SILVERSTONE, UK – The Nissan-dominated grid at the opening round of the FIA World Endurance Championship and the European Le Mans Series were forced to not only do battle with each other, but also fight the English weather.
While teams were prepared for rain, the snow – which curtailed the final FIA WEC practice session – took things to an entirely new level.
Nissan powered 55 percent of the combined FIA WEC and ELMS field on the weekend, including every LM P2 entry in the WEC championship and 32 of the 45 cars in the European championship.
The ELMS race provided a host of firsts, including a debut win for the newly renamed G-Drive Racing in LM P2 led by NISMO athlete Harry Ticknell along with victory for United Autosport, which made its LM P3 class debut featuring second-generation racer Alex Brundle.
Olympic cycling legend Sir Chris Hoy also made his LM P2 debut for Algarve Pro Racing. Last year’s LM P3 champ teamed with Mike Munemann and Parth Ghorpade to finish 10th.
“Considering we had problems with qualifying and started 26th out of 44 cars, to finish 10th today and score a point is a great result,” said Hoy. “Michael and Parth drove really well and, apart from the spin, I was really pleased with my double stint. I was putting in consistent laps, and my times were good compared to some of the pro drivers which was really encouraging. Overall it was a solid team performance this weekend. With all of the difficulties and technical problems and the challenging weather conditions, I think it was a good weekend.”
In the six hour FIA WEC yesterday, the newly formed RGR Sport by Morand took a debut win led by team owner Ricardo Gonzalez, ex-Formula 1 ace Bruno Senna and Filipe Albuquerque.
NISMO Calendar
April 23-24
Blancpain GT Endurance, Monza, Italy
Pirelli World Challenge, Barber Motorsports Park, Alabama, USA
May 3-4
Super GT, Fuji Speedway, Japan
May 7-8
FIA WEC, Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium
Blancpain GT Sprint, Brands Hatch, England
V8 Supercar, Barbagallo Raceway, Western Australia, Australia
May 14-15
ELMS, Imola – Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, Italy
Blancpain GT Endurance, Silverstone, England
Micra Cup Canada, Calabogie Motorsports Park, Ontario, Canada
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Contact
Jane Johnstone
Marketing Communications Director
Global Motorsport Communications
Nissan/NISMO
Phone: +44 7979 710646
Email: jane.johnstone@nissan.co.uk
Paul Ryan
Marketing and PR Manager
Phone: +1 678 644 0404
Email: paul@nismosupport.com