Nissan/NISMO announces 2023 motorsports programs

Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. and Nissan Motorsports & Customizing Co., Ltd. today announced the outline of their motorsports activities for 2023.

“At Nissan, we challenge ourselves and dare to do what others don’t,” said Ashwani Gupta, Nissan COO. “We are proud of our achievements on the track last year in the Super GT series. This season, in Formula E, Nissan will compete with a newly developed Gen3 powertrain, which we are also supplying to McLaren. Also, the newly developed Z GT4 will race in the US and Japan. Motorsport is a test bed that pushes our engineering and manufacturing expertise to the next level of excellence. But it also is our passion, and we want to share this passion and excitement with more fans around the world”.

In addition to ABB FIA Formula E World Championship and Super GT GT500 class, which are the two pillars of Nissan’s motorsports activities, NMC’s NISMO Racing Division (NISMO) will start their customer racing programs for the Nissan Z GT4 and provide technical support. NISMO will also continue to provide support for teams using the Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3, other Nissan vehicles, and engines in their motorsport activities.

SUPER GT GT500 class Nissan/NISMO will continue to take part in Super GT GT500 class with the Nissan Z GT500, which was developed based on the Nissan Z that symbolizes the Nissan’s DNA to take on challenges. The teams aim to win this championship—which features the world’s fastest GT cars—two years in a row, and to deliver even more excitement through innovation to fans.

Motohiro Matsumura will continue to serve as the executive director of the Nissan GT500 teams.

Customer Racing Programs

Customer Racing – GT3 programs

Nismo will continues to support teams competing with the FIA GT3 regulation Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3.  

-　Super GT GT300 class

This season, five Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3s will be competing in the SUPER GT GT300 class. Two from GAINER and one from KONDO RACING, which is the defending champion, will race as GT3 Official Partner Teams. NILZZ Racing and RUNUP SPORTS will also be competing in the GT-R.

-　Super Taikyu Series

HELM MOTORSPORTS, which won the ST-X class title last year, will compete again with the Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3, along with the GT-R entered by GTNET MOTOR SPORTS.  In addition, two Fairlady Z NISMO RC are scheduled to be entered by OKABEJIDOSHA motorsport and one from TEAM ZEROONE in the ST-3 class.

-　NISSAN MECHANIC CHALLENGE

Through racing activities, Nissan and the Nissan Automobile Technical College will continue the Nissan Mechanic Challenge, a human resources development program. Sales company technical staff and Nissan Automotive Technical College students will take part in the Super GT GT300 class and Super Taikyu teams for further improvement of their technical skills and teamwork through experience with professional race mechanics.

Customer Racing – GT4 program

NISMO will provide cars and technical support to the pilot customer teams competing with the Nissan Z GT4 (pending SRO homologation), developed based on the Nissan Z.

- Pirelli GT4 America Championship

Two Nissan Z GT4s will enter the Pirelli GT4 America Championship from TechSport Racing.

- Super Taikyu Series

In the ST-Z class, TEAM IMPUL and TEAM ZEROONE will compete with one Nissan Z GT4 each.

Customer Racing – Engine Supply Programs 

Nissan/NISMO will continue to supply and provide technical support for the VK56 engine to all teams competing in LMP3 races around the globe. The engine will be used in series such as the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, which includes the Rolex 24 at Daytona and the IMSA VP Racing Sportscar Challenge in North America; the European Le Mans Series; the Michelin Le Mans Cup; the Ultimate Cup Series; the German Prototype Cup in Europe; and the Asian Le Mans Series in the UAE.

Other activities

- NISMO Driving Academy:　The academy holds driving lessons for NISMO road car, Nissan GT-R, Fairlady Z, and Skyline 400R users. Michael Krumm as the principal and Nismo contracted drivers give lessons directly to participants. Classes are varied from beginners’ classes to learn the basics of sport driving and experience the maximum performance of their own cars, to practical lessons on short tracks. Schedule and venues will be announced at a later date on the NISMO website.

- NISMO Festival: The fan event is scheduled to be held again this year, with details to be announced at a later date.