Nissan withdraws from WEC

This always looked like they knew they didn´t have the budget to fight with the big boys with a "normal" car so they tried something different: "if it works, we´ll catch the others off guard and if it doesnt, we´ll use it to do some PR stuff (innovative, etc) and then leave quietly before it gets too much embarrassing. It seems that it didn´t work.

 

I believe the GT Academy guys were caught up in the blood-letting also.
Class move firing everyone via email 3 days before Christmas.

 

Some other sports cars of note suffered serious "debut issues" going back to the IMSA
GTP days.

The first that comes to mind was the BMW/March/McLaren GTP from 1986. There had been
rumors of issues with these cars (mostly engine meltdowns and catching fire in testing) which
were driven by some top drivers of the time including Davy Jones, John Andretti, John Watson,
David Hobbs and Bobby Rahal.

At Sebring during the first open practice session, one of the BMW GTPs with Rahal driving reportedly
had a body work issue, the engine bonnet evidently came unlatched, the car took air and rolled
several times in the (then very high speed) section between Turn One and Turn Two. Rahal was
lucky to emerge unscathed but what little was left of the car returned to the paddock on a flat bed,
the only thing intact was the tub. I got images of what was left of the chassis tucked away somewhere.
The second entry was scrapped for Sebring but BMW kept the project going to the end of 1986 and
then withdrew.

The second example was the Mazda RX792P which had rolled out to great anticipation in 1992. Like
the Le Mans-winning Mazda 787-B, the new GTP car featured a quad-rotor engine
that produced a sound like no other and experienced drivers Price Cobb and Pete Halsmer.

Mazda had great success making the rotary engine a winner, at one point the Mazda rotary held the
record for IMSA race wins (GTU). But, these RX792Ps would be a different matter. Mazda skipped the
24 Hours of Daytona in favor of debuting the cars at the Miami Grand Prix and almost immediately one
(or both) caught fire in practice.

They tried it again at Sebring and the same result, the cars caught fire in practice. There just seemed to
not be a way for Mazda to properly vent the intense heat that the quad-rotor engine was producing, the
exhausts would light the body work on fire and the cars just couldn't seem to get through a session
without some calamity.

Mazda got some of their issues sorted through the season but they then withdrew the cars
after the first season. They make regular appearances at the Monterey Historics these days
but for Mazda, these cars were a huge disappointment and never performed up to expectations.

BHW

 

I remember that Mazda GTP. Loud as hell, in a good way. Sounded like an F1 car with 4 rotors. I think it was over 5 seconds off the pace at Road America that year(the year of the XJR14). The Toyota's were blowing engines in practice, but also the 1991 FIA Fabi Group C winning chassis broke an upright and flipped several times in the carausel and was a DNS. They did have a spare car at the facility south of Chicago but decided not to use it. What I remember most about that 1992 IMSA season was them letting Toyota get away with using elegal ELF fuel almost the whole season. That was the main reason Jaguar pulled the plug and left IMSA, favoritist and bull****!!!

 

This nismo thing was disaster from start.

Only way to get interest in endurance racing again is to allow street supercars to compete. Until then, i could care less

 

I have mixed feelings about the whole Nismo LMP program. On one hand I respect the innovative approach of the whole project. Even if it is a total failure on the surface, ideas do emerge from these radical programs that can help steer the future. Even the most cutting edge racing designers tend to fall into paths of thinking and it often takes some real rebels to shake things up and bring new progress. Will this be the case with the Nismo LMP? Only time will tell.

On the other hand I think that the Nismo PR people did themselves no favors by massively over stating their position and potential to be competitive. This is a double edge sword because it is near impossible to get the funding needed when you go in painting yourself as a loser so you roll the dice and hope that you can 'fake it till you make it'

What I do think is unfair is to totally dismiss the project with little more than a cursory understanding of what took place. As shown in this thread the now legendary GT40 program was a dangerous joke in the beginning and went on to become racing folklore of the highest calibre.

Racing requires a huge balance of factors to go correctly in order to be successful and it appears as though the Nismo project was never granted the time or the finances to realize its potential.

 

It is shameful.

And its typical of Nissan Racing. In my experience they don't treat people well.

 

Anybody that designed the Delta-wing and thought it was going to work has no place in any design team IMO ... why did Nissan keep giving him a budget?
Pete

 

You don't follow US racing much, do you?

I'm no champion of the DW, but it's not a stillborn project here. It goes reasonably well.

 

has there ever been a fwd race car that successfully competed against rwd? what were they thinking?

 

Btcc, many

 

919 is awd as well

Nissan was supposed to be awd too but the rear wheels e-engines didn't quite work

 

Which car in btcc is fwd?

 

Most of them

 

really? that's surprising

front wheel drive is usually in economy cars so which wins btcc, Toyota camry?

 

FWD with small engines.

 

ok, thanks
I got it now. I was confusing it with the Australian series that's all high hp and rwd

 

In rally and rallycross fwd are also just as fast as rwd