Nissan banks on Formula E

New Nissan global motorsport boss Tommaso Volpe says all, or at least most, of the company’s motorsport eggs will stay in one basket, Formula E.

The all-electric racing series, which pits near-identical 250kW-plus single-seaters against each other on city street circuits, is the “most credible option” via which Nissan showcase its electric drivetrain expertise, Volpe says.

“We are fully committed to Formula E,” the Nissan Global Motorsports Director told carsales in a video conference this week.

Volpe adding that Nissan retained its presence in Japanese Super GT and production of V8 engines for the various prototype LMP2-style series – as well as arm’s length involvement in global GT3 via the GT-R.

Speaking from Paris, Volpe ruled out any ‘short term’ involvement in the fledgling e-TCR series but did concede he had some interest in the potential of an EV-based SUV racing series of some type.

“It [electric SUV racing] could be credible from a product point of view. We would be open to it at the right time, but such a series does not exist at the moment,” Volpe said.

Meantime Nissan is championing Formula E’s Race at Home Challenge – a nine-week eSports competition featuring teams and drivers from the ABB FIA Formula E Championship, as well as gamers.

The series uses the Factor2 gaming platform and an innovative challenge race format where backmarkers are eliminated as the events progress.

The series commenced on April 25 and finishes with a double-headed on the weekend of June 6-7.

Each Saturday’s races are telecast live on Formula E’s own channels from 3:30 to 5:15pm British Standard Time (very early Sunday AM our time).

Gamers can participate in the series via open qualifying rounds from Monday to Thursday each week. You can find out more at Formula E’s website.

The gaming winner of the Challenge Grid Grand Final gets the choice of driving the Formula E Gen2 car for a minimum of five laps around the Formula E circuit during an E-Prix weekend or a VIP trip for two people to watch an E-Prix, as well as entry into the BMW SIM M2 CS Racing Cup Finals at the BMW SIM Live 2020 event in Munich.