Nissan entered three of its brand-new GT-R LM NISMO cars in this year’s running of the legendary endurance race. Only one finished, and that car spent a substantial portion of the race in the team garage. Most of the cars’ failures were attributed to issues with their ERS, without which many of the cars’ other systems were not functional.
“We have many areas to work on – not least ensuring that we have the best ERS option available to us. The team is pushing hard on track, in the wind tunnel and at NISMO’s various facilities around the world to deliver the long list of improvements we know that we need,” said Ben Bowlby, Nissan LM P1 technical director.
The automaker emphasized that this only affects the LM P1 program. Nissan’s other global motorsports programs (Blancpain Endurance Series, Super GT, GT Academy, etc.) are not being suspended.
“We know people will be disappointed, but be assured that nobody is more disappointed than us,” said Shoichi Miyatani, president of NISMO. “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 program 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 LMP1 technical director Ben Bowlby defended the program during qualifying, when problems first started to appear. He pointed out that the cars are new, requiring extensive development and tuning work ahead of and during their racing debuts.
The GT-R LM Nismo features a unique front-engine, front-wheel-drive layout, providing some aerodynamic advantages thanks to a low hood. The GT-R’s twin-turbocharged V6 engine provided weight over the front wheels to improve grip, but special traction-control management and other tricks were required to mitigate understeer.
Approximately half of the GT-R LM Nismo’s 1,250 horsepower is delivered by electric motor, however the hybrid system may have been the Achilles heel at Le Mans. The system was reportedly disabled on all three cars, including the finisher. The technology is rumored to be headed to the road-going GT-R, regardless of the racing program’s fate.
Live images by Ben Hsu.
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