Nissan bares 2023 motorsport programs

Nissan, together with its motorsports sub-brand Nismo, announced its works and customer programs for 2023.

The programs include Nissan’s initiatives in various motorsports organizations such as the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship and the Super GT GT500 class. Also announced are the Japanese carmaker’s other activities like the Nismo Driving Academy.

“At Nissan, we challenge ourselves and dare to do what others don’t. We are proud of our achievements on the track last year in the Super GT series. This season, in Formula E, Nissan will compete with a newly developed Gen3 powertrain, which we are also supplying to McLaren. Also, the newly developed Z GT4 will race in the US and Japan. Motorsport is a test bed that pushes our engineering and manufacturing expertise to the next level of excellence. But it also is our passion, and we want to share this passion and excitement with more fans around the world,” said Nissan Chief Operating Officer Ashwani Gupta.

Nissan reiterated its participation in the ninth season of the Formula E series. It will be the brand’s fifth year in the competition and will mark its first time competing under the name “Nissan Formula E Team.”

Those following the sport would know that this year, teams competing in Formula E will now use Gen3 cars, which are considered faster and more powerful than its predecessor. Nissan Formula E Team has unveiled its cherry blossom-clad contender, which will be driven by the veteran Norman Nato and the young blood Sacha Fenestraz.

For its Super GT GT500 class campaign, the brand will field the Nissan Z GT500, which was developed based on the Nissan Z that symbolizes the marque’s DNA to take on challenges.

Motohiro Matsumura will continue to lead Nissan’s Super GT GT500 class team as its Executive Director.

Both of the groups competing in Formula E and the Super GT GT500 class are Nissan factory teams.

On the other hand, those vying for Super GT GT300 class and Super Taikyu Series victories are Nissan customer racing partner teams. Gainer and Kondo Racing — both of which are official partner teams — will be competing in the Super GT GT300 class using Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3s. They will be joined by Nilzz Racing and Runup Sports, both of which will use GT-Rs.

Meanwhile, Helm Motorsports, which won the ST-X class title last year, will compete again with the Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3, along with the GT-R entered by GT Net Motorsports at the Super Taikyu Series. In addition, two Fairlady Z Nismo RC cars are scheduled to be entered by Okabejidosha Motorsport and one from Team ZeroOne in the ST-3 class.

Nissan also announced that Nismo will provide cars and technical support to the pilot customer teams competing with the Nissan Z GT4 (pending SRO homologation), developed based on the Nissan Z. These include two Nissan Z GT4s for TechSport Racing and one Nissan Z GT4 each for Team Impul and Team ZeroOne.

TechSport Racing will race in the Pirelli GT4 America Championship while Team Impul and Team ZeroOne will compete in the aforementioned Super Taikyu Series.

Further Nissan announced that the company will continue to supply and provide technical support for the VK56 engine to all teams competing in LMP3 races around the globe. The engine will be used in series such as the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, which includes the Rolex 24 at Daytona and the IMSA VP Racing Sportscar Challenge in North America; the European Le Mans Series; the Michelin Le Mans Cup; the Ultimate Cup Series; the German Prototype Cup in Europe; and the Asian Le Mans Series in the United Arab Emirates.

Also in 2023, Nissan will stage the Nismo Driving Academy for Nissan GT-R, Fairlady Z, and Skyline 400R users. While the date is yet to be confirmed, Nissan said that Michael Krumm, together with Nismo contracted drivers, will serve as the principal driver to give lessons to event participants.

Finally, Nissan confirmed that the Nismo Festival will once again be held in 2023. Event details are also to be announced at a later date.

Photos from Nissan

Also read: 

Nissan is 1st automotive brand to appear in PH premier 3D billboard

Nissan unveils Max-Out EV convertible

Nissan to strengthen ties with Renault, bares 3-stage approach