Crunch time for Nissan V8 future

All in or all out! That's the message Nissan Australia boss Richard Emery is delivering in Japan this week as he seeks full support for a continued attack on V8 Supercars beyond 2016.

Emery headed to Japan on Monday, after watching the Kelly Racing-run four-car Nissan Motorsport squad come home in 10th, 13th, 16th and 20th place in the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000.

And while a stronger result – like the second place James Moffat and Taz Douglas scored last year – would have been helpful, Emery is urging Nismo (Nissan Motorsport) to back the local division's desire to stick with the category into the new Gen2 era from 2017, when engines other than V8s and body styles other than sedans will be allowed.

Emery's meetings with Nissan global motorsport division, Nismo, will include president Shoichi Miyatani face-to-face and sales and marketing chief Darren Cox by video link.

Apart from V8s, they will also cover plans for next year's Bathurst 12-hour and the strategies for Nissan motorsport globally over the next few years.

"At this point in time our plan A certainly would be to continue with the motorsport platform in Australia and at this point in time my preference is to certainly continue with V8s," Emery told motoring.com.au.

"When you have invested by the end of the next year four years, you don't put that in the bin and start again without seriously considering why you would do that and whether that is the right thing to do."

When Nissan Australia re-entered touring car racing in 2013 with the V8-engined Altima, it was with little interest or support from Nismo. That has ramped up more recently, but the Australian program is not fully embraced and Emery says that is what needs to change for it to continue.

"I am not interested in continuing the program if I don't have buy-in from global," Emery said.

"The current program isn't fully aligned or fully supported by global and that makes it difficult. I am not going to continue if I don't have buy-in from them."

"I am trying to get some buy-in from the motorsport people, by telling them what we are going to do and the style of business we think we should run."

Emery admitted that it was by no means guaranteed that he would get the support he wanted from Nismo.

"They will need to be convinced. I will need to put a good case to them.

"But a year ago I think they would not have supported us, they would have said 'Richard get out of this'. I don't think they are in that frame of mind now.

"They have seen us really capitalise on the program off-track ... and we weren't doing that in year one and two."

The Nismo meetings also include discussion about post-2016 engines; whether the locally-developed VK56DE V8 would be persevered with, or whether the team might swap to an "off-the-shelf" twin turbocharged V6 sourced from Nismo.

"I am sure the Nismo people would love to have one of their engines raced down here," said Emery. "But on the other hand I am dealing with an engine package program that is just about getting to where it needs to be.

"Do you really want to throw that in the rubbish bin at the end of next year and start again?

"They are all the things that we have to consider."

Emery confirmed the decision on how many cars Nissan might run in the championship beyond 2016 and which team or teams might run them is still some time away. The Kelly Racing campaign has so far yielded one win in 2013.

Emery said a continuing racing program would also have to become an integral part of the way Nissan is marketed in Australia, something he would be thrashing out with Nissan's global marketing department when he returns to Japan within weeks for the Tokyo motor show.

Emery said Nismo would probably endorse a shift to GT3 sports car racing, but he questioned whether a factory effort from Nissan in Australia now could overwhelm a developing category.

"I think that's perhaps a couple of years away before that's really an opportunity."