MOTORSPORT: Nissan's 'Ambrose approach' to Le Mans

Marcos Ambrose isn't the only one to decide this week that a less-is-best approach is the way to go about a new race program.

Nissan is doing the same with its Le Mans challenge, scratching the radical front-wheel-drive GT-R LM NISMO it unveiled last month from the two lead-up rounds of the World Endurance Championship at Silverstone in Britain and Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium.

But there's one difference – it will go on testing, something V8 Supercar rules preclude Ambrose from doing.

Nissan had to cut short a recent test at Sebring in Florida but will resume development work on track in the US next week, skipping the official WEC test at Paul Ricard in France on March 27-28, where it was to have run one car.

Nissan's global motorsport chief Darren Cox told the Racer publication in the US, where the GT-R LM has been built: "We failed the monocoque crash test – the front roll hoop missed by a small margin, but we're fixing it and will have an updated chassis for [crash-testing] next week."

That problem would have made it difficult for the car to be homologated in time for the first race for which it was scheduled next month.

The Le Mans 24-Hour in France is on June 13-14, with the six-hour races at Silverstone and Spa on April 12 and May 2.

Nissan's sights are now on the official Le Mans test day at the end of May.

"Our main aim for this year was always Le Mans and we have decided to re-focus on that race. It's no secret that with such a different car that we have faced a number of challenges, so right now we would rather be testing in April and May rather than racing."

WEC chief Gerard Neveu said Toyota had done the same years ago "and they are now our world champions".

"To build a LMP1 [premier-class Le Mans prototype] hybrid program is very challenging," Neveu said.

Nissan intends to field three entries at Le Mans, but none of the drivers from last month's Bathurst 12-Hour GT-R triumph are among the nine listed to drive them.

European computer-game graduates Wolfgang Reip and Florian Strauss apparently were deemed too tall for the front-wheel-drive GT-R LM, while Nissan has other priorities for the hero of the Bathurst finish, Japan's Katsumasa Chiyo.

Nissan is yet to announce which energy-recycling class it will enter at Le Mans – as are Toyota and Porsche, for which Australian Mark Webber races in the WEC.

However, Audi – which has dominated the world's major sports car race this century and revealed its heavily-revised R18 e-tron Quattro overnight, will run in the four megajoule hybrid sub-class, up from the 2MJ class last year.

The latest R18, built around the same monocoque as last year, has a single front-axle kinetic energy-recovery system and a flywheel mechanical battery to store its retrieved energy.
"It was the more efficient way to upgrade the existing system to 4MJ rather than introducing a second system," Audi Sport LMP1 technical project leader Christopher Reinke said.

Running in the 4MJ class with a single hybrid system was the "best compromise for the resources available, lap time gain, and complexity and reliability", he said.

The single electric motor-generator unit at the front is rated at more than 200kW (the equivalent of almost 270bhp). Last year's had a potential power output of 170kW.
One of Audi's Le Mans-winning drivers from last year, German Andre Lotterer, said the extra boost was "quite noticeable".

"We have a bigger boost and boost for longer as well. You can really feel the benefit of the four-wheel-drive now.

"[Out of some corners] the rear of the car used to step out over the bumps. Now you floor it, the car jumps and off you go."

Toyota and Porsche both ran at 6MJ last season and will announce their hybrid classes for this year at Paul Ricard next week.

These kits are for road/street courses and short ovals, and are quite different for the Chevrolet and Honda-powered cars, which should spice up racing this season.

Variations for the super-speedways – including the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, home to the Indianapolis 500 at the end of May – will be trialled next month.

This week's testing was at Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama, while next week it will continue at Sebring in Florida and at NOLA Motorsports Park near New Orleans, Louisiana, before the troupe moves on to the street race at St Petersburg – the first of 16 rounds in the season.

"The aero kits produce so much more downforce and there's a lot of grip, so the cars are faster everywhere," Power said.

"I would expect to break lap records just about everywhere."

Power, who drives for Team Penske, and New Zealander Scott Dixon, a veteran of Chip Ganassi Racing and second fastest at Barber, both have Chevrolet engines, while American Graham Rahal was the quickest of those with Honda's variant of Indy racing's 2.2-litre twin-turbocharged engines.

Aussie Ryan Briscoe is without an IndyCar drive at the moment, but he and fellow Aussie James Davison could be chances for one-off entries at the Indianapolis 500.

Meanwhile, 21-year-old Matthew Brabham has signed to continue in the Indy Lights series with Andretti Autosport.

He has been Andretti's reserve driver in the Formula E all-electric international open-wheeler series in recent months and got to race in Malaysia and Uruguay.

"It has been a tough off-season trying to piece everything together, but thanks to the team and some close supporters we'll be at St Petersburg," Brabham said.

"I love street circuits.

"In terms of Indy Lights testing I'm a bit behind the eight-ball. It's a brand-new car this year."

The 26-year-old de Silvestro had been in Europe last year hoping to land a Formula One drive with Sauber, the Swiss team that has been the centre of controversy recently for already having had too many drivers contracted to race its two Ferrari-engined cars.

De Silvestro has had one IndyCar podium finish – in a race at Houston in 2013.

The only other women to achieve that feat have been Sarah Fisher and Danica Patrick.

De Silvestro has led only five laps in her 65 races but was the rookie of the year at the Indy 500 in 2010.

Her deal is only for St Petersburg at this stage, but team principal Michael Andretti said: "Hopefully we'll be able to build on the program, eventually taking it from this race to future events and maybe even a full-season relationship."

On the F1 front, Scotland's Susie Wolff won't get to race in the Malaysian Grand Prix on March 29 if the Williams team's Valtteri Bottas, who could not drive in Melbourne last Sunday, misses again.

"Susie Wolff is our test driver, not our reserve driver," said Williams deputy team principal Claire Williams, daughter of team chief Sir Frank.

Wolff, the wife of Mercedes F1 team principal (and Williams shareholder) Toto, drove in practice sessions at last year's British and German GPs.

German GP hits the skids
German drivers have won half the F1 world titles in the past two decades, but there won't be a German GP this year.

Nurburgring was to have hosted the event on July 17-19 but the circuit is still in financial difficulties, despite a change of ownership last year.

Hockenheim looked at holding it this year but the figures did not stack up for it – after staging the race last year and anticipating running it again next year.

Unless F1 commercial supremo Bernie Ecclestone quickly slots in a replacement for the German GP there will be only one F1 race between early July and late August – in Hungary on July 24-26 – and 19 for the year instead of 20.

The Formula One empire will claim a race fee from Nurburgring anyway, and Ecclestone will be keen to reap another from a replacement event.

What chance a European GP all of a sudden?

Alonso missed the season-opener in Melbourne after being concussed in a crash in testing – the cause of which is still not clear.

Like Australia's Daniel Ricciardo, Alonso may be down to three of his allowed four engines for the season, depending whether Honda can salvage that which Alonso's replacement Kevin Magnussen blew up on last Sunday's formation lap.

Ricciardo needed a Renault engine change in his Red Bull car even before qualifying.

Alonso will need a medical clearance to take his seat as Jenson Button's teammate in Malaysia.

The BBC's chief F1 writer, Andrew Benson, has done an excellent analysis of what is wrong at McLaren-Honda and what Alonso will face on his return – including a power unit that could be 200 horsepower down on the benchmark Mercedes.

Red Bull has already estimated its Renault unit is 100hp below the Mercedes, rather than the 60 last year, while Ferrari has made up ground with its hybrid unit, but is still not in the same league as Mercedes.

Malone companies Liberty Global and Discovery Communications have taken up a bigger holding in Formula E than any of its other shareholders, but they are still below 50 per cent.

Agag said Malone's investment had secured the series for "multi-seasons".

"Formula E now is a solid long-term company with a shareholding from two major media conglomerates," he said.

"It will take Formula E to the next level.

"We expect them to help us develop our championship in the digital direction."

Volkswagen will back two two-car teams in the World Rallycross Championship this year.

It will support Sweden's Kristoffersson Motorsport as well as Marklund Motorsport, which was the runner-up in World RX's teams championship last year.

VW motorsport chief Jost Capito said the "two extremely professional privateer teams" would develop their Polo RXs independently.

And in the US, Chip Ganassi Racing is to field two Ford Fiestas in the Global Rallycross series.

"The series is targeting a new demographic and aligns with ours and more importantly with our partners' focus on connecting with millennials [people who reached young adulthood around 2000]," Ganassi said.

And, as reported here last November, there are plans for a rallycross series in Australia, with the international second-tier Supercar Lites as the premier category here.