Bryce Washington to compete at Nurburgring

BRYCE WASHINGTON TO COMPETE IN THE NURBURGRING 1000KM

South Australian driver Bryce Washington has today confirmed that he will make his international Sportscar racing debut when he tackles the 1000km of the Nurburgring in two weeks time.

The 22-year-old ADRAD Racing driver, currently a leading competitor in both the Wright Patton Shakespeare Australian Carrera Cup Championship and the Speed Energy Drink Australian GT Championship, will tackle the historic event behind the wheel of a Porsche GT3 RSR with JWA Racing.

The race will mark the first international foray for the Adelaide driver as he investigates potential career avenues for the future.

The Nurburgring 1000km event has been held since 1953, when it was contested over 44 laps of the famous 22.8km Nordschleife circuit. In 1984 it moved to the current Grand Prix circuit before being shortened, then eventually discontinued in the late 1980s.

The race was resurrected in 2000 and now serves as one of five rounds of the LeMans Series in Europe, Australian David Brabham winning the event that year driving with Jan Magnussen in a Panoz LMP 1.

The James Watt Automotive outfit is a well credentialed Porsche team and has some Australian history, with both Dane Allan Simonsen -- a man with plenty of Aussie Racing experience - and Jack Elsgood having driven for them in the past.

JWA Racing will run a Porsche GT3 RSR in the GT2 Class against a field that includes cars from Porsche, Ferrari, TVR, Spyker and Panoz.

Adelaide - based Washington is the defending Australian GT Champion, and has proved himself to be a leading competitor in the Carrera Cup one-make series despite a run of bad luck in the first two rounds this year that has proved to be a setback to his championship campaign.

"It's a fantastic opportunity that I have been given, and I intend to make the most of it," Washington said today.

"I am really looking forward to it. To be able to compete in the premier Sportscar series in Europe and at the Nurburgring circuit is an awesome opportunity. There is so much history at the circuit and in this event and to be a part of that will be great.

"It will be also really good to check out the European scene and look at some options for next season.

"I've done plenty of laps of the Nurburgring on the Play Station and it's always been one of my best circuits," he joked.

"Whether that helps or not, I don't know, but I can't wait to get over there and race." He said.

The 1000km of the Nurburgring will be held on July 15 -- 16 and is the third round of the 2006 LeMans Series.

This weekend sees Washington taking part in the third round of the 2006 WPS Carrera Cup Australia Championship with ADRAD Racing, the South Aussie placing a solid 11th in the first race despite getting 'hung out to dry' on the opening corner at Hidden Valley in Darwin.

-www.adrad.com.au