Nissan’s gamers race away from competition at Le Mans

Jann Mardenborough is the star of the show in LM P2
Mark Shulzhitskiy makes outstanding Le Mans debut
Alex Brundle currently leads LM P2 class in the Oak Racing Ligier-Nissan

As the 2014 Le Mans 24 Hours approaches the halfway mark, Nissan’s Jann Mardenborough and Mark Shulzhitskiy, along with their Oak Racing team mate Alex Brundle, are extending their lead in the LM P2 class.

Mardenborough took the start and made a great getaway, immediately challenging for second place but finding the door firmly closed. He learned the downside of racing a closed cockpit car when his windscreen got covered in oil and, while going for the wipers as he exited Arnage, he hit the pit limiter button, which allowed the car behind to slip through and he fell to fourth. Undeterred he fought back and regained third before moving up to second place by the end of his run.

Alex Brundle jumped in for the next run and had to deal with a heavy rain shower that caught out many drivers. The No.35 Ligier-Nissan dropped right down to seventh at that point as Alex had to do an extra stop for tyres so it was then his turn for a fightback drive. Fightback he did, eventually taking the lead four and a half hours into the Le Mans 24 Hours.

Then it was time for Mark Shulzhitskiy to make his Le Mans debut. Mark is the fifth GT Academy winner to race at Le Mans and the Russian excelled in his first stint, retaining the lead and making the times tumble with a professional display of driving talent.