Nissan: Suzuka a ‘have to-decide’ drag after Fuji engine blow-up

The Yokohama marque’s hopes of a most valuable GT500 title since 2015 took a blow in final week’s Fuji 500km Golden Week traditional as the #23 GT-R shared by Ronnie Quintarelli and Tsugio Matsuda suffered a spectacular blow-up at the birth of the third lap of the 110-lap contest.

It technique Quintarelli and Matsuda head to Suzuka later this month with out a aspects on the board, after they had been eliminated from the opening spherical at Okayama in an accident.

That does mean on the opposite hand they would also be carrying no success ballast at a video display where the GT-R earned each and every of its victories in 2020.

NISMO COO Motohiro Matsumura admits that this can also additionally be needed for Quintarelli and Matsuda to grab serve of this challenge to live serious contenders for this twelve months’s championship.

“Fortunately, or sadly, the #23 automobile has no ballast, so we can possess same stipulations to final twelve months [before Suzuka Round 3],” Matsumura told Motorsport.com. “If it’s conceivable to utilise our aerodynamic character, I strongly hope we can repeat final twelve months’s decide.”

Requested if the drag can also additionally be realizing of as ‘have to-decide’ for Nissan’s title hopes, Matsumura spoke back: “Sadly, Suzuka is simplest on the calendar as soon as this twelve months, so if truth be told.”

Matsumura talked about it used to be too early to be particular of the actual clarification for the #23 automobile’s engine failure, but denied any suggestions that the NISMO machine used to be ‘grew to alter into up’ greater than the varied three GT-Rs within the GT500 class, which all made it to the operate of the Fuji drag safely.

“I wonder if some electrical concern can also simply possess impacted operation of the and brought on an irregular concern since the varied Nissans possess performed with out engine anxiousness,” he talked about. “Nonetheless anyway, we possess now to research. 

“All four autos are producing the identical horsepower, there may per chance be now not any low tuning, but I declare unexpected things can happen. I don’t judge there may per chance be any in vogue or particular concern. We want to research the particular environmental stipulations of the #23 automobile on that lap.”

Over all all over again, Nissan’s top finisher at Fuji used to be the #3 NDDP/B-Max automobile of Katsumasa Chiyo and Kohei Hirate in fifth place – albeit over 30 seconds down on the leading four autos.

#3 CRAFTSPORTS MOTUL GT-R

Photo by: Masahide Kamio

Matsumura talked about the consequence used to be roughly basically basically based on its expectations around a video display that would now not favour the GT-R.

“In qualifying, the [best] sector cases of the #3 automobile had been exactly the identical as the #23 automobile with the identical tyre, so that they had the doable to be within the identical place of residing [P7],” talked about Matsumura.

“When in comparison with final twelve months at Fuji, the discrepancy to our competitors used to be much less. Nonetheless the aerodynamics had been frozen for this twelve months, so the video display is still now now not suiting the traits of our automobile.

“At Fuji, P5-P7 is in regards to the anticipated consequence. We can verify there has been some growth, and the important thing enchancment level from final twelve months is the fuel financial system, but our competitors possess additionally stepped forward.”

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