Nissan and NISMO announce global motorsport program for 2017
DUBAI: The 2017 motorsport season is about to start, and on behalf of Nissan, Takao Katagiri, CEO and president of NISMO, has now officially announced Nissan/NISMO’s motorsport activities for 2017. These are as follows:
SUPER GT GT500
With sights firmly set on reclaiming the GT500 championship title, Nissan/NISMO will field four newly developed Nissan GT-R NISMO GT500 entries in 2017.
Having won the SUPER GT GT500 Championship two years in a row in 2014 and 2015, but missing out on a third consecutive title after leading the championship until the last event in 2016, NISMO will be back at the track with the driver pairing of Tsugio Matsuda and Ronnie Quintarelli in Nissan’s ace car #23.
Fresh from the GT300 class, GT Academy graduate JannMardenborough will step up to GT500, making his GT500 debut with TEAM IMPUL together with teammate Hironobu Yasuda. For the first time in seven years, Jo?o Paulo de Oliveira will return to KONDO Racing, which took two victories last year, and will team up with Daiki Sasaki. MOLA will continue with the same strong driver combination from last year, with veteran Satoshi Motoyama challenging the series alongside young gun KatsumasaChiyo.
Toshikazu Tanaka, corporate vice president of NISMO, remains as Nissan’s team executive director. The complete roster:
#23 - NISMO - Tsugio Matsuda / Ronnie Quintarelli Team Principal: Yutaka Suzuki MOTUL AUTECH GT-R / Michelin #12 - TEAM IMPUL - Hironobu Yasuda / JannMardenborough Team Principal: Kazuyoshi Hoshino Calsonic IMPUL GT-R / Bridgestone #24 - KONDO Racing - Daiki Sasaki / Jo?o Paulo de Oliveira Team Principal: Masahiko Kondo Forum Engineering ADVAN GT-R / Yokohama #46 - MOLA - Satoshi Motoyama / KatsumasaChiyo Team Principal: ToshiomiOeki S Road CRAFTSPORTS GT-R / Michelin
Nissan’s new GT500 racer, which incorporates the distinctive design of the standard 2017 Nissan GT-R NISMO, was developed in compliance with the 2017 SUPER GT technical regulations and inherits the competitive and hard-charging spirit of previous incarnations of the Nissan GT-R NISMO GT500.
Officially revealed last November, the car has undergone testing in Japan as well as in Sepang, Malaysia. The updates will be made just before the opening round and are expected to result in an even stronger, more competitive GT-R that will build upon the previous championship winning car’s legacy of dominance within the history of motorsports.