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Having flown largely under the radar in their five-year existence in Supercars, 2018 looms as a crunch season for Nissan Motorsport, with their future in the category depending on it.
The Japanese marque entered the Australian touring car series in 2013, during the start of the ‘Car of the Future’ regulations which saw themselves enter alongside Mercedes-Benz through Erebus Motorsport.
Of the three manufacturers that joined category stalwarts in Holden and Ford from 2013, with Volvo having come onboard a year later, Nissan is the only brand that has remained and there is the strong possibility that the plug will be pulled on that programme at season’s end.
The two-year deal signed back in 2016 will expire at the end of this season, between Nissan and the Kelly organisation; who currently helm the works Nissan outfit in Australia. Results since have been sparse.
Since uniting with the Kelly brothers in 2013, Nissan have only won four races with the last of them having come in mid-2016 at Hidden Valley in the hands of Michael Caruso. Engine deficits have long been blamed as the shortcomings of the Nissan Altima, in a category competitively separated by mere tenths of a second.
Podiums have been plenty, but not regular enough considering the Altima programme is in its sixth year of development.
While Nissan themselves are tight-lipped about their future in Supercars, it is widely suggested that 2018 will be their last. Despite the new Gen2 regulations having opened the door for varying car body types, possibly allowing the Japanese icon to explore other models in its range.
(Photo by Daniel Kalisz/Getty Images)
Though for that to occur, there needs to be decisions made in the near future – similar to the situation for the Ford teams, who without manufacturer funding are chasing a replacement for the incumbent Falcon FG X.
With Holden having hit the ground running with their new ZB Commodore, which is based off a European sedan as supposed to the traditional Australian built car and has a hatchback body type – there is the threat of the Lion taking rule in the category.
Gen2 also allows for manufacturers to utilise V6-twin turbocharged engine varieties too, meaning if Nissan were to look at implementing one of their iconic sports coupés in the 370Z or GT-R, it would be possible with their smaller engines.
The million-dollar question will be though, is whether a Supercars programme falls in line with Nissan’s global motorsport vision. This was what triggered Volvo’s acrimonious departure from Australia, despite the successful tenure that they had with Garry Rogers Motorsport.
Nissan will be taking over from the works Renault outfit in the all-electric Formula E championship in the 2018-19 season, while they continue to run a successful global GT3 racing network.
Whether a touring car programme in Australia is viable or not, and will it have a positive impact on their car sales here, will be the factors to explore when considering Nissan’s future.
Achieving results on-track will be all that Nissan Motorsport have to focus on, while their future is indeed up in the air and that will start at this weekend’s Tasmania SuperSprint, to which they bring a fresh engine upgrade.
The outfit itself in 2018 has been boosted with the addition of Kiwi young-gun Andre Heimgartner, who replaced team boss Todd Kelly having elected to retire and focus on running the team itself.
In her sophomore season now, Simona De Silvestro has shown significant improvement too, with the Swiss driver having shown at the end of last year that she can race with the top competitors, given that her is dialled in.
Six years on and it is almost discouraging that the team aren’t even in regular podium contention. Though in one way it does show the uber-competitive landscape of Supercars, where micrometres can separate the entire grid.
However, for a manufacturer funded outfit boasting four cars in its stable; something must give sooner or later. Otherwise, despite the rich history of racing in Australia during the 1990s, Nissan risk departure with hardly any success.
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