle and get a try in the Nissan GTR.”
GT racing, in more recent times, has become a difficult and unique challenge in it’s own right. With series like the Blancpain Endurance Series, British GT and even the FIA GT now boasting blockbuster grids, oozing with talent, winning races has never been harder.
“As a competitor, it’s a bit of a double edged sword. It’s great to have big grids and nice atmosphere at rounds, but it also brings more of a wild card element into how the race might run. It can get mind boggling how many cars are covered by just two seconds. After qualifying there may even be as many as 30 cars covered by two seconds! Then when you come to your pitstop, it only needs the guy in front to be just slightly in the way and you lose ten seconds and give up a lead.”
RJN have been focused on the FIA GT and Blancpain Endurance Series this year, but Bob is still clearly passionate about racing on home soil. After competing in the British GT last year, and narrowly missing out in the title race, he and his crew got a real taste of national racing.
“We are still disappointed that we are not running in British GT this year, it was our initial intention. Circumstances were such though, that we were not invited, because there was a concern about the speed of the Academy drivers, you can take it as a compliment but we want to go racing in that championship, it’s hard if you can’t go and do it. So we ended up doing the FIA GT Series as a last minute effort.”
Both series which RJN currently run in involve long distance trips, to faraway circuits – it’s a great experience for the drivers and team members, but the FIA GT for instance doesn’t race in the UK in 2013. This only adds to the intensity in terms of planning – the RJN team calendar is packed, making it a real challenge to attend the multitude of events they have signed up to compete in.
“Oh yes, logistically it is certainly more of a challenge. You take where we are now – at Paul Ricard for the Blancpain – and this coming Wednesday we are at Spa for the 24 Hour test, then the next day we have to go to Zandvoort for FIA GT. You wouldn’t have that if you were doing the British GT and the Blancpain, it would be a lot easier.” Bob explained. “Even just having a UK round in both would relieve pressure, I’m not just saying that selfishly because of logistics and money, but in principle, any European series ought to have a round in the UK.”
It’s been a rollercoaster ride of a season for RJN so far, but the next stop for Bob Neville and his team is likely be their biggest challenge of the year, at the 24 Hours of Spa.
They plan to win the Pro Am class, with two Nissan GTR NISMO GT3s levelled to the task in hand as the team look to repeat the success they had two years ago in the race, winning the GT4 class. With 66 GT3 cars entered for the race though (31 in the PRO-AM CUP), Bob understands it will be no easy ride.
“It’s a massive challenge. How will we do? We are optimistic, but we don’t know, it’s early days for this car really. Winning the 24 Hours of Spa is hard, and it’s our ambition as a team to win it.” Bob said seriously, before raising his eyebrows and smiling. “We want to beat all the GT3 cars.”
Stephen Kilbey
