Nissan's GT-R LM Nismo Won't Appear In WEC Again This Year

The Nissan GT-R LM Nismo’s life didn’t get off to the best start, with a problematic, troublesome but not completely disastrous first race at the 24 Hours of Le Mans earlier this year.

The #22 car led the way but picked up an unclassified finish, while the #21 and #23 machines both retired. All three spent a considerable amount of time in the Nissan garage in what was essentially a very public test for the Japanese manufacturer.

Having previously announced that the FWD LMP1 car would not be competing until the technical problems were resolved, Nissan has now said the GT-R LM Nismo will not return to the FIA World Endurance Championship at all this season.

Nissan’s LMP1 car will, however, return to the FIA WEC in 2016 following a comprehensive test and development programme to prepare for the new season.

The innovative car recently completed a test at the Circuit of the Americas in Texas, with Nissan saying it went "significantly faster" than previous tests at the track, despite not running KERS and new bespoke Michelin tyre specifications.

The team has also been restructured, with Michael Carcamo being appointed Nismo team principal. He said:

"The challenge that we took on was a monumental task. We have to learn all of the dynamics of this new vehicle and all the performance tuning so it takes a long time to find the sweet spot of performance. We recognise that challenge and we’ve added the resources and infrastructure behind the programme to try and bring it to that next level."