[LM24] Nissan return to Le Mans (G56)

[The Badger]

Headline over on DSC reads ..... Nissan to announce ..... means its , wait for it , its about Nissan .

Love to see a P1 project ..... care to start driver speculation

[Simmi]

Originally Posted by Speed-King

I still don't think this is exclusively a racing announcement.

It's not. No-one is saying it's motorsport only. It's one (likely eye-catching) part of a new brand re-positioning.

Here are the announcement notes as listed a couple of pages back. Look at what's top of the agenda:

• Nissan's plans for NISMO motorsports and performance arm to be revealed
• Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn to make announcement in Japan Feb. 26 (Feb. 25 in U.S.)
• NISMO HQ is a former Nissan factory now redeveloped and expanded
• Live press conference stream and materials available at 8 p.m. EST, Monday Feb.25 at www.nissan-live.com/nismoglobal

[GT6]

I just hope it does not turn out to be dissapointing fingers crossed for a full LMP1 programme

[Acid09]

Originally Posted by The Badger

Love to see a P1 project ..... care to start driver speculation

I would love if they would give Michael Krumm another shot at Le Mans in a car capable of winning.

He has proven he still has what it takes winning the FIA GT title and he was quick in the DeltaWing as well

[Canada ALMS fan]

The DSC article speculates it may be an F1 announcement, who knows? Glad we don't have to wait much longer to find out!

[NelisB]

Originally Posted by Canada ALMS fan

The DSC article speculates it may be an F1 announcement, who knows? Glad we don't have to wait much longer to find out!

That would be a mayor disappointment for me. Nissan have shown so much interest in le mans and that type of racing with the deltawing and the backing of the playstation drivers program.
If it's anything other then a LMP2 or LMP1 factory effort i'm disappointed...

[deltawing]

Nissan Motorsport twitted two days ago: "Thanks for all the comments about Tuesday's announcement. Here's a thought. Do we ever do what everyone expects us to do?"

That's not a speculation, not a rumor. It is direct statement that tells a lot. They absolutely did not have to say that, but they did. Think about it, if this is them making an LPM1 car (for example), it would not fit in the above statement.

[Simmi]

Originally Posted by Canada ALMS fan

The DSC article speculates it may be an F1 announcement, who knows? Glad we don't have to wait much longer to find out!

It doesn't say that at all. It says some people have come to that conclusion but then confirms DSC believe it will be sportscar related.

http://www.dailysportscar.com/viewAr...1D687F68377DB2

What do Graham and the RLM crew have? Excellent links with Darren Cox, who has surely tipped them off about something here.


It's all adding up to a P1 announcement and if it doesn't I'll be absolutely gutted.

[deggis]

edit: Simmi is faster than me (pitlane radio voice)

[Acid09]

Originally Posted by deltawing

Nissan Motorsport twitted two days ago: "Thanks for all the comments about Tuesday's announcement. Here's a thought. Do we ever do what everyone expects us to do?"

Oh dear, that does sound more like some one-make series silliness or something.

But why would RLM hype this up this much? This would probably leave a lot of people rather ****ed.

[Simmi]

Originally Posted by deltawing

Nissan Motorsport twitted two days ago: "Thanks for all the comments about Tuesday's announcement. Here's a thought. Do we ever do what everyone expects us to do?"

That's not a speculation, not a rumor. It is direct statement that tells a lot. They absolutely did not have to say that, but they did. Think about it, if this is them making an LPM1 car (for example), it would not fit in the above statement.

The statement says everything, and at the same time absolutely nothing.

They are taking joy that fans are guessing. Darren Cox said that himself in reply to me and JAG on Twitter. A bit of mis-direction and smoke and mirrors just adds to the anticipation.

[MulsanneMike]

For what it's worth,and while I haven't confirmed this, it's my understanding that Ben Bowlby is an employee of Nissan.

[Speed-King]

How about a full on factory assault on the 24 hours at the 'Ring?

Nissan make a big deal out of the GT-R's 'Ring performance, RLM hold that race in very high regard and IIRC both RLM and DSC as well as the 24 hour race are sponsored by them.

[Simmi]

Originally Posted by Speed-King

How about a full on factory assault on the 24 hours at the 'Ring?

Nissan make a big deal out of the GT-R's 'Ring performance, RLM hold that race in very high regard and IIRC both RLM and DSC as well as the 24 hour race are sponsored by them.

It's an option. But it's not a 'dream' announcement as Graham sort of put it.

Plus if it was that I don't see why the WEC would be plugging it on their Twitter feeds?

[deggis]

Originally Posted by Simmi

Plus if it was that I don't see why the WEC would be plugging it on their Twitter feeds?

If this is about P1, for sure some people at FIA/ACO has to be aware of it, but the PR people behind the tweeting might not be. Also, retweeting doesn't necessarily mean anything...

[deltawing]

Originally Posted by Acid09

Oh dear, that does sound more like some one-make series silliness or something.

But why would RLM hype this up this much? .....

Maybe because it is something totally new and different, so everyone jumps on the hype wagon out of sheer excitement.... I guess we are struggling with the guess because we are moving all the pieces within the existing matrix. But perhaps what they are going to do is a combination of very new and unusual, unexpected moves and of course none of us could know about it because we just don't have the information. To connect the dots we need the dots first...

I bet once they paint the full picture in a few hours, it will be like "Ah well, if I knew X and then Y, I would have figured out right away they are going to do Z". But this is great so far - a large company is going to make big announcement and everyone is excited and is waiting for the moment, like it should be. I am glad no one spilled the beans upfront, even if I suspect when it gets real close, say couple of hours before the announcement, someone somewhere is going to "leak" it just because they can

.

[GT6]

It all adds to the sense of anticipation, which is surely what Nissan PR guys are paid to provide

[deltawing]

Originally Posted by MulsanneMike

For what it's worth,and while I haven't confirmed this, it's my understanding that Ben Bowlby is an employee of Nissan.

If true, that wold be big piece of the puzzle!

[Speed-King]

Now I am wondering if one could get the DeltaWing into Nürburgring EX-P1? Probably would need a limited run of road cars, but I think that could actually work.

[Canada ALMS fan]

Originally Posted by MulsanneMike

For what it's worth,and while I haven't confirmed this, it's my understanding that Ben Bowlby is an employee of Nissan.

This bodes well... I agree with the others, anything other than an LMP announcement would be a let down at this point.

[DS"]

I think it can only be LMP1 or GTE. As mentioned in the DTM thread, I doubt that they'll (just?) announce competition in a German touring car series in a Japanese press conference. It would be funny too see the RLM-crowd freaking out, if Nissan was just announcing a DTM programme, though.

[deggis]

Nissan live stream:

http://www.nissan-global.com/EN/NISS...torsports.html

Link was here: http://www.nissan-live.com/nismoglobal/

[deltawing]

They keep using "The Next Generation Of Performance" and that could be another hint. IF we assume the words are used correctly, "Next Generation" is a strong statement that should mean something really new and different, not just another house making an LMP1 car and competing with the rest following existing rules...

[deggis]

Originally Posted by deltawing

They keep using "The Next Generation Of Performance" and that could be another hint. IF we assume the words are used correctly, "Next Generation" is a strong statement that should mean something really new and different, not just another house making an LMP1 car and competing with the rest following existing rules...

It may be a hint towards road cars, I think this is meaningless. Every manufacturer wants to give the image that their tech is more next-gen than the their competitors'.

[Acid09]

Well a 2014-spec LMP1 is per definition "next generation".