WEC: Nissan delay LMP1 return indefinitely

[Jack Hunsley]

Nissan have today announced that they will be delaying their return to the WEC indefinitely, aiming now to "address technical issues of (their) LMP1 car before returning to FIA WEC"

Nissan have recently been testing their car at the Circuit of Americas in Austin, Texas, and had been scheduled to compete in the 6 Hours of the Nurburgring at the end of the month, but the announcement from Nissan's Darren Cox means it is unlikely that we will see Nissan compete during the rest of the 2015 season.

Cox heaped praise on those who had made the project possible, commenting that "the guys at the shop in Indianapolis should be proud of the job they did". But Cox also conceded that lack of a working ERS (which has necessitated a completely new system for the 2016 season), along with issues with the suspension and braking systems has meant that competing again with the car in it's current state was not a realistic goal.

Nissan LM P1 Technical Director Ben Bowlby meanwhile added that “We have many areas to work on, not least ensuring that we have the best ERS option available to us. The team is pushing hard on track, in the wind tunnel and at NISMO’s various facilities around the world to deliver the long list of improvements we know that we need.”

 

[Dan Allen]

Probably for the best tbh... LM24 wasn't exactly good for them.

 

[Andrew Harper]

I did wonder if this was on the horizon, maybe not this soon but maybe after the next race.

The car in it's current guise does not work very well and the lack of ERS is not only going to hurt them more as a team but also as a manufacturer and their image.

Hoping they get these issues sorted (even if it's 2016) would be a shame to lose them after all the effort.

 

[Aidan Keranen]

Wind Tunnel? Now I realise I am maybe reading too far into this, but perhaps that is a sign they'll move away from the FWD? Would be a shame, is definitely a unique interpretation.

 

[Sheamus Power]

Aw, I do hope they come back next season or something. Its a real shame their interesting design didn't do as well as expected this season, with the problems they were having. I definitely hope they don't shelve their LMP1 involvement, I'd really love to see another big name up in the LMP1s to challenge Porsche, Audi and the still-relatively new Toyota.

 

[Michael Stead]

Disappointing but not unexpected.

 

[ENDR]

I'd really love to see another big name up in the LMP1s to challenge Porsche, Audi and the still-relatively new Toyota.

Actually, it's the current Porsche, that is "relatively new" to LMP1. Toyota have been running their program since 2012, while this is Porsche's 2nd season.
Btw, winning Le Mans in their second try, while Toyota couldn't FOUR times... That's pretty depressing.

 

[Sheamus Power]

Actually, it's the current Porsche, that is "relatively new" to LMP1. Toyota have been running their program since 2012, while this is Porsche's 2nd season.
Btw, winning Le Mans in their second try, while Toyota couldn't FOUR times... That's pretty depressing.

Oh yeah, mixed those two up. Still, Toyota kind of got their game together last season finally. I'd like to see Nissan coming up to brawl with the rest of them. I'm more concerned about competitiveness between a variety of manufacturers. The Audi-Porsche battles are pretty entertaining, but throwing more into the mix would be even better

 

[Claudio Gandolfi]

It seems something near a surrender...

 

[Asterix]

They weren't ready the first time - compound that with a bravado marketing/PR campaign which has made them look silly, they really should back off until they are competitive and reliable - they have been neither at any time.

Nice idea, terrible execution.

Shame they took a garage away from someone else at Le Mans.

 

[Andrew Harper]

I'd really love to see another big name up in the LMP1s to challenge Porsche, Audi and the still-relatively new Toyota.

Just dreaming on this really but the hybrid rules would be great for a rotary engine. They don't have as much low down torque as a piston engine so the hybrid power boost would be perfect. I know that the Mazda LMP1 concept would never be eligible for Le Mans but I bet it would become a fan favourite very quickly!

 

[SVP Skins]

Probably for the best tbh... LM24 wasn't exactly good for them.

it was a new car with hardly any testing. so what do you expect.

 

[Dan Allen]

it was a new car with hardly any testing. so what do you expect.

Which begs the question, why would anyone compete in one of the world's toughest races in a car which hasn't been properly tested for reliability?

 

[Sheamus Power]

Just dreaming on this really but the hybrid rules would be great for a rotary engine. They don't have as much low down torque as a piston engine so the hybrid power boost would be perfect. I know that the Mazda LMP1 concept would never be eligible for Le Mans but I bet it would become a fan favourite very quickly!

I actually went on a tour of the Mazda museum in July on my visit to Japan; and they have the 787B that won the Le Mans sitting alongside a lot of other historical Mazdas. It'd be awesome to see a Mazda back in WEC.

 

[Flammenjc]

It seems something near a surrender...

Of Course it is. They either did it for marketing only, or misjudged how difficult it actually is to build a race winning/competitive car, and you can't just try and reverse engineer the regs in the hope that there is performance there.

 

[Jezza819]

Which begs the question, why would anyone compete in one of the world's toughest races in a car which hasn't been properly tested for reliability?

The minute they announced that they were going to skip the first two races of the year and make LeMans their debut, I knew they were in trouble.

 

[SVP Skins]

Which begs the question, why would anyone compete in one of the world's toughest races in a car which hasn't been properly tested for reliability?

its the same for everyone. they dont get to test of the Leman track itself, until the race weekend. so if you have a new car. you're going in blind.

 

[Antonio Gregori]

I have to say this is one of the worst returns to motorsport I have ever seen, competes in 1 race and finsihes behind supposedly slower lmp2 cars then withdraws from rest of the season. When porsche returned last year they actually had a few podiums but this year they won Le mans so Hopefully Nissan will be faster than the P2 cars next year