Nissan 2015

[Werner]

Also, think back to Toyota, didn't they forgo the opening rounds to fettle the car? They weren't called cheap or PR chasers.

Jason, Toyota entered the WEC 2012 actually unplanned. Their plan for 2012 was a full year of testing and eventually one or 2 races in preparation for a full WEC entry 2013. But when Peugeot suddenly pulled the plug completely in February 2012 the ACO urged Toyota to jump in, so there would be at least one challenger for Audi in the new WEC. Toyota did so on short notice - and could not race at Spa because the only existing car at that time was destroyed in an accident while testing at Paul Ricard in April - and originally they never intended to race this early in the season. So their performance at Le Mans 2012, where they even led the race for a couple of laps, was actually very respectable.

[geoffd]

If the Nissan project is a one off for this year then not racing before LM is a mistake, but if, as I suspect, it's a multi-year project then they are almost certainly using 2015 as a learning year however many races they do.  It does sound like it's a car designed specifically for LM though.

No excuses next year!

[Kristof]

And they're out of the WEC and Le Mans ...

23 December, 2015 (Yokohama, Japan): Today, Nissan announced that it will withdraw its LMP1 entry from the 2016 FIA World Endurance Championship.

Nissan entered LMP1 in the 2015 season with an innovative new, and bold concept, with the ambition to compete at the front of the field.

The teams worked diligently to bring the vehicles up to the desired performance levels. However, the company concluded that the program would not be able to reach its ambitions and decided to focus on developing its longer term racing strategies.

Racing is a core part of the Nissan DNA, and the company has a proud history of innovating to win. Nissan's commitment to motorsports remains strong, as evidenced by its victorious track record in the 2015 season – from achieving the overall winner of Super GT two years in a row in Japan, to winning the Blancpain Endurance Pro Class, Bathurst 12hr race with the GT-R GT3. Nissan will continue its support of WEC through its various engine programs including recent introduction of LMP3 engine.

https://newsroom.nissan-global.com/releases/151223-01-e

[mgmark]

That's a real shame to see - at least they had a go with something innovative, but probably too much so, albeit it was quick in a straight line. 

Despite the commitment to make it work after LM this year, from recent news they still couldn't get the whole package to work together. Wonder if they'll be back with something new in 2017?

MG Mark

[Lorry]

Its a shame, but I suspect that its an admission that it will never be competitive and will not help their image and hence sell cars or as they put it "would not be able to reach its ambitions".

Whilst there were some good ideas there, one being not to make an Audi copy, Nissan/Nismo should have realised, at the drawing board stage, that Bowlby's ideas were a bit too strange.

They'll be back, when they can find something quicker.  They ought to go 50/50 with Renault, but they're wasting their money on F1 again

[Canada Phil]

They tried to Boldly Go.... and for that I applaud them. Some might say they failed. I say there is no adventure IN the garage. I bet collectively and individually the team learned a lot. I predict they will be back with something better. Innovation is never easy.
Phil

[Lazy B'stard]

It's all a bit of a mess isn't it. Reading various reports on the matter doesn't instil any confidence that they will return at all. The entire engineering team were fired by email just moments before the announcement were made. All property is to be returned and the locks have been changed at the teams base in Indy. A bit of a slap in the face to the poor buggers who have no doubt bust a gut in an ill fated attempt to turn that sow's ear into a silk purse. The Motorsport industry is tight knit, and such treatment won't be forgotten in a hurry.