Nissan: Nissan’s racing glory celebrated at the Classic Motorsports Mitty

ROAD ATLANTA, Braselton, Georgia – Nissan celebrated its rich motorsports history last weekend in Georgia, where dozens of Datsuns and Nissans participated in the Classic Motorsports Mitty vintage festival.

At the Mitty, legendary Nissan and Datsun cars from famous teams such as Brock Racing Enterprises and Bob Sharp Racing were on site at Road Atlanta for all the fans to enjoy. Also there: racing legend John Morton, who served as the Grand Marshal and raced a replica of his 1971 championship-winning BRE Datsun 240Z.

Saturday’s all-Nissan/Datsun feature race was won by Alex McDowell aboard his 1971 Nissan Skyline GT-R.

If you didn’t have a chance to attend this fantastic vintage festival, let the following photos (and video) help give you a taste of all the infectious Nissan enthusiasm on display.

 

 

Datsun/Nissan legend John Morton served as grand marshal at the 2018 Classic Motorsports Mitty.

 

With Nissan as featured marque, there were more than 50 vintage Datsun/Nissan racing cars competing over the weekend at the 2018 Mitty at Road Atlanta.

 

Alex McDowell drove this beautiful 1971 Hakosuka Skyline GT-R to victory on Saturday. McDowell’s Hako was one of the few right-hand-drive machines competing at The Mitty at Road Atlanta.

 

While Z cars and Datsun 510s made up the largest contingent of Nissan vehicles entered at The Mitty 2018, numerous well restored and prepared B210 racing cars represented the small-displacement Datsun powerplants very nicely. This car won the SCCA C Sedan National championship three straight years from 1977-1979 with Dick Davenport driving. His son Rob brought the restored car to The Mitty to share with the fans in 2018.

 

Old Fairlady Roadsters can be more than elegant vintage sports cars. The Fairlady made a formidable E-Production racing car for many years in SCCA competition.

 

The distinctive red, white and blue livery and number 33 of Bob Sharp Racing brings back memories of the team’s dominance of C Production racing throughout the 1970s.

 

Rock Vest brings his Fairlady Roadster down the hill into turn 12 at Road Atlanta during The Mitty 2018.

 

Saturday’s all-Nissan race attracted an impressive variety of vintage Datsun/Nissan racing cars.

 

This Datsun 240Z won the IMSA Camel GTU championship in 1978 with Brad Friselle. David Martin of Saint Helena, Calif. now campaigns the nicely restored champion in historic races around the country.

 

Alex McDowell, Grayson Upchurch, Jr. and Scott Kissinger took the top three spots in Saturday’s Nissan feature driving an early Skyline GT-R, Fairlady Roadster and a 240Z, respectively.

NISMO Calendar

May 5-6

  • FIA WEC, Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium
  • IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Lexington, Ohio
  • Virgin Australia Supercars Championship, Barbagallo Raceway, Perth, Western Australia, Australia

May 12-13

  • Blancpain GT Series Asia, Chang International Circuit, Thailand 
  • Blancpain GT Series, Silverstone, England
  • European Le Mans Series/Le Mans Cup, Monza, Italy

 

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Contact

Anna Teslik
Global Motorsport Marketing and Communications Manager
+33 7 7614 7286
ateslik@nissan-europe.com

Paul Ryan
Marketing and PR Manager
1-678-644-0404
paul@nismosupport.com