SHORT STORY

NISMO and the 24 Hours of Le Mans race


Nissan’s first shot at Le Mans was in 1986 with the Nissan R86V and 85V machines, and it continued participating over the next four years. From 1990, however, owing to changes in vehicle regulations and other factors, Nissan suspended its Le Mans challenge.
In 1995, with the support of enthusiastic Nissan fans in Japan, NISMO took up the gauntlet and started racing at Le Mans in place of the Nissan works team. The vehicle chosen was a GT car based on the Skyline GT-R (R33). With its substantial track record, this machine was able to come in 10th overall, 5th in class in 1995, and 15th overall, 10th in class in 1996. However, since it is difficult to win at Le Mans with a car based on a production model, Nissan decided to return to Le Mans with a fully fledged GT car. The machine developed for the purpose was the R390 GTI, which debuted in 1997, coming in 12th overall, 5th in class. In the 1998 event, Nissan’ reputation was boosted even further when all 4 works cars made the top ten - taking 3rd, 5th, 6th and 10th places overall.




Club Le Mans members were chosen to join the official staff for the 1995 event.
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