Nissan to Skip N24; New GT-R Poised for End-of-Year VLN Debut

Photo: Nissan

Nissan will not take part in next month’s Nürburgring 24 as a factory effort, with Zakspeed revealing that it will forgo the race to prepare for the introduction of an all-new GT-R NISMO GT3 that could debut later this year.

The German squad, which joined RJN Motorsport with works-supported entries last year, has elected not to participate in the N24 or any further VLN races due to competitiveness of the current-generation GT3 car at the Nordschleife.

Zakspeed entered a Nissan in last month’s VLN season-opener, finishing 14th overall.

“In the VLN race, we gave it our all and were only 12th in practice and 4.9 seconds behind the fastest car,” said team principal Peter Zakowski.

“It’s a great pity and I’m sorry for the team and the drivers. But we have to remain realistic. In order to make up the [pace deficit], we would have to make some investments.

“We are eagerly waiting for the new-generation Nissan and are looking forward to future assignments.”

The Nurburgring 24 was not listed as part of Nissan’s global motorsport activities at the brand’s annual press conference in Yokohama in February.

Zakowski, meanwhile, indicated that the new GT-R, which was announced in February, is likely to take part in selected VLN rounds later this year, ahead of its 2018 global debut.

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