Nissan announced over Twitter yesterday that it is going to focus on the 24 Hours of Le Mans for the race debut of the GT-R LM Nismo and skip out on the World Endurance Championship test at Paul Ricard. It’s also steering clear of the first two races of the season at Silverstone and Spa-Francorchamps.
Darren Cox, who heads Nissan Motorsport said that the team’s main aim for the year was always Le Mans and that they would keep testing the car in the US up until the race began. The team made the announcement through two tweets (embedded below). “Our main aim for this year was always Le Mans and we have decided to re-focus on that race,” Darren Cox, Nissan Motorsport boss, said to Autosport. In the meantime, the company will keep testing the car in the US right up until the big race. The driver lineup and a GT-R Nismo for display will make an appearance at the season-opening round at Silverstone on April 12, though, according to Autosport.
The GT-R LM suffered a failure of a “very minor” part during testing in early March at Sebring, and the team didn’t have a spare with it. The car had run 68 laps over the preceding two days. The GT-R LM uses a powertrain unlike any other vehicle in its class. A twin-turbocharged V6 has front-mid-engine placement, and it’s combined with electric motors making over 700 horsepower. In total, the system generates a claimed output of over 1,250 horsepower. With no competitive racing under its belt before Le Mans, the Nissan is definitely going to be a car to watch in the big event this year.
