Sean Walkinshaw, a driver that raced the Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 as part of a successful customer programme in 2015, has been recruited as a NISMO Athlete and will drive for Nissan GT Academy Team RJN in the 2016 Blancpain GT Series.

After four years of successful competition in the junior single-seater ranks across Europe, Walkinshaw (above) made the decision to graduate into international GT3 racing in 2015. He raced the Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 for a brace of customer teams in the Blancpain Sprint and Endurance series last season.

Walkinshaw’s ability to quickly adapt to the requirements of GT3 racing and the support he received from the Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 customer programme as he raced alongside PRO and driver coach Craig Dolby throughout the 2015 season, enabled the 22-year-old to score a podium finish at Brands Hatch and a hat-trick of other top-six finishes with the MRS GT Racing squad. He also recorded a brace of top-six finishes with Always Evolving Racing (below).

The strength of Walkinshaw’s results in his debut year of GT3 competition have now earned him a coveted place as a NISMO Athlete. He will drive a Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 alongside Ricardo Sánchez in this year’s Blancpain Sprint Pro Silver Cup and Matt Simmons and Romain Sarazin in the Blancpain Endurance Pro Am class.

“This is an amazing opportunity to be part of Nissan’s official driver line up and I’m looking forward to getting started,” Walkinshaw said. “Nissan GT Academy Team RJN has won Blancpain championships before and they’re clearly a very good team. With the best car, best team and a competitive driver line-up, I think we can be fighting for championships.”

Walkinshaw is looking forward to continuing his learning in 2016 and feels his experiences racing the Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 as part of a successful customer programme in 2015 will serve him well as he makes the next step in his motorsport career.

He said: “My customer programme with the GT-R was a great platform on which I could learn about the car and the requirements of GT3 racing. It was a fantastic learning environment and I also think it was important to have a link to a successful and respected manufacturer like Nissan so early in my GT3 racing career.

“Heading into 2016, I’m expecting to be able to start very strongly and will be focused on keeping that momentum throughout the season.”