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Matthew Simmons wins 2015 GT Academy

Matthew Simmons, 2015 GT Academy winner

Matthew Simmons is Australia’s latest high-achiever in the international motorsport arena. The 26-year-old has just topped a field of 30 finalists to win the 2015 GT Academy, which will land him a race seat with Nissan in the Dubai 24 Hour race in January next year.

Simmons’ started the final race of the International Camp from pole position and was fighting for the lead until his 370Z suffered mechanical problems and he dropped off the pace. He was still in the running for the overall win, however and was over the moon when he named the winner.

“I genuinely can’t believe it. I’m on top of the world,” Simmons said. “Unfortunately a mechanical problem took the race out of my hands, but that’s motorsport and you can’t hide that, and I think in the early stages of the race I really showed the potential of what I can do.

“The wait on the podium was killing me, but when Rob said my name I had to do a double take. I can’t believe he said it, and I’m now a racing driver!

“My journey has been massive in the last 18 months to here. I’ve had so many people supporting my dream, and they’ve given me so much confidence and made me believe I could achieve what I’ve wanted for so long—to become a racing car driver.

“The GT Academy program is amazing. You can really tell the driver development program trains you to become an athlete, and they teach you all the aspects, so by the time you reach that pinnacle and you’re at Dubai 24 Hours, you’re ready to take on the world.”

All the best to Matt, we look forward to following his career. He has some lofty shoes to fill, with Nismo’s GT Academy team winning the 2015 Bathurst 12 Hour and former GT Academy alumni Jann Mardenborough and Lucas Ordonez mixing with the world’s best in LMP1 at Le Mans.

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Nissan WEC

Nissan puts GT-R LM wacky racer on hold

2015 24 Hours of Le Mans

After its disastrous Le Mans campaign Nissan has officially put the competition return of its GT-R LM Nismo on hold. The WEC returns in just over two weeks for the 6 Hours of Nürburgring (30 August).

Shoichi Miyatani, President of NISMO, explains: “We are racers and we want to compete but we also want to be competitive.

“That is why we have chosen to continue our test programme and prepare the GT-R LM NISMO for the strong competition we face in the World Endurance Championship.

“When you innovate you don’t give up at the first hurdle. We are committed to overcoming this challenge.”

Nissan says it will continue testing “predominantly but not exclusively in the United States” and will provide updates on its developments and the return to competition in due course.

Nissan’s full statement can be read below.

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Nissan WEC

2015 LM24: Nissan wins award for optimism

2015 24 Hours of Le Mans

Nissan turned up to Le Mans with three of its radical front-wheel drive GT-R LM Nismo machines. Only one finished. And it was 153 laps behind the winning Porsche, the last of the classified LMP1 runners. Only two LMP1 cars failed to finish the race and they were both Nissans. It was a tough day for the Nismo team.

Yet, a quick glance of the post-race headline from Nissan could leave you mistaken for who actually won the race.

“Mission accomplished at Le Mans for Nissan,” it boldly states!

Yeah, erm, sorry guys but we’re pretty sure your mission wasn’t to walk the tightrope between admiration for having a crack and outright embarrassment for being so under prepared, so far off the pace and just downright loopy.

In Nissan’s favour it was always going to be very tough for the GT-R LM to make its race debut in the spotlight of Le Mans. And there is a lot of good will out there for this project. But not a lot from Germany it would seem.

An unnamed spokesman from one of the two German teams labelled Nissan’s effort as “a disgrace”. Further, after confirming with Max Prince from Road & Track that his identity would remain secret he went in off the long run.

“What is their intention?” asked the secret German. “You can come here and do whatever you want, say whatever you want, but when the final minutes come, what will you show? That’s what racing is about.

“Is coming to race just a marketing tool? Just marketing? That’s what pisses me off. In the old days, the technical side was on top. Now, marketing is the top. The technical side is not as important.

“And if it is just marketing that Nissan is doing, then there is something wrong with the sport. If [the car] isn’t showing promise in simulations and testing, it will never fly. Never. They may be embarrassed, but they knew from the beginning, after the Sebring test. Stay home. Even if it’s totally different, it still has to work.”

Ouch!

He thinks the the GT-R LM is a turd. And maybe it is a turd, only time will tell. Right now, based on its lack of performance, which to be fair is mostly due to a lack of preparation, the GT-R LM is one massive turd. Well, three turds actually.

After the break you can read Nissan’s press material and see that, if nothing else, they win the “How to polish a turd” PR award for the week.

Nissan GT-R LM Nismo final placings

40th (-153 laps) #22 – Krumm (GER), Tincknell (GB), Buncombe (GB)
DNF #23 – Chilton (GB), Mardenborough (GB), Pla (FRA)
DNF #21 – Matsuda (JAP), Ordonez (ESP), Shulzhitskiy (RUS)

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2015 LM24: Official race highlights

2015 24 Hours of Le Mans

Straight from the race’s official YouTube channel here’s a collection of videos bringing you the highlights from yesterday’s 24 Hours of Le Mans won by the #19 Porsche 919 Hybrid.

The first clip, a 20 minute special, includes podium celebrations from all four classes as well. Everyone’s a winner!

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Audi Nissan Porsche Toyota WEC

2015 LM24: LMP1 gallery first 12 hours

2015 24 Hours of Le Mans

The 2015 24 Hours of Le Mans is now into its second 12 hours and the #19 Porsche 919 Hybrid enjoys a reasonably comfortable lead (live timing).

Keeping the lead Porsche honest is a pair of Audi R18s, with the #17 Porsche 919 fighting to stay on the lead lap.

In the early stages of the race the #17 919 held the lead before dicing with the #7 R18. The red liveried Porsche suffered a minor setback after Mark Webber was given a one minute stop-go penalty for overtaking during a yellow flag.

Porsche also enjoyed seeing the #18 919 on the lead or fighting very hard for it, but it lost time after going off track at the Mulsanne Corner and is now 1–2 laps behind the leader, although still showing very strong overall pace.

The #9 Audi R18 has led this race as well and has the honour of setting a new outright lap record when Filipe Albuquerque lapped La Sarthe in 3:17.647. And thereby finally beating the old record set way back in 1971 by the Porsche 917 LH. Remember, too, that 1971 record was before the Mulsanne Straight had its two chicanes to help slow the cars down.

Going into the final 12 hours then, the first six cars remain a constantly revolving combination of Porsche 919s and Audi R18s. It will take a miracle for anyone other than Porsche or Audi to win this race; the closest Toyota is four laps off the pace.

Of course, we’d love to see the Mark Webber #17 car take the win, but the lads have some work to do after Mark’s mistake late in his first stint.

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Nissan Video WEC

VIDEO: Why is the Nissan GT-R LM Nismo FWD?

Nissan GT-R LM Nismo

Yes, why is the Nissan GT-R LM Nismo front-wheel drive? That’s a very good question and Nissan attempts to justify its batshit crazy idea in this video…

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Nissan WEC

2015 LM24: Nissan preview

2015 24 Hours of Le Mans, Nissan preview

In one of the most unconventional and crazy ideas ever Nissan is rocking up to Le Mans this year with a front-wheel drive GT-R LM Nismo. And not just one either, there’ll be three of these wacky racers on track.

Yes, Nissan is deadly serious about its upfront approach to winning the world’s best known 24 hour race. And that’s even before you consider the PlayStation gamer turned professional racer recruitment drive.

The world needs people who make you stop and think WTF?! Thank you Nissan. Nothing would be cooler than seeing you guys turn the racing world on its head with victory at the LM24.

Alas, the form shown during the official test session last month shows the GT-R LM has a long way to go before we can expect it to match its more experienced competition.

Nissan GT-R LM Nismo

#23 – Max Chilton (GB), Jann Mardenborough (GB), Olivier Pla (FRA)
#22 – Michael Krumm (GER), Harry Tincknell (GB), Alex Buncombe (GB)
#21 – Tsugio Matsuda (JAP), Lucas Ordonez (ESP), Mark Shulzhitskiy (RUS)

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2015 24 Hours of Le Mans spotter guide

2015 24 Hours of Le Mans spotter guide

The 2015 24 Hours of Le Mans will be held this weekend and as always the talented Andy Blackmore has made his legendary spotter guide available as a free download.

[Source: spotterguides]

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2015 LM24: Quick reference guide to LMP1 cars

Porsche 919 hybrid

The official FIA WEC website brings us a quick reference guide to the class of 2015 LMP1 cars. This year we have representation from Audi, Nissan, Porsche and Toyota. And the best thing about LMP1 is that the cars are all different.

Front-engined, mid-engined; rear wheel drive, front wheel drive, all wheel drive; petrol, diesel and all with varying types of energy recovery systems. It really is a technological masterclass, which will eventually heavily influence the cars we drive on the roads.

In order to try and equalise performance the cars have strict fuel flow limitations they must adhere to. That is, each car has a capped amount of fuel it can use on a single lap, using the 13.6km Circuit de la Sarthe as the basis.

You can download a full season PDF guide (54mb) from the WEC website, which goes into greater detail. After the break a quick reference guide is all yours.

The 2015 24 Hours of Le Mans will take place on the weekend of 13–14 June, with an official test session to be held this Sunday.

[Source: FIA WEC]

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Nissan WEC

Nissan postpones race debut of GT-R LM Nismo

2015 Nissan GT-R LM Nismo

Nissan has withdrawn its radical new GT-R LM Nismo from the opening two races of the WEC season in order to focus on its Le Mans challenge.

Speaking to Autosport Darren Cox, Nissan motorsport boss, said: “Our main aim for this year was always Le Mans and we have decided to re-focus on that race.

“It’s no secret that with such a different car that we have faced a number of challenges, so right now we would rather be testing in April and May rather than racing.”

That means Nissan’s front-wheel drive focused LMP1 racecar will be absent from the 6 Hours of Silverstone and the 6 Hours of Spa and won’t make its track debut until the 24 Hours of Le Mans in mid-June.

The GT-R LM Nismo ran into problems with its engine mounts during its last test session, held at Sebring. There are also suggestions the car has failed its crash test. The required modifications would not leave enough time for the homologation process to take place before the Silverstone race.

Nissan will also miss the official season prologue at Paul Ricard (27–28 March).

World Endurance Championship CEO Gérard Neveu said: “Nissan is not the first manufacturer to miss the start of the season and they won’t be the last: Toyota previously did the same and they are now our world champions.

“To build an LMP1 hybrid programme is very challenging; it takes some time and we fully trust Nissan to be on the LMP1 grid of the WEC from Le Mans.”

[Source: Autosport & WEC]

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Bathurst 12 Hour Ford Nissan

A few laps around Mount Panorama

2015 Bathurst 12 hour

We bring you three videos from the recent 2015 Bathurst 12 hour race giving you a driver’s eye view around the 6.2km Mount Panorama circuit.

The first features the eventual race winner Katsumasa Chiyo in the #35 Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3 during Firday practice.

The second was filmed during the race and shows Ben Gersekowski behind the wheel of the #93 MARC Cars Australia Focus V8. This clip includes telemetry from the car which brings further interest.

In the final clip you start the race onboard the #42 BMW M3 GTR with Anthony Gilbertson … until he hits that kangaroo.

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Nissan GTR GT3 wins 2015 Bathurst 12 Hour

Nissan GTR GTR wins 2015 Bathurst 12 Hour

A factory-backed Nissan team stood atop the Bathurst podium for the first time since that pack of arseholes win back in 1992. Katsumasa Chiyo drove the #35 GTR Nismo GT3 to victory with a perfectly timed charge for the lead in a two-lap sprint for the chequered flag.

That final sprint came courtesy of the 20th Safety Car period of the race which, thankfully, was over in time to see the race decided under green flag conditions. At the start of the second last lap the Nissan was in third place, by Hell Corner Chiyo had moved into P2 and by Griffins Bend he had the lead. Never challenged he crossed the line with a relatively comfortable gap back to the chaos going on behind him.

You can read more detailed coverage of the race elsewhere, all we’ll add to our thoughts on the race is that we would have loved to have seen the #15 Phoenix Audi R8 win. In the opening hour or so Markus Winkelhock was a class above the rest of the field. It was beautiful to watch as the gap back to second visibly widened with each lap.

At the end, in that dramatic run from Forrest Elbow to the flag, the #15 car went from almost taking second place, to being relegated to fourth to crossing the line in P2 in a move that we’re still yet to see on video (Channel 7 we’ll get to you later).

Overall, though, the Bathurst 12 Hour is a truly great race. Why would you watch six hours of supertaxis when you can watch 12 hours of bona fide supercars! Watching the GT cars fly across the top of the mountain is perhaps one of the finest motor racing spectator experiences on offer in Australia. And seven different brands in the top seven says all you need to know about GT racing and is part of what makes it so enjoyable to watch.

Each brand has its own unique sound. Those Marc Racing V8s are a pretty cool concept, but they sound like every other V8 Supercar in that god forsaken series. In the GT category there’s V12s, V10, V8s, V6s and flat-sixes. The Bentleys and Mercedes have a gutteral growl, the Audis shriek, the 458s shriek a bit more. Each has its own character as the drivers work through the gears. The Nissan less clinical than you might think. The Porsche is just different to everything else out there.

It’s believeable. Seeing racecars genuinely based on their roadgoing counterparts respects the paying punter much more than the direction V8SC has taken. I don’t like being treated like a fool, thankfully with GT racing that is not the case.

Slowly, but surely, the crowds are catching on too. It was a record crowd for the 12 Hour this year and while still a long way off the crowds for the 1000km race the gap is closing. Of course, the VB and Winnie blue factor is a bit lower as well.

If you love motorsport and haven’t yet made it to the Bathurst 12 Hour, give yourself a kick up the arse and start planning for 2016!

2015 Bathurst 12 Hour top 7

  1. #35 Nissan GTR Nismo GT3 – 269 laps
  2. #15 Audi R8 LMS Ultra – 269 laps
  3. #97 Aston Martin V12 Vantage – 269 laps
  4. #10 Bentley Continental GT3 – 269 laps
  5. #36 Mercedes-Benz SLS GT3 – 269 laps
  6. #49 Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 – 268 laps
  7. #32 Lamboghini Gallardo GT3 – 268 laps

[Pic: Instagram]

UPDATE: Nissan’s video wrap and press release have been added below.

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