Nissan has just revealed information and photos for its 2015 LMP1 challenger, the GT-R LM Nismo. And if you think it looks a bit wacky just wait until you cop a load of the car’s specifications. The GT-R LM Nismo is a front-engined, front-wheel drive racer. Yes, really, it’s a front-wheel drive; a bum dragger! It has 14″ rubber on the front axle and 9″ on the rears. It is, quite literally, totally arse about compared with what we’re used to seeing in top line motorsport. Remaining relatively true to its GT-R badge the petrol engine is a twin-turbo 3.0 litre V6. Ben Bowlby, Nissan LMP1 Team Principal and Technical Director, is the man responsible for this madness, or perhaps outright brilliance, only time will tell. He explains himself by saying: “The Nissan GT-R LM NISMO is in automotive-speak a front-engined, front-wheel-drive car. The internal combustion engine drives the front wheels and the energy recovery system harvests energy from the front wheels. We’ve used the relatively low-powered internal combustion engine to drive the front wheels and then we add power from the ERS to augment acceleration. “The regulations have allowed us the freedom to create a significantly different looking car. Nissan are bold challengers who are prepared to innovate in order to get a high performance outcome so we’ve turned the whole concept of the conventional LMP1 car of 2014 on its head. The result is that our car looks different as the cockpit has been moved significantly rearwards to accommodate the engine at the front of the car.” Former F1 driver an winner of the 2009 24 Hours of Le Mans Marc Gene has been named as the driver who will lead the charge in the GT-R LM Nismo. He’ll be taking part in the full 2015 WEC calendar and has realistic hopes for the year ahead and is hopeful of a good showing at Le Mans. “This season we should just focus on learning about and improving the car every time we head out onto the track,” Gene explained. “Making it to the finish would already be an achievement on it’s own. I hope we can show that the car is competitive, especially at Le Mans. “I like the aggressive look of the car, which is a consequence of a well-thought and different design, not seen before at Le Mans. From the very first laps I felt very comfortable. I could feel the very powerful engine and high efficiency of the aerodynamics.” This is one wacky racer that will be fun to watch in 2015!
Category: Nissan
The drama continued right to the very end of Day 5 which eventually saw long-time campaigner Jamie Vandenberg (Nissan GT-R) claim his first Targa Tasmania victory.
Vandenberg inherited the lead on Day 4 following the demise of Steve Glenney (Nissan GT-R) and Jason White (Mitisubishi Lancer Evo IX). Despite holding a lead of under 20 seconds from Matt Close (Audi TT RS), Vandenberg looked to be relatively safe after the 58km Mount Arrowsmith stage mid-way through the final day.
However, on the short Tarraleah stage which followed the engine in his GT-R showed signs of imminent expiry as smoke began to bellow from its exhaust. The team thought their day was over and put 3 litres of oil into the engine and hoped for the best, expecting they’d not make it through the remaining two stages.
In more ways than one Vandenberg was fortunate to win the rally. Matt Close looked set to take the lead, possibly on the final stage of the event. But this drama fuelled Targa Tasmania was not done with yet and Close crashed out while passing another competitor on the second-last stage of the rally.
It was a desprately cruel blow for Close who would have been an equally worthy first-time winner. Alas for him he will have to wait and fight another day.
To the victor the spoils and, somehow, Vandenberg managed to limp his GT-R across the ceremonial finish line at Wrest Point Casino to put an end to one of the most dramatic Targa Tasmania rallies ever staged.
Thankfully, the MINI John Cooper Works GP I was assisting had a trouble-free run all rally and driver Andrew Robinson and navigator Tom Browell were thrilled to stand on the podium and collect their trophies for finishing in second place in the Showroom category. After a few of our own final day mishaps in recent times it was a nice relief to head into the Targa Bar with a huge smile on our faces.
Reports from all categories can be read on the Targa Tasmania website:
Outright & general | Classics | Modern | Showroom | Regularity
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VIDEO: Nissan Zeod RC engine 101
The Nissan Zeod RC will be racing at the 24 Hours of Le Mans later this year and when we last brought you an update on the car we didn’t know anything about its internal combustion engine. Well now we do—plus heaps more—as these videos show, featuring the slightly nerdy guy from Engineering Explained.
Here’s your second batch of photos from the 2014 Geneva Motor Show, that makes it 155 photos in all. We start part 2 with the very cool Maserati Alfieri concept and end with the very cool Volvo Concept Estate. Cool!
Another Bathurst 12 Hour race has been run and won. Today, for the betterment of the event, it was another great chapter in the GT era.
Sometimes it seems as though the Safety Car will always conspire to deliver last minute sprints for the line, as the increasingly harsh concrete barriers close in around the snaking ribbon atop Mount Panorama. The clichéd chat of close fought wins after yet another endurance epic will inevitably fill the airwaves and column inches.
And yet, it seems impossible to ignore the cliché that, today, motor racing was the real winner. Craig Lowndes, drafted in by the Maranello Motorsport team to replace the seemingly irreplaceable and equally likeable Allan Simonsen, steered the charismatic Ferrari home with a young kid keeping him honest all the way to the line.
Of course, 20 years ago we saw a finish not too dissimilar to this at the same venue with Lowndes in the junior role. Who played the senior part? John Bowe, the wily old master in the pit garage today cheering Lowndes towards victory.
Lowndes and Bowe, Bathurst legends each, and Simonsen no stranger to Mount Panorama’s history books, despite never tasting the ultimate success. It was a perfect mix from not so perfect circumstances, coming together to deliver a fairy tale result. The race stewards even stepped in to play villain once or twice.
The efforts of Mika Salo and Peter Edwards can’t be ignored, either. Well done them. Well done all.
We hope they’re still enjoying the spoils of this victory while individually taking quiet moments alone to pay their own respects to Simonsen.
[Pics: Joel Strickland Photographics]
Here’s your pick of photos from today’s qualifying for the 2014 Bathurst 12 Hour race. We start with this great image above of the MARC Focus GTC. What the hell is a Focus GTC you ask?
There’s three of them entered in the race and they’re a purpose-built creations powered by a 500hp 5.0 litre V8 sending power to the rear wheels. Weighing in at 1250kg their best lap times during quali have been in the 2:15 bracket. You can learn more about them HERE and HERE.
Of course, we’ve got more for you than Frankenstein Focuses, so check ’em all out after the break.
[Pics: Joel Strickland Photographics]
Rick Kelly has been kind enough to share a driver’s eye view of a lap around Mount Panorama. Recorded with a GoPro camera mounted to his helmet you can see and hear what it’s like inside the Nissan GTR Nismo GT as he posts a very tidy 2:04.8s lap. Check it out after the break.
Defending champions Erebus Motorsport have signaled their intentions with the #1 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 setting the fastest time in practice at the 2014 Bathurst 12 Hour today. With Maro Engel behind the wheel his time of 2:04.4533 established a new lap record for a tintop car around Mount Panorama.
Conditions were hot late in the afternoon but as Practice 4 drew to a close the temperature dropped a few degrees and with more rubber on the resurfaced circuit times began to tumble. Engel posted his time with 10 minutes remaining in Practice 4. Around the same time the second Erebus car also bettered the old record when the #63 SLS AMG GT3 lapped in 2:05.3339.
Earlier in the day the Class B #23 Lamborghini Gallardo showed a clean pair of heels with David Russell setting a new GT benchmark of 2:05.9397. Of course, Russell’s record didn’t last the day and with more hot weather forecast for the rest of the weekend we expect tomorrow morning’s open qualifying session could yet see the fastest time of the day, traffic permitting.
There will be two open quali sessions tomorrow with a final 15 minute session immediately after Quali 2 open to Class A cars only.
After the break you can see a gallery of images from today and yesterday’s pre-race preparations with thanks to Joel Strickland Photographics. Use the links below to check out the official lap times from all four practice sessions.
2014 Bathurst 12 Hour – Friday practice lap times
Practice 1 | Practice 2 | Practice 3 | Practice 4
[Pics: Joel Strickland Photographics]
The #32 Nissan GTR Nismo GT3 has just set the fastest time in Practice 3 at the Bathurst 12 Hour. At the wheel for this afternoon’s flying lap was Bathurst rookie Alex Buncombe who set a time of 2:06.5958. That’s a bit off this morning’s pace when David Russell set a GT3 practice record with his 2:05.9397 lap during Practice 2 in the #23 Lamborghini Gallardo.
From that morning session here is an onboard video with V8 Supercar ace Rick Kelly driving the GTR. He lapped in the low 2:07s and said it was his second fastest-lap ever around the 6.2km Mount Panorama circuit.
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2014 Nissan GT-R Nismo revealed
Maybe Nissan didn’t fool around with the engine in the MY14 GT-R because they knew they’d have this extreme Nismo version to attract headlines. In fact we’re sure that’s what happened.
And this GT-R Nismo is fast, too! How fast? Alcantara steering wheel and bright red rev counter fast, that’s how fast! Black wheels and white paint, plus a massive rear wing also tell you this is going to be one quick weapon. Those visual cues don’t lie, you know. They don’t.
Actually, what doesn’t lie are numbers. Raw numbers tell the truth. And how about this for some truth: thanks to a pair of competition-spec GT3 turbos the road-going GT-R Nismo pumps out 441kW (591hp) and in the hands of racing driver Michael Krumm it lapped the Nürburgring in 7:08.679 (see video below).
We told you numbers don’t lie. Nissan has got themselves a couple of seriously impressive key performance stats there.
Also involved in the development of the GT-R Nismo was former F1 driver Sebastien Buemi. Clearly, Nissan wasn’t messing about when it decided to make production version of its GT3 racecar.
Dunlop has come on board with specially developed tyres, Bilstein has handled suspension duties while Nismo’s aerodynamic package ensures this car has the serious downforce it requires.
The GT-R Nismo goes on sale in Japan in February 2014, with Europe and the US coming on line later next year. We’re not sure if Australians will be able to get their hands on the Nismo, but we’ll do what we can to find out. Pricing details will be announced closer to launch.
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2014 Nissan GT-R update revealed
The R35 Nissan GT-R seems to have been around forever now. In reality it’s only five years old. But Nissan hasn’t rested on its laurels and the MY14 GT-R promises to be the best yet.
Although, there’s no mention of power gains from the car’s impressive 3.8 litre twin-turbo V6. But when you’ve already got 404kW on tap perhaps you might consider that enough.
This time around Nissan’s lab coats have messed about with suspension tuning, fooling themselves that the car has a premium interior and introducing the all important LED headlights. Nissan promises a smoother ride, better build quality and greater refinement. And there’s nothing wrong with that, either.
There’s also a super-dooper new Nismo version, which you’ll be reading about soon.
Following its DeltaWing project Nissan is coming back to Le Mans in 2014 with the Zeod RC. This time, though, Nissan is acting alone, and not with the cooperation of Don Panoz, who is pushing on with a DeltaWing Coupé project of his own.
Zeod stands for Zero Emissions On Demand and at its launch event at Fuji Raceway the car ran solely in electric mode. And not terribly far, either. But it’s early days in this innovative project.
For now details of the car’s internal combustion engine are under wraps. It’s planned that the petrol engine will first be tested in the Zeod RC early next year, with the goal of racing the car at next year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Indeed, the Zeod RC represents a bigger aim of Nissan to race the Zeod, or a derivative thereof, in the LMP1 category in future years.
Nissan says the petrol engine should be good for 12 laps of the 13.6km Circuit de la Sarthe by which time the Zeod RC should have recharged its battery enough to allow for one complete lap at full race pace.
We’re currently in the genesis of an electric powered racing era, with Le Mans in Nissan’s sights and the FIA Formula E category due to start next year as well. We’re not sure how far electric-powered motorsport will take us, but it’ll be interesting finding out.