Gainer Reveals First Glimpse of Z GT300 Car

Gainer has offered a first glimpse of how its self-constructed Nissan Z SUPER GT challenger will look by publishing renderings of its yet-to-be completed No. 11 machine.

It was announced last month that the Kyoto-based team, which until last year ran a pair of Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3s in the Japanese series, would be taking on the challenge of building its own car to GTA-GT300 regulations.

However, the car has yet to take to the track, and earlier this month it was revealed that the machine – thought to be based on Nissan’s Z GT4 racer – wouldn’t be completed in time for this weekend’s official pre-season test at Okayama International Speedway.

The No. 11 car was also absent from an entry list for next week’s second and final test at Fuji Speedway, raising question marks over whether it will be ready in time for the opening round of the season at Okayama on April 13-14.

Gainer has yet to reveal any technical details about the car, but a previous version of the Fuji entry list showed that it will use the same VR38DETT engine as the GT-R.

Difficulties in adapting the engine to the smaller body shape of the Z are believed to be one of the main reasons for the project falling behind schedule.

Gainer has retained Ryuichiro Tomita and Keishi Ishikawa, who shared the No. 11 GT-R last year, as drivers for the new machine.

As well as the new Z, Gainer is also running a Ferrari 296 GT3 this year on behalf of new entrant PONOS Racing, which will be shared by Kei Cozzolino and Lilou Wadoux.

Wadoux will be absent from the Okayama test as she is competing in the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, but is scheduled to return for next week’s second official test at Fuji.

A total of 40 cars are entered for the Okayama test, with Tsuchiya Engineering joining Gainer in skipping this weekend’s running. However, the team’s No. 25 Toyota GR Supra GT300 is scheduled to return at Fuji.