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Nissan reveals '15 Le Mans challenger

  Race-ready Nissan GT-R LM NISMO
  • Innovative new LM P1 race car
  • Revealed at Super Bowl XLIX

YOKOHAMA, JAPAN – Nissan gave a glimpse of its 2015 Le Mans challenger, the Nissan GT-R LM Nismo, during a commercial break during the US Super Bowl XLIX.

During the 2015 Super Bowl Nissan aired its 'With Dad' commercial that revealed its new GT-R LM Nismo set to compete at the Le Mans 24 Hours series.

The new racer is powered by a front-mounted three-litre V6 twi-turbo petrol engine driving power to the its front wheels. It also uses a kinetic energy recovery system.

‘ULTIMATE GT-R’

Nissan’s global head of marketing and brand strategy, Roel de Vries, said: “It gave us great pride to reveal the Nissan GT-R LM Nismo during the Superbowl.  The combination of the Super Bowl and the Le Mans 24 Hours – two of the most watched sporting events in the world – presented us with a unique opportunity to showcase our most ambitious motorsport programme in recent times.

“The GT-R is our flagship road car. This, the ultimate GT-R, continues a sporting bloodline that goes back three decades with Nismo, the motorsport and performance arm of Nissan. Le Mans drives innovation so success on the track will lead to greater innovation in our road car range.

“We are the new kids at Le Mans; our opponents are the best in the world - but we are ready.”

GLOBAL SERIES

The new car will contest the LM P1 class of the World Endurance championship, the highest category in sports-car racing. The championship series will start at Silverstone, England, on April 12 then head to Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium and Germany’s Nurburgring, before heading to the US, Japan, China and the Middle East.

IMAGE GALLERY: Nissan GT-R LM Nismo in testing

Motorsport engineers face the same issues as road car engineers as the spotlight falls on energy efficiency though the series has more technical freedom than Formula 1, allowing LM P1 engineers to create innovations.

TOUGH COMPETITION

Shoichi Miyatani, president of Nismo, said: “This is innovation that excites. Sustainability is at the top of our agenda and the technical regulations for Le Mans give us the freedom to pursue new ideas in this area. Our record at Le Mans is third overall so we have unfinished business there.

“We want to win and we have the knowledge to do that – for our customers, our employees and our fans. The competition is exceptionally strong and we are excited by the challenge.”

The test programme for the Nissan GT-R LM Nismo, which began in Arizona in 2014, continues in Feb 2015 at the Circuit of the Americas in Texas. Nissan has yet to name its LM P1 drivers.


Watch Nissan's 'With Dad' commercial:

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