Nissan announces global motorsport program for 2016
- Pirelli World Challenge: Season to kick off at COTA
- V8 Supercars: Tough battle at Adelaide street circuit looms
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YOKOHAMA, Japan – Many of the stars and cars from NISMO’s global motorsport programs for 2016 gathered at Nissan’s headquarters in Yokohama, Japan yesterday for the annual pre-season press conference.
With 34 drivers tackling 14 different championships and major events and defending nine championship wins, Nissan’s 2016 competition commitment is one of the most comprehensive in global motorsport with major assaults continuing in Japan, Europe, North America and Australia.
After last Friday’s announcement of Nissan’s 2016 plans, Sunday’s event in Japan was the first opportunity for the Japanese media and fans to meet the drivers and team management who will headline the manufacturer’s championship defense in both the GT500 and GT300 classes in Super GT.
The event also features former GT Academy winner Jann Mardenborough who is headed to Japan to race in GT300 and Formula 3 and young Japanese star Mitsunori Takaboshi, who heads to Europe for the Blancpain GT Series to follow in the footsteps of Katsumasa Chiyo, who was part of Nissan’s championship-winning driver combination in 2015.
Mardenborough will be a teammate of Chiyo in Japanese Formula 3 this season, while also contesting GT300 aboard a Nissan GTR NISMO GT3 with Kazuki Hoshino.
“I feel very privileged to have the NDDP seat in GT300, and I’m going to be doing my best to get good results for Nissan with Kazuki,” said Mardenborough. “I’m really looking forward to the start of the season. It is going to be great working with Kazuki. He has been partnered with other past GT Academy drivers in the past. He is very easy to work with and speaks really good English, which is great for me. Hopefully I can learn some Japanese from him as well.”
Yesterday’s event in Yokohama also marked the end of an era for Nissan GT500 team executive director Kunihiko Kakimoto, who is handing over the reigns to Toshikazu Tanaka, corporate vice president of NISMO.
Kakimoto-san’s contribution to the brand’s success was recognized at yesterday’s event with a presentation led by three-time Super GT champion, Satoshi Motoyama.
The first round of the 2016 Super GT season will be staged at Okayama on April 10.
NISSAN GT-R WORLD CHALLENGE ASSAULT BEGINS IN TEXAS
After taking seven class victories last year’s in Pirelli World Challenge, Nissan returns in 2016 with Always Evolving Racing/AIM Autosport launching its 2016 assault this weekend with its pair of Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 entries.
Australian James Davison took two overall victories in 2015, while former GT Academy winner American Bryan Heitkotter took five GTA-class wins – forcing his promotion into the PRO division of the championship.
Both will return this season starting this weekend at Circuit of the Americas this weekend before backing up the following weekend at the St. Petersburg street circuit in conjunction with the IndyCar series.
Heitkotter, the inaugural American winner of the GT Academy competition, is looking forward to returning to the seat of his No.05 GT-R this weekend.
“I’m massive excited to get started for the season this weekend,” said Heitkotter. “We have continuity with the team this year with AIM Autosport and Always Evolving. I have the same teammate, the same cars and the same guys working on the crew, so I’m expecting we’ll hit the ground running and have an even better season than last year. One of the most awesome things about GT3 racing in Pirelli World Challenge is there are so many manufacturers involved and the competition is so fierce. The field size is growing, and when you look at the grid there is probably any one of 10 guys who could win on any given weekend.”
Pirelli World Challenge teams will enjoy a test day at COTA on Thursday, March 3 before the race weekend begins on Friday. Qualifying for both races for the GT class will take place on Saturday morning, March 5. Davison and Heitkotter will contest two one-hour races at COTA – one each on Saturday and Sunday (March 6).
NISSAN ALTIMA V8 SUPERCARS READY FOR ADELAIDE STREET BATTLE
The 2016 V8 Supercar season begins on the streets of Adelaide “down under” in Australia this weekend with Nissan returning with its four-car squad of Nissan Altimas again this year.
Staged on a shortened version of the former Australian Grand Prix street circuit, the Clipsal 500 is renowned as one of the toughest events on the V8 Supercar calendar.
Teams do battle in two 125km races on Saturday with a single 250km event on Sunday, March 6.
Rick and Todd Kelly and Michael Caruso return for Nissan in 2016 with Dale Wood joining the team for the first time.
Caruso’s No.23 Altima will return in full Nissan branding this season, while Rick Kelly will debut his No.15 Altima in the colors of new sponsor, lighting manufacturer, Sengled.
After securing second place at the Bathurst 12 Hour aboard the Nissan GTR NISMO GT3, Kelly has gone on to complete a trouble-free test of his brand new chassis, ahead of the start of the 2016 V8 Supercars season.
Both Rick and Todd Kelly finished in the top 10 on the time sheets at the recent pre-season test at Winton Motor Raceway in Victory.
“So with a new car and new livery, I am really excited to tackle the challenging Adelaide street circuit,” Rick Kelly said. “We’ve had great preparation coming into the season – something we haven’t always achieved – so I am really excited for the year ahead.”
CALENDAR
March 3-6
- Pirelli World Challenge, Circuit of the Americas, Austin, Texas
- V8 Supercars, Clipsal 500, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
March 11-13
- Pirelli World Challenge, St Petersburg street circuit, Florida, USA
March 17-20
- V8 Supercars, Australian Grand Prix Support Race, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
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Contact
Jane Johnstone
Marketing Communications Director
Global Motorsport Communications
Nissan/NISMO
Phone: +44 7979 710646
jane.johnstone@nissan.co.uk
Paul Ryan
Marketing and PR Manager
Phone: +1 678 644 0404
paul@nismosupport.com