WEC: Tincknell and Pla get Nissan seats

A second wave of drivers announced for Nissan's 2015 assault on the World Endurance Championship with the radical GT-R LM NISMO includes LMP2 frontrunners Harry Tincknell and Olivier Pla.

Tincknell and Pla have been unveiled as full-season drivers in the Japanese manufacturer's two-car LMP1 assault on the WEC along with reigning Super GT champion Tsugio Matsuda, who will drive the additional third entry in the Le Mans 24 Hours.

They join 2009 Le Mans winner Marc Gene, who was announced as a full-season driver on the launch of the GT-R LM at the beginning of this week.

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Tincknell graduated to the prototype ranks from Formula 3 last year aboard British team Jota's Nissan-powered Zytek in the European Le Mans Series.

"My plan was to move into LMP2, do a good job and put myself in the shop window, but to get signed up by a manufacturer after just one season is amazing," he said. "I always thought it was going to be a long-shot to become a full-season driver with a factory straight away, so this is a fantastic opportunity for me.

"To be with such a massive manufacturer with such a rich motorsport heritage is fantastic."

Pla, who narrowly missed out on the WEC LMP2 title in each of the past two seasons with the OAK Racing team, said it was "great to be part of a programme like this".

"I feel very proud and pleased to become a works driver for Nissan: the challenge is very exciting and I'm more than ready for that."

Nissan global motorsport boss Darren Cox said: "We chose to look within the Nissan family to find drivers who have done a great job for us and provide a good mixture of youth and experience.

"Matsuda-san needs little introduction as he is the reigning Super GT champion; Harry and Oli stood out for their professional performances alongside our NISMO athletes in Nissan-powered LMP2 cars."

Nissan has yet to set a schedule for the announcement of the remaining five drivers.

Originally on Autosport.com