Despite choosing to detour the first two rounds of the World Endurance Championship, Nissan’s chief designer, Ben Bowlby was bullish about the development programme of his Le Mans challenger – the GT-R LM NISMO.
Speaking to reporters via videoconference during last weekend’s FIA WEC event, Bowlby said whilst Nissan’s delayed start (due to the failed crash test – which passed on its third attempt), the process has been more than beneficial to the team’s overall preparation.
“In order to do the best possible job, we
will do better by finishing
up our testing and development work rather than racing, which we’re not ready for”, said Bowlby.
“We’ve had to regretfully cancel the first two races to get better prepared. These cars are super challenging, that’s to be said.”
Bowlby cited refinements made to the bulkhead in the front roll-hoop, along with bonding components of the chassis resulted in the construction of two entirely new monocoques.
The other area of focus has been on the car’s hybrid system, where Bowlby admits has been a challenge.
“The hybrid system has been a massive headache,” he said. “We have potentially a massively powerful system but with great power comes with great responsibility. We are struggling quite a bit.”
While scheduled to run in the 8 MJ hybrid subclass, rumour is the 3.0-liter V6 gasoline- powered GT-R LM NISMO will resolve to run a 2 MJ system (intriguingly the lowest category available to factory LMP1 vehicles) although Bowlby admits this is not yet set in stone.
“The amount of testing we’ve done dedicated to the hybrid has far outweighed just getting on with the normal car,” he said. We designed the whole car around the hybrid system, which is basically what you need to do if you want to get to the 8 MJ class.
“In the future we hope to get the full performance out of it. But as you have to homologate for the whole year, it’s a tough one. We think we’ll be a lot better in 2016.”
It has been a learning process for Nissan, with design parameters shifting throughout the testing phase. A move from 16 to 18-inch wheels to accommodate larger brakes has also been factored in as a consequence of decreased energy recuperation (due to the smaller hybrid system).
“It’s a huge knock-on effect when you change elements of the design,” Bowlby said. “Having said that, if you switch off the hybrid system, it still works and goes very fast… Our objective is to come to Le Mans to do the best possible job we can. If we do our best, it’s a long race and it might be a surprising outcome.”
Nissan have accumulated 2,300 miles so far in testing and will continue running this week at NCM Motorsports Park in Bowling Green, Ky – a freshly constructed track with a series of corners made to replicate sections of La Sarthe.
Image: Andrew WInsall