Nissan power heads to Le Mans

Strong performance in GT3 and GT4 in British GT
Nissan power heads to Le Mans
Nissan Motorsport ready for Darwin happy hunting ground

Fantastic fightback for RJN Nissan squad in British GT

RJN Motorsport has completed its strongest British GT Championship result of the year at Silverstone with a fourth-place finish in GT3 and victory in the GT4 Pro-Am class.

Struan Moore and Ricardo Sanchez put the No. 24 Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 on pole position on Saturday and Sanchez took advantage of the grid spot to dominate the early part of the three-hour race.

The Mexican GT Academy winner had a lead more than 18 seconds when he pitted to hand over to Moore.

However, an issue with the adjustable seat caused delays when Moore slid back from the controls of his Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 and struggled to reach the pedals.

Once the issue was solved, the duo began a brilliant fightback through the field to cross the line in fifth place. The Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup teammates gained an additional position after one car was penalised due to a minimum driving time infringement.

“I was able to open up a good gap at the start and had a great stint in the lead,” Sanchez said.

“It was really unfortunate what happened with the seat with Struan, but we kept fighting all the way to the finish.

“The Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 was really strong, and I’m really thankful for the chance to add a British GT round with Struan to my schedule this year.”

UltraTek Racing Team RJN also impressed in GT4 with Kelvin Fletcher and Martin Plowman taking the Pro-Am victory at Silverstone aboard the Nissan 370Z GT4.

The result has pushed Fletcher and Plowman to the Pro-Am championship lead – the duo taking advantage of the extra points available for the three-hour Silverstone race.

The RJN-run Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 and 370Z GT4 entries will be back on track in British GT at Belgium’s Spa-Francorchamps on July 21-22 – one week before GT Sport Motul Team RJN contests this year’s Spa 24 Hour in the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup.

Nissan power ready for the 24 Hours of Le Mans

Nissan power will be in action this week at the Circuit de la Sarthe for the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Michelin Le Mans Cup.

The Nissan-powered ByKOLLES squad of Tom Dillman, Dominik Kraihamer and Oliver Webb will do battle in the world’s most prestigious endurance classic in the LMP1 class.

The trio enters Le Mans after finishing fourth in the opening round of the 2018/19 FIA World Endurance Championship “Super Season” at Spa-Francorchamps with the Nissan 3.0-liter turbo V6 – VRX30A evo. engine.

Action at Le Mans kicks off on Wednesday with practice and qualifying. Final qualifying is scheduled for Thursday evening with the 24-hour battle due to go green at 3:00 pm local time.

In addition to the main event, 42 Nissan-powered entries will contest a pair of 55-minute races in the Michelin Le Mans Cup.

Nissan’s VK50 engine powers every entry in the LMP3 class. The two races are scheduled for Thursday, June 14 at 5:30 pm and Saturday, June 16 at 11:30 am.

Nissan ace Ricardo Sanchez will continue his busy 2018 schedule at Le Mans by contesting the Michelin Le Mans Cup events. Fresh from his fourth-place finish in British GT at Silverstone, Sanchez will again drive for SPV Racing – this time paired with Spanish racer Alvaro Fontes.

Nissan heads to happy hunting ground in Darwin

Nissan Motorsport aims to continue its strong recent form when the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship heads to Darwin’s Hidden Valley Raceway this weekend.

After scoring podiums at Phillip Island and a race win at Winton, Rick Kelly has his sights set on another big result in Darwin where he scored pole position last year.

The Darwin event also brings back fond memories for Michael Caruso who won here for Nissan in 2016.

The Nissan Motorsport squad will do battle in two races over the weekend – a 42 lap event on Saturday and a longer 70 lap race on Sunday around the 14-turn, 2.87 km circuit.

The Northern Territory event is the toughest event logistically for the team with Hidden Valley Raceway located 3,766 km from the team’s base in Braeside in Melbourne – the longest trip by road for the team’s transporters.

Calendar

June 16-17