Nissan announced they are coming back this year for another crack at the 2014 Nurburgring 24 Hours endurance race, held at the legendary German circuit on 21-22 June. They are bringing the GT-R back, the car that in its Nismo road-going version recently recorded a mind-bogglingly quick time of 7 minutes 8 seconds at the ‘Ring.

The Nissan GT-R taking on the 24 Hours race is actually quicker than the record-breaking car, as it is the GT-R NISMO GT3 race car. Nissan will campaign with three of these, driven by top racers from its “global stable” which includes Nissan GT Academy drivers, and ex-F1 star Nick Heidfeld.

“I’m delighted to increase my involvement with Nissan from my judging role on the German GT Academy show to now also include racing the Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 at the Nurburgring 24 Hours,” said Heidfeld.  “To be team-mates with Florian, who I helped select as the 2013 winner of the GT Academy competition, is quite incredible and is a great chance for me to continue the mentoring process with him at the Nordschleife. Together with Alex and Lucas we will tackle one of the most beautiful and challenging circuits in the world.”

The GT-R will be unleashing its hellish power on rivals from pretty much every other manufacturer. The most fascinating thing about the Nurburgring 24 Hours is the fact that most of the competitors are slightly modified road cars. The cars you see on the track are pretty much the same cars you see on the roads. That is why winning this race is so important to a car’s street cred.