The NISMO team have been forced into a late driver swap for the 2015 Bathurst 12 Hour because Alex Buncombe will stay home in England for the birth of his first child.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Buncombe had been confirmed to drive the Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3, alongside fellow NISMO Athletes Katsu-masa Chiyo and Wolfgang Reip.
Buncombe's child was originally anticipated to arrive last week, but is now expected to arrive this week.
That means Buncombe will miss the Bathurst 12 Hour to be with wife Gemma and their newborn.
Florian Strauss will be the driver joining the team.
The late call-up for Strauss comes after he was one of the most impressive drivers in the field at the 2015 Dubai 24 Hours last month. The 2013 GT Academy Germany winner was entrusted with duties as the 'pro' driver in the Nissan GT Academy Team RJN entry despite holding a racing licence for just 18 months.
Leading the way for his four 2014 GT Academy winner team-mates all competing in their first event Strauss drove a superb race that saw the #23 Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 finish fifth overall and second in the GT3 Pro-Am category in a world class GT3 sportscar field.
Driving alongside Bun-combe in the 2014 Blancpain Endurance Series, Strauss raced with distinction at daunting circuits such as Spa Francorchamps for the Spa 24 Hours and the Nurburgring Nordschleife for the Nurbur-gring 24 Hours.
"I remember arriving home from the UK after completing the Nissan Driver Development Programme this time last year," Strauss said.
"One of the first things I did was watch the livestream from Bathurst and think how cool it would be if one day I could race at such a special place.
"I think that explains how thrilled I am with this opportunity.
"The track at Mount Panorama has always been a favourite of mine as it is like a little Nurburgring Nord-schleife.
"The team put in a great effort last year, so now I am more than excited to take Godzilla around the mountain and team up with Wolfie and Chiyo-san.
"I've never been to Australia, so I'm really looking forward to experiencing a new country and meeting lots of new people."
Buncombe hopes to be back in Bathurst again in the future knowing he has unfinished business at the Mount.
"Pulling out of Bathurst 12 Hour has been a very hard decision as I'm still waiting for the arrival of my first child, who is late, and timings have not worked out," he said.
"I feel we have unfinished business at Bathurst, having shown our strength in 2014, and was looking forward to another challenge around the mountain in 2015.
"I wish the team the very best of luck and hope to be there next year."
