From the moment the venerable Nissan GT-R was introduced to the world in 2008, it was hailed as one of the most potent production cars ever to hit the pavement. Developed and groomed on the most demanding racetrack on the planet, the Nordschleife at the Nürburgring, the GT-R set lap times so impressive that they shocked the automotive community. For the 2010 race season, Nissan has decided to unleash the GT-R’s potential as a race machine, waging war in three different series on four continents.
In North America, Nissan will team up with Brass Monkey Racing to contest the World Challenge GT Championship, where two specially-prepped GT-Rs will vie for the Manufacturers and Drivers Championships. And speaking of drivers, the cars will be piloted by two-time series race winner Tony Rivera and Steve Ott. The GT-Rs will debut in St. Petersburg on March 26-28.
“We’re very excited to bring such an iconic car to the North American professional racing scene,” A.J. Brass, team owner of the Brass Monkey Racing, said. “We look forward to bringing an entirely new platform to World Challenge.”
In Europe, the Middle East, and South America a quartet of GT-Rs will do battle in the 2010 FIA GT1 World Championships. Team Sumo Power and Swiss Racing Team will each field two GT-Rs in this exclusive series. One of the Sumo Power cars, wearing the traditional Nissan race number “23”, will be driven by Peter Dumbreck and Michael Krumm. Multiple FIA GT race-winner Karl Wendlinger will pilot a Swiss Racing GT-R in the season-opener on April 17 in Abu Dhabi, UAE.
“I have been racing in the FIA GT Championships for many years, but now I’m very excited about the new world championship and very happy to be driving the Nissan GT-R,” Wendlinger said.
In Asia, three GT-Rs will carry on Nissan’s successful association with the Super GT Series. Running in the coveted GT500 class, the spec GT-Rs will compete under the team banners of Nismo, Kondo Racing and Team Impul. Nismo ace driver, Satoshi Motoyama, who won the championship in the GT-R in 2008, looks forward to a challenging yet successful season in 2010.
“The car is improved significantly from last year, so that’s a sign that we’ll be very competitive this year. The other makers have also made improvements, so it should be an interesting year,” Motoyama said.
To say that the GT-R will be racing “all over the place” this year would be an understatement. Look for it to seriously go after GT racing’s version of the Triple Crown by winning all three series, a feat never before accomplished.
