NISMO Boss Has Faith in “Clever” Newcomer Miyake

The boss of Nissan’s SUPER GT program has backed new signing Atsushi Miyake to get “better and better” in his first season driving for the flagship NISMO team.

Miyake will make his GT500 debut this year as he partners Mitsunori Takaboshi aboard the No. 3 NISMO NDDP Z, stepping up from the GT300 division.

The 25-year-old first tested Nissan GT500 machinery as part of Nissan’s audition test at Fuji Speedway back in 2021, and developed his links with the marque further driving a prototype version of the Nissan Z GT4 in the second-tier Super Taikyu series.

At the same time, he was competing with Toyota GT300 squad Max Racing in SUPER GT, but the Tetsuya Tanaka-run outfit was forced to withdraw from the championship when its GR Supra was heavily damaged in a fire mid-season at Fuji Speedway.

Nissan’s SUPER GT executive director Motohiro Matsumura is confident Miyake can repay the faith that the marque has shown in him by placing him in the two-car factory NISMO squad for his debut season.

“Miyake-san has some experience of driving with us in the GT4 car in Super Taikyu, so we have a long history of communicating with each other,” Matsumura told Sportscar365.

“He had a contract in GT300 to drive [with Max Racing] under [Tetsuya] Tanaka-san. After, he lost that opportunity to drive in GT300, so that’s why we offered [him a drive].

“It’s my impression that he is a very clever sort of driver. To raise the short-run [pace] takes a bit of time, he is carefully monitoring the handling characteristics of the car.

“It may look from the outside that there are some gaps, but we trust his capabilities and I think he will get better and better.”

Miyake’s promotion to a drive at NISMO followed another outing in last December’s audition test at Fuji, where he is said to have been the fastest of the newcomers.

Among the other drivers in action that day were Teppei Natori, who was given a GT500 drive with Kondo Racing, and Alessio Picariello, who ultimately elected to focus on his commitments for Porsche instead of pursuing a SUPER GT opportunity.

Matsumura wouldn’t be drawn on Picariello’s chances of being part of NISMO’s plans in the future, but said he was impressed by the Belgian driver.

“This is just my impression, but I think he has big potential,” said Matsumura. “That’s it.”

On the change in name from ‘NDDP Racing’ to ‘NISMO NDDP’ for the No. 3 car, Matsumura said Nissan wanted to maintain a link to its driver development program while emphasizing more strongly that NISMO is running two cars.

“Both cars are NISMO, but we feel the younger team members should be placed in NDDP,” he explained. “So it has just a light meaning.”

Matsumura Wary of Toyota Strength In Testing

Nissan is going into the new season with a revised aerodynamic package based on the latest Z NISMO road car as it aims to avenge last year’s narrow defeat to Toyota.

However, Matsumura was reluctant to offer any indication of where the 2024-spec Z stands in relation to the upgraded Toyota GR Supra, which has topped the timesheets in most of the tests during the off-season, and the all-new Honda Civic Type R-GT.

“The new body shape is a big reset,” said Matsumura. “Nobody knows their actual competitiveness compared to their rivals. I can’t expect anything at this moment.

“We’ve had a lot of rainy days [during testing], so I couldn’t confirm everything. We are hoping for a good result, but we still need to continue monitoring the details. At this moment, and No. 36 and No. 14 [TOM’S and Rookie Toyotas] are very quick.”

Leading the Nissan charge in both official pre-season tests was the flagship No. 23 NISMO Z, in which Katsumasa Chiyo has taken over as the number one driver alongside four-time GT500 champion Ronnie Quintarelli.

While Matsumura is confident in Chiyo’s abilities as the team’s lead driver after two impressive seasons in the No. 3 NDDP car, he is keen not to place too much pressure on the 37-year-old’s shoulders.

“It’s something true and something different,” he said. “It’s a good challenge [for him], but I don’t want to aggressively consider that he needs to lead the team. It’s not such a good thing that he pressurizes himself.

“We consider it a good balance to team him up with Ronnie; they can support each other. Teamwork is the most important thing. Placing the burden on him is not so good.”