Nissan's Shulzhitskiy gets Ricard Blancpain drive

Nissan LMP1 driver Mark Shulzhitskiy will join the Japanese manufacturer's Blancpain Endurance Series lineup at Paul Ricard the week after the Le Mans 24 Hours.

Shulzhitskiy, the 2012 GT Academy winner, will take the professional seat in the Pro-Am Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 taken by Florian Strauss at the Monza opener and Jann Mardenborough at Silverstone last month. The 25-year-old joins regulars Gaetan Paletou and Ricardo Sanchez, both winners of Nissan's gamer-to-racer scheme last year, in the RJN-run GT-R for the Paul Ricard 1000Km on June 20.

Nissan global motorsport boss Darren Cox told AUTOSPORT: "All our Academy winners have driven the GT3 on the way up, so we want to mix it up a bit through the season."

BES rules allow two professionals for the Spa 24 Hours at the end of July and Cox said that a decision had already been made on who they would be. He declined to name them, but said neither had raced in the BES so far this season.