On February 12, Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. and Nissan Motorsports International Co., Ltd. (NISMO) announced their 2018 motorsports program. Two companies will continue to field NISSAN GT-R NISMO GT500 in the SUPER GT GT500 class this season. As in last year, four GT-Rs will be competing in the class again this season in their endeavor to bring back the GT500 class champion crown after the 2015-season.
Entering into the second year after the amendment to the technical regulations of GT500 class, the 2018-model NISSAN GT-R NISMO GT500 underwent optimization by reexamining all the components that can be changed, mainly around the improved aerodynamics and engine, to get all the potential out of the car as a package. NISMO started testing with new parts from early stage of the offseason testing already in order to realize their goal to have four GT-R NISMO GT500s competing for the lead at the season opener held at Okayama in April.
Detail of Nissan teams was also given in the announcement, and no changes are seen in No.23 NISMO this year with Tsugio Matsuda and Ronnie Quintarelli at the wheel, Team manager Yutaka Suzuki, and Michelin tire. The team will challenge to reclaim the title that has been away since 2015.
No.12 TEAM IMPUL is adding Daiki Sasaki, who competed in No.24 car last year. Sasaki will team up with second-year driver Jann Mardenborough to compete for the title along with Team manager Kazuyoshi Hoshino and Bridgestone tire.
No.24 KONDO RACING is also welcoming a new driver, Mitsunori Takaboshi, to form a combination with Joao Paulo Lima De Oliveira. Takaboshi competed in the GT300 class as well as overseas series in an FIA GT3 car and became champion in Japanese F3 Championship last year. The team will continue to use Yokohama tire this season.
In place of No.46 MOLA, who showed strong performance at last year's Round 4 SUGO and finished at second place, No.3 NDDP RACING with B-MAX will now be competing in the GT500 class after their multiple successful seasons in GT300. The driver lineup will be carried over as is from No.46 car with Satoshi Motoyama and Katsumasa Chiyo. Team manager Masahiro Hasemi will take the helm. The team will be using Michelin tires.
Lastly, Toshikazu Tanaka, Corporate Vice President of NISMO, will continue with his role from last year and serve as Executive manager overseeing all Nissan teams.
GT500
|
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No.
|
Team
|
Vehicle
|
Driver
|
Tires
|
---|---|---|---|---|
3 | NDDP RACING with B-MAX | CRAFTSPORTS MOTUL GT-R | Satoshi Motoyama Katsumasa Chiyo |
MI |
12 | TEAM IMPUL | CALSONIC IMPUL GT-R | Daiki Sasaki Jann Mardenborough |
BS |
23 | NISMO | MOTUL AUTECH GT-R | Tsugio Matsuda Ronnie Quintarelli |
MI |
24 | KONDO RACING | Forum Engineering ADVAN GT-R |
Joao Paulo Lima de Oliveira Mitsunori Takaboshi |
YH |
Tire= BS: Bridgestone / MI: Michelin / YH: Yokohama
In the GT300 class, after NDDP RACING moving to GT500, 2015 GT300 champion GAINER will be competing with two 2018-model NISSAN GT-R NISMO GT3s as a GT3 official partner team. New driver combination will be formed for No.10 car with Kazuki Hoshino and Hiroki Yoshida. For No.11 car, Katsuyuki Hiranaka will be joined by Hironobu Yasuda, who has experience in winning races in the GT500 class. DIJON Racing and TOMEI SPORTS are also entering the class with 2015-model NISSAN GT-R NISMO GT3.
GT300
|
|||
No.
|
Team
|
Vehicle
|
Driver
|
---|---|---|---|
10 | GAINER | GAINER TANAX triple a GT-R | Kazuki Hoshino Hiroki Yoshida |
11 | GAINER | GAINER TANAX GT-R | Katsuyuki Hiranaka Hironobu Yasuda |
In the news release published to announce the 2018 program, Takao Katagiri, President and CEO, NISMO, expressed the determination to compete in SUPER GT this season, "SUPER GT is at the core of our activity, and we have done many restructuring including car, teams, and drivers. My goal of this year is to make this season where we begin with a good start right from the season opener and all Nissan teams are competing strong at every race, which is what expected from the name, GT-R. Also, the 2018-model GT3, which we have been putting a lot of effort in development, is finally making debut, and I am expecting to see the car perform strongly."
4/13-14 | Round1 OKAYAMA | |
5/03-04 | Round2 FUJI | |
6/01-02 | Round3 SUZUKA | |
8/03-04 | Round4 FUJI | |
8/31-9/01 | Round5 SUZUKA | |
9/21-22 | Round6 SUGO | |
10/19-20 | Round7 AUTOPOLIS | |
11/02-03 | Round8 MOTEGI |