Nissan Nismo Concept Completes Testing in USA, Prepping for LeMans

The Nissan Nismo LeMans P1 car underwent extensive testing in America last week. We’re excited to see how this FWD fares in the epic 24 Hour LeMans race.

Recently, Nissan NISMO has managed to finish a 2-car test over a 3 day period in Kentucky at the NCM Motorsports Park, in order to continue the last leg of its preparations for the Le Mans 24 Hours next month. The test aimed to finish longer runs with the Nissan GT-R LM NISMOs and go on improving the vehicle’s performance in the days counting to Le Mans.

The whole LM P1 driving team of Nissan attended this test. The team comprised of Harry Tincknel who came to the United States right after his LM P2 win at the FIA World Endurance Championship Spa round.

Tincknell had positive things to say about the test, and said “It’s great that every test so far has brought progress…The closer we get to the pace, the harder it is to find time but we continue to improve. The next big test for us is the Le Mans test day, which in itself is a huge challenge. Le Mans is the hardest race in the world and we want a respectable result. We’ve had delays but we are working hard. We go there with our feet on the ground but we will push to get the best result we possibly can.”

The line-up of drivers in Nissan for Le Mans has gone through a change. Now, Merc Gene will assume the role of an advisor. For the 3 cars, the line-ups now stand thus:

#21 (Le Mans only) – Mark Shulzhitskiy (RUS), Lucas Ordonez (ESP), Tsugio Matsuda (JAP)

#22 – Harry Tincknell (GB), Michael Krumm (GER), Alex Buncombe (GB)

#23 – Olivier Pla (FRA), Jann Mardenborough (GB), Max Chilton (GB)

Mark Shulzhitskiy, the Russian racer who had had his first run this week in the GT-R LM, has united with the LM P1 team. He won in 2012 in the GT Academy in Russia. Since then, he has raced in LM P2 and GT3, and it was in 2014 that he debuted in Le Mans.

Grene said, “It was a tough decision for me to take a step back for the Le Mans 24 Hours” and added that he was “…impressed with the efforts being made by the team and even though I won’t race at Le Mans I will be there to help with my knowledge of the great race. Nissan is innovating in a big way with the GTR LM. Le Mans is going to be a huge challenge and I think that the best way for me to help the team is by taking on an advisory role. I am excited to see from the garage how the car will perform at Le Mans.”

As of now, the Nissan NISMO team is back at its Indianapolis base in order to finish building its third car. The team is soon going to go at Silverstone, in its UK base, in order make the last stage Le Mans preparations.

The Technical Director and Principal of the Nissan LM P1 Team, Ben Bowlby, expressed that the team would have liked to have more days but also added that they “…have had three good days of working through a long list of jobs…our focus now moves to the re-preparation of these two cars and completing the build of the third. I’m very happy with the drivers who have all applied themselves well this week and I look forward to getting on track at the Le Mans test day.”