2012 Nissan DeltaWing

NISSAN BACKS GROUND-BREAKING DELTAWING PROJECT FOR LE MANS

Nissan DeltaWing experimental racecar to be powered by Nissan 1.6-litre DIG-T engine technology in this generation's most revolutionary and exciting motorsport project•Nissan leads efficiency charge as founding partner of project
•Innovative new racing car to run at Le Mans with Nissan technology
•Nissan DeltaWing will act as test bed for new road car technologies
•Drive for efficiency will see car use half the fuel of its conventional counterparts, bringing Nissan 'PureDrive' principles to the track
•Initial backers include racing legends Dan Gurney and Don Panoz, concept designer Ben Bowlby and Michelin
•Special invitation from ACO to occupy ‘Garage 56'
•Car to wear number ‘0' and run outside race classification
Nissan is aiming to change the face of endurance racing forever by becoming a founding partner in the most radical motorsport project of its time - Nissan DeltaWing.

A highly-advanced and hugely-efficient Nissan engine will power the remarkable DeltaWing car as it races in anger for the first time at the legendary Le Mans 24 Hours (16-17 June).

While Nissan DeltaWing will not be classified in the 2012 Le Mans 24 Hours, the Company is looking to showcase the pioneering technology that will show one potential direction for the future of motorsport and will feed into the research and development of future technologies, that filter down to Nissan's road car product range.

A race-prepared 1.6-litre four-cylinder engine, featuring direct petrol injection and a turbocharger, will power Nissan DeltaWing, which is half the weight and has half the aerodynamic drag of a conventional racer.

With innovation at its core, Nissan was a natural partner to be invited into the DeltaWing family by the existing group of core partners - ÚS-domiciled British designer Ben Bowlby, American motorsport entrepreneur Don Panoz, the All-American Racers organization of former ÚS Formula 1 driver Dan Gurney, Duncan Dayton's two-time championship-winning Highcroft Racing team and Michelin Tyres North America.

The engine, badged DIG-T (Direct Injection Gasoline - Turbocharged), is expected to produce around 300hp, sufficient to give Nissan DeltaWing lap times between LMP1 and LMP2 machines at Le Mans, despite having only half the power of those conventional prototypes. It features the same technology found in Nissan road cars, such as the range-topping Nissan Juke DIG-T.

'As motor racing rulebooks have become tighter over time, racing cars look more and more similar and the technology used has had less and less relevance to road car development. Nissan DeltaWing aims to change that and we were an obvious choice to become part of the project,' said Andy Palmer, Executive Vice President, Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.

'But this is just the start of our involvement. Nissan DeltaWing embodies a vast number of highly-innovative ideas that we can learn from. At the same time, our engineering resources and commitment to fuel efficiency leadership via our PureDrive strategy will help develop DeltaWing into a testbed of innovation for Nissan'.

'This announcement gives Nissan the opportunity to become part of a ground-breaking motorsport project and one which could shape the future of the sport,' he added.

Nissan DeltaWing concept originator and designer, Briton Ben Bowlby, said: 'Nissan has provided us with our first choice engine. It's a spectacular piece. We've got the engine of our dreams: it's the right weight, has the right power and it's phenomenally efficient.'

Nissan DeltaWing is unlike any other racing car currently on track. The driver sits well back in the car, almost over the rear axle and looks ahead down a long, narrow fuselage to narrow twin front tyres, specially created for the car by tyre partner Michelin. With a rear-mounted engine, the car has a strong rearward weight bias, which makes it highly manoeuvrable, while its light weight and slippery shape make it far more efficient.

Its innovative design and forward-looking technology have encouraged the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO), the organisers of the famous Le Mans 24 Hours, to invite the car to run in this year's race from ‘Garage 56', the spot in the pitlane reserved for experimental cars. As it doesn't conform to any existing championship regulations, Nissan DeltaWing will not be eligible to challenge for silverware and will carry the race number ‘0'.

Nissan's expertise has been applied to the development of the engine, in order to make it light and efficient enough to prove the philosophy behind the concept can work in ‘real-world' motor racing. The Company, always among the first to embrace such radical ideas and surprising new performance innovations, has promised to apply key learnings from the experience to inform strategies for its PureDrive aerodynamics and efficiency package for road cars, as well as its overall research & development programmes.

Dan Gurney's legendary All American Racers organization has built the DeltaWing. The new car continues the California organisation's incredible legacy as a race car constructor which has included 157 different cars built - earning major victories in Formula 1, sportscars and the Indianapolis 500.

Paul Willcox, Senior Vice President, Nissan in Europe, said: 'Nissan is a very innovative, forward-thinking company prepared to take a risk or two. And exactly the same applies to Nissan DeltaWing. Our involvement in the project shows the boldness of Nissan from an engineering and innovation mindset.'

The first two Nissan DeltaWing drivers to be confirmed are British Sportscar racer Marino Franchitti and Nissan's reigning FIA GT1 World Champion Michael Krumm. The car will make its first public demo laps at Sebring, Florida, at 12.30pm local time on Thursday, March 15.

Source - Nissan

Nissan DeltaWing Development Film Series Kicks Off

Wind Tunnel Testing - Part 1 of 'Behind the Scenes' Story Showing Development of Experimental Le Mans Car
First Nissan DeltaWing development film unveiled
Video series to tell 'behind-the-scenes' story of revolutionary car's challenging journey on the road to Le Mans 24 Hours debut
European based testing to begin next week

With European testing due to kick off next week for the Nissan DeltaWing, a new online film series highlighting the development of the revolutionary Le Mans 24 Hours entry was launched today.

Commissioned by Nissan and hosted at the Nissan in Europe YouTube page, the multi-part series will highlight different aspects of the car's development and show the challenges of getting such an innovative project to its current stage and the huge task the team faces to finish the Le Mans 24 hours.

As it did with its similarly innovative Juke-R project, Nissan is breaking new ground in the way it makes the development process behind its highest-profile campaigns as accessible as possible.

New episodes of the film series will be launched roughly every two weeks between now and Le Mans and will culminate in a TV documentary, which will air after the endurance classic in June.

A Nissan film crew has followed the development of the unique racer, filming every move of Nissan DeltaWing designer Ben Bowlby and his engineering team as they have built the car, as well as recording how Nissan's 1.6-liter DIG-T engine has been developed to be the ideal partner engine for the project.

When the car races at Le Mans it will be thanks to a number of key partners in the project. In addition to Nissan and Bowlby, project managing partner Don Panoz has been key to the car's development, Dan Gurney and his All-American Racers organization has built the prototype car in California and Duncan Dayton's Highcroft Racing outfit and Michelin have also been heavily involved.

The first video in the series highlights the wind tunnel work on the car, carried out at the Windshear facility in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Ben Bowlby said: 'We've had the Nissan film crew following our every move throughout the development of the car over the past few months and this will give the fans a great insight into the creation of the Nissan DeltaWing.

'It was a bit strange at first to have a camera poked under our nose all the time but, after a while, the guys really felt like part of the team.

'The finished product will be brilliant for the fans to get to see what goes on behind the scenes in the creation a project as unique as the Nissan DeltaWing.

'The wind tunnel work in particular was a key component of the project. The data we had from the scale model development and what our computer simulations told us showed we were moving in the right direction.

'Getting the full-sized car in the wind tunnel really cemented that. In fact, the final results actually exceeded our expectations.'

Darren Cox, General Manager, Nissan in Europe, said: 'As soon as Nissan's involvement with the DeltaWing project began and long before it was announced, we wanted to make sure that the challenge of bringing such a revolutionary car to the race track was properly recorded.

'This is an innovative project that could change the face of motorsport and the fans should be shown the full story. Too often motorsport development is hidden away and kept secret. Nissan want to make this exciting part of the sport accessible. These films will give some insight into the very steep learning curve the team faces to even get to the Le Mans 24 Hours.'

To watch the series of films, visit http://www.youtube.com/user/nissanineurope

Source - Nissan

Nissan Names Japanese GT Ace Motoyama as Third DeltaWing Driver

• NISMO legend joins Nissan's experimental Le Mans project

• Japanese Satoshi Motoyama to team up with Marino Franchitti and Michael Krumm at the wheel of hugely-innovative motorsport concept

• Second ÚK test at Snetterton provides Motoyama's first taste of Nissan DeltaWing racing car

• Second in 'behind the scenes' series of films shows development of engine

• View at http://www.facebook.com/NissanSportsCars

Nissan and NISMO have announced that their Japanese Super GT star, Satoshi Motoyama, will be the third driver in the ground-breaking Nissan DeltaWing Le Mans 24 Hours race car.

NISMO driver and triple Super GT champion, Motoyama, will join Briton Marino Franchitti and German Michael Krumm, who won the 2003 JGTC (currently SÚPER GT) title with Motoyama.

The Nissan DeltaWing is an experimental project that aims to change the face of endurance racing by attempting to complete the famous French round-the-clock race using half the fuel and half the tyres.

Motoyama got his first taste of the innovative Nissan DeltaWing car at Snetterton circuit in Norfolk, ÚK, yesterday and will now work with the rest of the team as it continues its challenging journey to Le Mans on June 16/17.

Motoyama said: 'I am very excited about joining the Nissan DeltaWing project for this year's Le Mans 24 Hours and would like to thank Nissan, NISMO and the other DeltaWing partners for giving me this great opportunity.



'Nissan DeltaWing is very innovative and beyond any racing technical regulations; we will run in the discretionary 'Garage 56' class at Le Mans, where no classification will be given. But there will be no disappointment and compromise, since our aim for this project is to prove this innovative racing technology and demonstrate the future of motorsports. It will be a truly challenging and exciting experience for me and the team.

'Along with Michael Krumm, my fellow partner in SÚPER GT and Marino Franchitti, I am really looking forward to driving the car at Le Mans, and showing everyone what Nissan DeltaWing can do. As usual, I appreciate all the support from great fans.'

The experimental nature of the Nissan DeltaWing project presents an enormous challenge to the engineering team. A group of key partners, comprising designer Ben Bowlby, American motorsport entrepreneur Don Panoz, Dan Gurney's All-American Racers organization and Duncan Dayton's Highcroft Racing team, created the fascinating DeltaWing prototype.

It is now down to the full Nissan DeltaWing team to attempt to take the car through the world's most grueling 24-hour race, using Nissan's specially-developed 1.6-litre DIG-T engine, just 101 days after the car hit the race track for the very first time.

The second in a multi-part series of 'behind-the-scenes' films charting the huge task facing the engineering team has been released at http://www.facebook.com/NissanSportsCars.

Motoyama is a long-time Nissan driver, having first raced for the manufacturer in 1996. He has won more SÚPER GT championship titles, race wins and series points than any other driver in the history of the category. He currently shares the NISMO #23 Nissan GT-R with his DeltaWing team-mate, Michael Krumm.

Shoichi Miyatani, President of Nissan Motorsports International Co. Ltd (NISMO), said: 'I am even more excited about the Nissan DeltaWing program now that Satoshi Motoyama and Michael Krumm, the two best racers from the current Nissan NISMO SÚPER GT squad, will drive the most innovative and exciting car at the French classic.



Darren Cox, General Manager, Nissan in Europe, said: 'I am proud to welcome Motoyama-san to our team. The addition of Motoyama-san continues to show the international nature of this project - the prototype was developed in the ÚSA; Nissan's lead engineer is a Brazilian; testing and development work has taken place in the ÚK, with French, German and Scottish drivers doing the initial testing; the equally innovative tyres will come from France and now we have a top Japanese driver and extended support from NISMO in Japan.'

Don Panoz, Managing Partner, DeltaWing - Project 56, said: 'We are very proud of our association with Nissan in the upcoming presentation of this high-technology assault on the Le Mans 24 Hours. Nissan has a great reputation as an innovator in the auto industry, and its participation with its drivers is very welcome.

'We are thrilled to welcome Motoyama-san to our driver line-up for Le Mans. He is massively experienced and, given the fact he is already working with Michael Krumm in SÚPER GT in Japan, it makes for a perfect fit.'

Nissan DeltaWing's testing in the ÚK comes to an end today, with the team learning more about the radical car, but continuing to fight against its biggest enemy - time. The short testing window continues in France and Spain next month, before closing when it joins its fellow Le Mans 24 Hour entrants at the official ACO pre-Le Mans test on June 3.

To keep abreast of the full story behind the innovative technology powering Nissan DeltaWing, catch the forthcoming episodes from the series of films at http://www.facebook.com/NissanSportsCars.

Source - Nissan

Nissan Ready to Bring the True Spirit of Le Mans to Life

• Experimental Nissan DeltaWing harks back to the early pioneers of Le Mans and heralds a new dawn for endurance racing

• Nissan power chosen by a quarter of the entire Le Mans field for 2012

• Nissan partnership with Ministry of Sound ensures full weekend of party atmosphere for 250,000 fans

• Showcasing exciting new technology with Juke-R and brand new Juke Nismo points to bright future for Nissan sports pedigree

Nissan is set to dominate this year's Le Mans 24 Hours on June 16/17 both on and off the track as it seeks to evoke the original spirit of the famous endurance race.

Whether it is the pioneering, experimental Nissan DeltaWing racing car, which aims to change the face of motorsport by proving the viability of new, efficiency-driven technology, or Nissan's dominance of the LMP2 class, where 13 of 20 cars have made the Company's powerplant the engine of choice, Nissan's on-track presence will be unmissable.

But away from the racetrack, Nissan will also have fan abundance of entertainment for the 250,000 fans that flock to La Sarthe every year.

New product offerings in the form of the acclaimed Juke-R and the forthcoming Juke Nismo will excite petrolheads, while the promise of the ultimate Le Mans party atmosphere is provided by Nissan's partnership with the iconic Ministry of Sound organization, which will provide DJs for the main stage in the Nissan-sponsored Le Mans Village.

Paul Willcox, Senior Vice President, Nissan in Europe, said: 'The 2012 Le Mans 24 Hours will be Nissan's biggest yet - everything we are doing at La Sarthe this year illustrates how Nissan is the boldest, most innovative manufacturer and, moreover, how we are taking an exciting, different approach to this most famous of motor racing events.

'On-track, Nissan will be the story of the race - the radical Nissan DeltaWing, as an experimental concept, harks back to the original motor racing trailblazers of the 1920s who first set out to go as fast as possible for as long as possible. Those pioneers changed the face of motorsport and, while we can't win with the Nissan DeltaWing because it sits outside the regulations, we can't lose either - the huge strides it will help us make in terms of future motorsport and road car innovations means Nissan has won before the race even starts.'

Nissan's innovation and engineering excellence extends to the LMP2 class of the race, expected to be the most hotly-contested category, where more than half of the field will be powered by Nissan engines and where the first two graduates of the Nissan-backed GT Academy initiative will be vying for class victory.

Spaniard, Lucas Ordonez and Frenchman, Jordan Tresson, were the first two champions, in 2008 and 2010 respectively, of the unique scheme, which has made motorsport careers a reality for Playstation 3 gamers. Ordonez finished second in LMP2 in his Le Mans debut last year and hopes to go one better in 2012, racing alongside ex-Formula One driver, Martin Brundle and his son, Alex, in the 2011 LMP2 class-winning Greaves Motorsport team. Meanwhile Tresson makes his La Sarthe bow in the all-French Signatech Nissan squad.

Off-track, Nissan is determined to make Le Mans 2012 the biggest motorsport bash of the year for the thousands of fans.

A partnership with the Ministry of Sound brand will see one of the organization's top DJs take to the main stage in the Le Mans Village on Saturday night, after the bands have finished their sets. Meanwhile, a specially-built concept version of the Nissan Juke, dubbed the Juke Box, will be touring the vast Le Mans site all weekend, stopping at campsites and bringing the MoS party to every corner of La Sarthe.

Elsewhere, the very latest in Nissan's sports hardware will be on display for fans to get up close to - the Juke-R concept, received so well when it made its global debut in Dubai in January that Nissan has agreed to a limited build of 23 cars, will join the very first production version of the Juke Nismo as a static display in the Village and will also take part in the Driver's Parade in central Le Mans on Friday, June 15.

The first in a new range of cars to bear the enigmatic Nismo badge, the muscular Juke Nismo will be launched fully in early 2013 and will see Nismo's legendary performance DNA transferred from racetrack to the road.

'Le Mans isn't just about the racing,' says Willcox. 'A quarter of a million people come here every year because of the unique festival atmosphere. No manufacturer will have done more to cater for the fans at Le Mans this year than Nissan - whether they want to see good, old-fashioned pushing of the boundaries on-track, mind-blowing innovation unlike any they will have seen before or simply the ultimate motorsport party, Nissan will have provided it.'

Nissan's display of new products will be on display at the Le Mans Village, while visitors can also get more information from Nissan's media hub; both are situated close to the Tunnel Nord in the Village.

Even race fans who are not able to make the pilgrimage to La Sarthe will be catered for by Nissan, which will also attempt a world first by recording a crowd-sourced film of the Nissan DeltaWing's very first lap under race conditions at the start of the Le Mans 24 Hours on Saturday, June 16. Úsing spectators sourced via Nissan's social media channels, visitors will be asked to submit smartphone videos of the DeltaWing machine passing their vantage point around the 13km circuit. These will then be stitched together to show most, if not all, of the radical car's first lap.

Source - Nissan

AN AWESOME AFTERNOON IN ATLANTA FOR NISSAN

History was made in Atlanta this weekend when Nissan DeltaWing scored its first ever race finish, taking fifth place overall in the gruelling 1000-mile Petit Le Mans race, despite starting from the back of the grid of 42 endurance racers. The 2012 race produced an incredible run of results for Nissan as the final round of the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) also settled the scores in the European Le Mans Series (ELMS). Nissan-powered teams took first, second and third place in the ELMS LMP2 Championship, underlining another season of domination by the Nismo-tuned Nissan VK45DE V8 engine.

Nissan DeltaWing actually had a relatively quiet race compared to the drama of the preceding days. The pioneering car was rather rudely ejected from Wednesday's test session when it was struck by a GTC class Porsche, which also went on to hit the Championship-leading Muscle Milk car during the race itself. The 'Attacked in Atlanta' video has generated over 700,000 views on You Tube already, showing that the Nissan DeltaWing has lost none of its popularity since Le Mans.

The race was on to fix the car in time for further practice sessions on Thursday and in true endurance style Nissan DeltaWing was soon back in action and ready for Petit Le Mans, which really is a mini-Le Mans 24 Hours on every level.

'What I am most pleased about is that while the car obviously passed all the virtual and actual FIA crash tests prior to running at Le Mans,' said Nissan's Darren Cox. We've unfortunately tested the car in real world incidents twice now and in both cases the car has done it job in protecting the driver. We'd rather not do it again but we've certainly shown the concept works and it is very safe.'

Despite qualifying with a time fast enough for the top 10, Nissan DeltaWing was relegated to the back of the grid for the start of the race. The organisers deemed that the car should start from the back as it was an unclassified entry. While this may sound fair, the reality is that it puts the car in danger again as it has to pass the entire GT field in the opening laps and also suffers in any early safety car periods. With Wednesday's all-nighter fresh in their minds the team was keen that no more damage should be done!

There was no need to worry though as Nissan DeltaWing breezed through the 1000-mile Petit Le Mans, taking fifth place overall in the tough 10-hour race. Both Lucas Ordonez and Gunnar Jeannette excelled themselves, putting in clean and fast stints throughout and delivered the first race finish for the headline-grabbing car.

The opening stints were a thrill for the team who watched Gunnar climb from the 42nd place right up to eighth, then watched Lucas triple-stint his way to third. Nissan DeltaWing features half the weight, half the horsepower and half the aerodynamic drag of a typical Le Mans sportscar so it was no surprise to then see Gunnar complete a quadruple stint without changing tyres!

'This has been an incredible journey for me,' commented Lucas after the race. 'Every time I race for Nissan they give me new challenges and I think this was the biggest one yet. It certainly felt like a huge responsibility but it was also a great deal of fun. The car was fantastic to drive, Michelin did a great job with the tyres and we've been working really hard on developing the entire package. We've shown everyone in motorsport that the car is really strong and fast. I'm really proud to cross the line at the finish and I'm now ready to celebrate with the guys.'

The European Le Mans Series LMP2 title went to TDS Racing, the strong French team that took pole position and victory at round one and never looked back. Oak Racing grabbed the runner up spot when a recurring starter problem ended their fight for the title, despite the team starting so well by grabbing pole position for the race. Last year's champions Greaves Motorsport had to settle for third place in the championship after recovering to fifth place at Petit Le Mans after early race contact and a gearbox problem forced them into fight back mode for the rest of the race. Joining them for this race to fill Lucas' seat was Nissan's Alex Buncombe:

'It has been an amazing experience doing Petit Le Mans with Greaves,' said Alex. 'It's such a shame we had the gearbox problem in the race as we had a great handling car. Tom (Kimber-Smith) and Alex (Brundle) both drove a great race, and Tom was very unlucky to get taken off at turn one in the first hour. It has been a pleasure to drive for the team and I'm so pleased to have been able to help them secure third place in the ELMS championship.'



'The greatest pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do'

Source - Nissan

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED: PETIT LE MANS TOP FIVE

Mission accomplished! The Nissan DeltaWing had one goal entering its North American debut at Petit Le Mans - score a race finish.

The team not only completed the 1000 mile journey at Road Atlanta today, but American Gunnar Jeannette and Spaniard Lucas Ordoñez demonstrated stunning pace throughout the race to finish fifth in the endurance classic.

Running unclassified as an invitational entry for the final round of the American Le Mans Series, the Nissan DeltaWing team were forced to start off the back of the grid and subsequently lost additional track position by missing out on a number safety car 'wave arounds' throughout the race.

The unique 1.6 liter Nissan DIG-T turbochaged-powered machine eventually crossed the line three laps down from the P2 class winning car.

Jeannette started the race for the Nissan DeltaWing squad and immediately began a charge through the pack - passing eight cars on the opening lap.

By the time he handed over to Ordoñez, the No.0 car had moved up to eigth position out of the 42 car field. The Spaniard took over and completed a triple stint - handing back to Jeannette from third place overall.

The Michelin tire-equipped Nissan DeltaWing continued to show incredible endurance when Jeannette returned to the wheel - this time completing a quadruple stint without changing tires.

Ordoñez took over for the final 110 laps - bringing the car across the line in sixth place. The team gained a further position after the checkered flag when a P2 car was excluded due to a driver exceeding the maximum drive time permitted.

Today's performance was made even more remarkably considering the team had to completely rebuild the car on Wednesday after Jeannette was forced into a dramatic roll-over in testing when he was struck by a GTC-class Porsche. Click the header graphic above to view a time lapse of the rebuild.

Featuring half the weight, half the horsepower and half the aerodynamic drag of a typical Le Mans sportscar, the Nissan DeltaWing captured the imagination of fans and media alike at its race debut at this year's 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Sadly, the car was forced out after six hours due to contact with another prototype. This established a target for the Nissan DeltaWing team for Petit Le Mans.

Just getting to the race finish was that target - one that was achieved with flying colors.

LÚCAS ORDOÑEZ
'It was a great job by all the team and everyone has worked so hard all week.

'There has been so much work put into developing this car and then after the crash this week made for even more work.

'We've now crossed the finish line in a 10 hour race. Gunnar did an amazing job during his stints and I was able to be consistent and show good pace.

'The car was fantastic to drive, Michelin did a great job with the tires and we've been working really hard on developing the entire package.

'We've shown everyone in motorsport that the car is really strong and fast. We're here with a new concept of half the weight, half the power and half the aerodynamic drag - but with pace that is very comparable to the P2 cars.

'I'm really proud to cross the line at the finish and I'm now ready to celebrate with the guys.'

GÚNNAR JEANNETTE


'I'm very happy where we ended up but it would have been nice to be running as an official entry and not gotten so many P2 cars waved by us under yellow, especially after we started at the back.

'We showed what we were capable of today and we certainly made a lot of people happy to see the car run.

'I've seen Ben (Bowlby) smile a lot with this program over the past few weeks but I've never seen him smile this big as he is right now.'

BEN BOWLBY - NISSAN DELTAWING


'It is amazing what has happed in 12 months. This was our goal to finish our first endurnace race.

'This is the first one we've finished and it is only our second race.

'The guys did an incredible job. Gunnar and Lucas were awsome and they drove drove its guts out.

'In fact, if you look at the lack of wave arounds we had we really had a very competitive race.

'It was the next step for the Nissan DeltaWing and it is still surprising us all. To have reliability like that was really quite incredible - it didn't skip a beat.'

DON PANOZ - DELTAWING RACING CARS


'I'm very proud of the what the guys achieved today because they really pulled off the perfect race.

'They kept out of trouble, stayed off the kerbs, didn't put a mark on the car, had perfect pit stops. It really was very impressive.

'The crowd reaction here at Road Atlanta was also great to see. The car was certainly an amazing favorite with huge numbers of people wanting to get a closer look - especially on the pre-race grid walk.

'There is no doubt there is certainly a lot of interest from the fans in seeing this car race again soon.'

DARREN COX - NISSAN

'It has been a short time but a long journey to see the Nissan DeltaWing achieve this result.

'We've had big challenges - the crash at Le Mans and the crash here - but everyone has always kept the faith and they've been rewarded by a great result.

'The drivers did an amazing job. There is not a mark on the car - they tip-toed through traffic but still recorded great lap times.

'We finished the race and that is what we set out to do. Mission accomplished.'

Source - Nissan

In 2012 the Nissan DeltaWing would fill the 56th garage at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, reserved for experimental vehicles. The DeltaWing features half the weight, half the horsepower and half the aerodynamic drag of a conventional Le Mans machine meaning it uses half the fuel of its competitors. This race car is generated by half the usual amount of power provided by a direct injection 1.6-liter turbocharged engine. The driver sits well back, almost over the rear axle and looks ahead down a long, narrow fuselage to narrow twin front tires - each just four inches wide, specially created for the car by tire partner Michelin. All parts, including its Nissan 1.6-liter DIG-Turbo engine - are smaller and weigh much less than traditional Le Mans machines.

The DeltaWing drivers at Le Mans were Marino Franchitti, Michael Krumm and Satoshi Motoyama. It qualified 29th with a time of 3:42.612, which was 18.825 behind the lead car. The car retired after 75 laps following an accident in which the DeltaWing ran into a concrete barrier at the Porsche Curves after a collision with Kazuki Nakajima. The DeltaWing recorded a best race lap time of 3:45.737 and turned 11 laps on one tank, that is 150 km on a 40-liter fuel tank (26.67 L/100 km or 8.82 mi/gal).

Prior to Le Mans, the DeltaWing completed its first running at the 85-mile Circuit de la Sarthe, completing 54 laps with drivers Michael Krumm, Satoshi Motoyama and Marino Franchitti at the wheel.