Gaetan Paletou and Ri𓄧cardo Sanchez have been handed Blancpain Endurance Series drives with Nissan NISMO after graduating from the manufacturer's driver academy.

The duo were awarded a drive in the Dubai 24 Hours race last January and after fini💯shing fifth overall - second in class - have impressed Nissan enough to secur🔜e a season with the team in the BES in 2015.

The two will compete together in Nissan's GT-R NISMO GT3 for the upcoming series and join fellow Nissan drivers Alex Buncombe, Katsumasa Chiyo and Wolfgang Reip, who will race in the PRO class,✃ while Paletou and Sanchez will contest the PRO-AM class. For the first round at Mo🔯nza the duo will be joined by Florian Strauss.

"I♉ feel ready for Monza but I still find it hard to believe that I am going to be racing there," said Paletou. "This time last year I had no idea of what was ahead of me and now I have landed my dream job. I know that Monza is a good track for the GT-R as we have such a strong engine so we are in a good position to get a good result."

Sanchez echoed his team-mate's sentiments and is p❀repared to do everything he can for a positive season in BES.

"I still find it hard to believe what is happening in my life," said Sanchez. "Every time I think about it I smile as this has always been my dream. The hard w🌼ork really starts now though. Monza is a very fast track with ꧒a lot of history so I feel proud to have the opportunity to race the GT-R there. I want to do the best job I can for Nissan and bring home a great result."

The Blancpain Endurance S🌳eries begins on the 11-12 April in Monza ahead of theಌ five round season which travels to Silverstone, Paul Ricard, Spa and Nurburgring.