De Oliveira, Picariello in Frame for Nissan GT500 Seats

Joao Paulo de Oliveira and Alessio Picariello have emerged as candidates for drives in the Nissan GT500 stable for the 2024 SUPER GT season.

Sportscar365 understands both de Oliviera and Picariello will be among five drivers to test the Nissan Z GT500 car in the marque’s annual ‘shootout’ test at Fuji Speedway on Monday.

The others are Sacha Fenestraz, who represents Nissan in Formula E, Teppei Natori and Atsushi Miyake.

Nissan traditionally holds a one-day test at Fuji the day after the NISMO Festival, which took place on Sunday, to help inform the brand’s driver choices for the following season.

The Yokohama-based manufacturer has eight seats up for grabs across four cars and has been tipped to undertake a significant reshuffle for 2024.

At least two seats are likely to be available with both of the drivers of the No. 24 Kondo Racing Z, Daiki Sasaki and Kohei Hirate, looking set to exit.

De Oliveira has emerged as a candidate to move back up to the GT500 ranks after four seasons representing Nissan in the lower GT300 category for the past four seasons, earning two titles in that time.

The Brazilian veteran was previously a long-time fixture of the Nissan GT500 camp until he was dropped after the 2018 season.

Picariello, 30, meanwhile is set to drive a GT500 car for the first time in Monday’s test, having mostly driven Porsche GTE and GT3 machinery in recent years.

He does however have two SUPER GT starts to his name, both of which came with the Hitotsuyama Audi GT300 team in 2019.

Japanese duo Natori and Miyake were both part of Nissan’s 2022 shootout test, although neither were selected as GT500 drivers as the marque elected for an unchanged lineup.

Natori in particular has been regarded as a strong candidate to make the move up to the top class for some time after an impressive first campaign in the Nissan GT300 fold alongside de Oliveira this season.

Fenestraz, a GT500 race winner with Toyota in 2022, will sample the Z for the first time on Monday after attending the NISMO Festival in his capacity as a Nissan Formula E driver.

The Franco-Argentine driver is not thought to be in contention for a race seat due to numerous clashes with his Formula E program, but his experience of Bridgestone tires is considered valuable to evaluate the other candidates.

It looks virtually certain that three of the four Nissan GT500 cars will run on Bridgestones next year following Michelin’s decision to exit SUPER GT’s top class.

The Kondo Racing car meanwhile will continue to run on Yokohamas.