Moffat Leads Nissan’s Lineup for 24H Dubai

Photo: Nissan

The driver that took Nissan back to victory lane in V8 Supercars competition is set to lead the Japanese manufacturer’s effort in the upcoming 24 Hours of Dubai.

Nissan announced Friday that James Moffat will make his international racing debut next month, piloting a Nissan 370Z Nismo as part of the automaker’s global exchange program.

The 29-year-old Australian will be joined by former F1 and FIA WEC driver Karun Chandhok, LMP2 racer Tor Graves, Middle Eastern GT Academy winner Salman Al Khater and South African GT Academy winner Ashley Oldfield in the No. 126 RJN Motorsport entry, which will be fighting for SP2 class honors in the around-the-clock enduro.

“We’ve been fortunate to race our regular V8 Supercars in different parts of the world, but this will be a totally new and different experience for me in the 370Z Nismo,” Moffat said. “I’ve also never raced in a 24 Hour event before, so that will be a new challenge – adapting to a new car, around a foreign track and racing in the dark!

“I’m looking forward to being a part of the Nismo Global Driver Exchange program, and we’ll be aiming to finish as high as we can in Dubai.”

Moffat gave the new-for-2013 Nissan Altima its first V8 Supercars victory in August at Winton Raceway. It marked the manufacturer’s first major win in Australia in more than two decades.

“Australian James Moffat has impressed me this year in the competitive V8 Supercars Championship, not only with his win, but his speed and application across the season. I am very pleased that we can now offer him this chance on the world stage,” said Nissan Global Motorsport Director Darren Cox.

Nissan also confirmed Friday the lineup for RJN’s second 370Z Nismo for Dubai, with inaugural GT Academy winner Lucas Ordonez being joined by Miguel Faisca, Florian Strauss, Nick McMillen and Stansislav Aksenov.

More than 80 cars are expected for the 24 Hours of Dubai on Jan. 10-11.

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John