Nissan adds GT racer

Nissan Australia has a new race car in its garage – literally.

The GT3-spec GT-R that Rick Kelly, Florian Strauss and Katsumasa Chiyo will campaign at February’s Bathurst 12 Hour GT endurance race is now the property of Nissan Australia.

Nissan CEO Richard Emery confirmed the company had taken the plunge this morning at a test and Nissan Motorsport season launch at Phillip Island.

In addition to the GT3 car undergoing initial shakedown testing, the company took the opportunity to display the new livery of its #23 Altima V8 Supercar.

Driven by Michael Caruso, the NISMO-liveried V8 Supercar will race alongside the carsales.com.au sponsored Altima of Todd Kelly and the still ‘unbranded’ cars of Rick Kelly and Dale Wood.

But the GT3 car was the focus of the morning and Nissan’s commitment to the category the talking point.

“There are no firm plans other than this year and next year’s Bathurst 12 Hour for the car," Emery told motoring.com.au.

“We would certainly like to see a GT-R competing in the Australian GT Championship, but we’re also supportive of the notion that the championship does not host ‘factory’ entries,” he said.

According to Emery, Nissan has discussed privateer GT-R entries into the championship with a number of individuals, however, no plans are yet in place.

The car purchased by Nissan Australia is a rare 2015-spec GT3 GT-R. The purchase price is undisclosed but is believed to be close to $650,000.

Unlike Audi, Porsche and other GT3-focussed brands, Nissan and NISMO do not have a formal customer support program for GT3.

“That’s something we’d need to look at in supporting a local GT entry,” Emery told motoring.com.au.

On the brand’s V8 Supercar plans, Emery said he was confident of the progress the Kelly-owned team had made in preparation for the 2016 season.

Emery restated that the brand was still to decide its direction for the so-called ‘Gen3’ Supercar formula. The new regulations take effect for the 2017 season and will allow engine formats other than V8s – including a twin-turbo V6 a la the GT-R GT3 racer.

“We’re still talking with NISMO,” Emery stated.

But the local Nissan boss conceded that in a perfect world the move away from current regs “would be delayed another 12 months”.

In addition to Kelly, Strauss and Caruso, 2015 Nissan PlayStation GT Academy winner Matt Simmons was also on hand at Phillip Island – although without a driving suit.

Simmons commences his full-time racing career with Nissan in the 2016 Blancpain GT Endurance Series in Europe in April. In that sense he’s following in ‘teammate’ Strauss’ footsteps.

Simmons said he would be content with consistent performances in his first season.

Speaking to media, the German 2013 GT Academy winner and defending 2015 Bathurst 12 Hour champ, Strauss said Simmons could expect no quarter when he fronts the starter as a fully-fledged factory racer.

“No-one likes getting passed by an ex-gamer,” he joked in a warning to Simmons.

Nissan Australia will again support the GT Academy program in 2016.

It will also seek to further engage local motorsport fans with a new level of activations at local motorsport events. The introduction of an F1-style ‘Fan Engineering Station’ at V8 Supercar rounds this coming season is one of the innovations the brand promises.