It’s less than a year since Jann Mardenborough stepped into a racing car for the very first time, and yet from the very first practice session on Thursday he looking in contention for a front row starting position.

This is also the first pole position for the Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3 car, which will also be taking part in tomorrow’s Nürburgring 24 hour race on the Nordschliefe (North Loop circuit).

Jann’s performance was even more spectacular when you consider the fact that this is the first time he has been to the Nürburgring. As the newest recruit to Nissan’s roster of GT Academy graduates, Jann has a lot to live up to and results like this are concrete proof of the success of the programme.

“Jann’s performance today was exemplary,” said GT Academy Team RJN boss, Bob Neville. “He did exactly what I would have expected from a seasoned professional. We waited a moment or two at the start of the season then sent him and he was straight on the pace. To take pole with time to spare just shows the level Jann is at now.”

“I’m feeling pretty good at the moment,” said Jann. “That’s my first ‘proper’ pole position as a professional racing driver. I had to work hard for it though. We tried a few things during free practice and going into qualifying we thought we would be okay but the car felt better than ever so I went for it!”

“The results speak for themselves,” said Darren Cox, General Manager of Nissan in Europe. “Pole position means you are the fastest amongst your peers. End of story. I think we’ve proved, yet again, that GT Academy isn’t just a marketing activity or a reality show. It’s the real thing and it finds real talent.”

The race starts later today at 1630hrs CET and you can follow Jann’s progress on Nissan Motorsport’s official Twitter account – @Nissan_OnTrack.

Don’t think you know his work? Well how about those amazing vehicles used in Disney’s movie, Tron Legacy – he designed those. Or the world’s fastest road car? Yeah, Daniel was a Senior Designer at Bugatti, so he spent a lot of time creating the form we now know as the Veyron.

In addition to complete vehicles Daniel also enjoys designing the livery of the most dramatic race cars, including last year’s F111 HRT and more recently the Lotus LMP2 challenger, run by former Hispania Racing Team Principal, Colin Kolles.

Staying faithful to both the legendary black and gold livery and the current Lotus Design, the Lotus LMP2 impresses with its functional simplicity.

“Racing is passion in every detail. One of them is how the car connects from the track to the fans. That’s the role of a livery. It’s how most people describe and remember a race car. Especially with Lotus. Endurance racing is amongst the most prestigious motorsport events, injected with a star-studded history, heroic tales and tragedies. It’s a dream coming true to be involved. We created a unique car. A beautiful Lotus,” said Simon.

He really is the master of sensationally dramatic vehicles and he makes you wonder what could be achieved if supplied with the kind of budget used to build a complete car.

* * *

Now he’s turned his hand to creating the official video for the Lotus LMP2 programme, filmed during the inaugural race of the 2012 FIA World Endurance Championship at the 12 Hours of Sebring.

The Lotus LMP2 uses the new Lola B12/80 LMP2 Coupe as its base, powered by a 3.6-litre V8 Lotus engine and compliant with the new regulations for the FIA World Endurance Championship.

The car is fitted with an Xtrac gearbox with pneumatic paddle shift system and Carbon brakes with AP Racing six-piston callipers. The complete car, including engine, weighs just 900 kg.

The car, driven by Thomas Holzer, Mirco Shultis and Luca Moro, finished in 6th place in the LMP2 category and 10th overall at the team’s very first endurance race, so clearly it’s as fast on the track as it looks on the drawing board.

Photo credits: Lotus, Daniel Simon/Cosmic Motors

More information: Lotus LMP2 website

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One of our YouTube viewers, ShizoluckyShizostar, expressed his doubts in a typically forthright manner, “So let’s leave this PR bull* to those who don’t follow racing. DW [DeltaWing] is supposed to achieve great economy by sticking a modest – in racing terms – engine into a chassis that has the aerodynamic properties of a space shuttle, and would have similar practicality on the road as a space shuttle. They achieved very low drag by sacrificing all the road relevance and losing any resemblance to a car. So, don’t tell me it’s a testbed for Nissan’s future road car developments.”

Fair point. But before we judge how successful the DeltaWing will be in meeting Nissan’s R&D objectives, it must first succeed in the environment for which it was built. The track.

So just a few days after its launch, it made its first few tentative steps in public at the venue of last weekend’s FIA World Endurance Championship opener in Sebring.

Darren Cox, from Nissan Europe, said during the team’s visit to Sebring, “We did a fan forum today and it was brilliant. I love racing in the US because it is a completely different atmosphere. The fans have shown a huge amount of interest in this car. We had lots and lots of people standing in the hot sun and nobody left – they just soaked up all the information we could give them.

“The reaction from the fans has been brilliant. When I said we were running the car tomorrow morning just before the race, all the fans gave us a round of applause.”

Marino Franchitti turned the first few laps in the 1.6 litre turbo-charged race car, followed by Michael Krumm last Saturday, however a broken driveshaft ended proceedings prematurely.

In his limited time with the car, Krumm came away impressed from the experience and looking forward to Le Mans, “It’s difficult to describe, but it was quite stable. It turns well, and it feels far more like a regular car than you’d guess from its appearance.”

‘Quite stable’ is clearly not good enough, especially when you’ve got 24 hours of flat-out driving to contend with, but the team still have 3 months to improve the DeltaWing. Thereafter the big question will be, “what happens next?”

Development of the DeltaWing has thus far been funded by Don Panoz (founder of Panoz cars and the ALMS series) together with the Highcroft Racing team, but with Nissan and Michelin on board, the additional cash and resources should move the project along more swiftly.

But what is the future of this slightly awkward-looking race car? Well Panoz is hopeful of selling cars to privateer teams competing in both the WEC and Le Mans, but this will only happen once it’s notched up some competitive outings.

The DeltaWing continues testing at Sebring during this week, then crosses the pond back to Europe as it builds up to its first race at the legendary Le Mans 24 Hours on 16th – 17th June. At the moment there is only one DeltaWing in existence, so clearly the team must build a few spares for those inevitable moments when its drivers exceed the limit.

It’s encouraging to see brands such as Nissan and Michelin choosing to get their hands dirty with such unique projects. Although whether the DeltaWing has a lifespan beyond Le Mans, will depend on how fast it is and whether it survives long enough to nurture the confidence of other race teams.

Even so, there will be some valuable lessons to learn from the unique way it drives, which at the very least will hopefully find their way onto other race cars.

You can keep an eye on the team’s progress by visiting their Facebook page.

Photo credits: Highcroft Racing, Michael Krumm

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While Nissan DeltaWing will be un-classified in the 2012 Le Mans 24 Hours and run the number “0″, the company is looking to showcase its pioneering technology and show one potential direction for the future of motorsport.

Earlier this morning, speaking to John Hindhaugh on Radio Le Mans, Nissan Europe’s Darren Cox spoke about the relevance of the DeltaWing project to ordinary road cars, accusing Formula 1 technology of being too far removed from what people in the street can relate to.

A race-prepared 1.6-litre four-cylinder engine, featuring direct petrol injection and a turbocharger, will power Nissan DeltaWing, which is half the weight and has half the aerodynamic drag of a conventional racer.

The engine, badged DIG-T (Direct Injection Gasoline – Turbocharged), is expected to produce around 300hp, sufficient to give Nissan DeltaWing lap times between LMP1 and LMP2 machines at Le Mans, despite having only half the power of those conventional prototypes. It features the same technology found in Nissan road cars, such as the range-topping Nissan Juke DIG-T.

Nissan’s drive for efficiency will see car use half the fuel of its conventional counterparts, bringing Nissan “PureDrive” principles to the track.

“As motor racing rulebooks have become tighter over time, racing cars look more and more similar and the technology used has had less and less relevance to road car development.

Nissan DeltaWing aims to change that and we were an obvious choice to become part of the project,” said Andy Palmer, Executive Vice President, Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.

“But this is just the start of our involvement. Nissan DeltaWing embodies a vast number of highly-innovative ideas that we can learn from. At the same time, our engineering resources and commitment to fuel efficiency leadership via our PureDrive strategy will help develop DeltaWing into a testbed of innovation for Nissan.”

“This announcement gives Nissan the opportunity to become part of a ground-breaking motorsport project and one which could shape the future of the sport,” he added.

The DeltaWing race car

Nissan DeltaWing is unlike any other racing car currently on track. The driver sits well back in the car, almost over the rear axle and looks ahead down a long, narrow fuselage to narrow twin front tyres, specially created for the car by tyre partner Michelin.

With a rear-mounted engine, the car has a strong rearward weight bias, which makes it highly manoeuvrable, while its light weight and slippery shape make it far more efficient.

Scottish racer Marino Franchitti will be joined by FIA GT1 World Champion Michael Krumm in the first DeltaWing car at Le Mans.

Its innovative design and forward-looking technology have encouraged the Automobile Club de l’Ouest (ACO), the organisers of the famous Le Mans 24 Hours, to invite the car to run in this year’s race from ‘Garage 56’, the spot in the pitlane reserved for experimental cars. As it doesn’t conform to any existing championship regulations, Nissan DeltaWing will not be eligible to challenge for silverware and will carry the race number ‘0’.

Nissan’s expertise has been applied to the development of the engine, in order to make it light and efficient enough to prove the philosophy behind the concept can work in ‘real-world’ motor racing.

The Company, always among the first to embrace such radical ideas and surprising new performance innovations, has promised to apply key learnings from the experience to inform strategies for its PureDrive aerodynamics and efficiency package for road cars, as well as its overall research & development programmes.

The first two Nissan DeltaWing drivers to be confirmed are British Sportscar racer Marino Franchitti and Nissan’s reigning FIA GT1 World Champion Michael Krumm. The car will make its first public demo laps at Sebring, Florida, at 12.30pm local time on Thursday, March 15.

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According to the DeltaWing project spec sheet, the engine is a 4-cylinder 1600cc liquid intercooled turbocharged engine that will produce approximately 300 horsepower at 8,000 rpm and weigh just 70kg.

The announcement made yesterday was short and suitably elusive, merely saying that “Nissan will be launching an exciting breakthrough in motorsports innovation on 13/03/2012″.

At the same time Highcroft Racing posted a message on Twitter yesterday;

“London calling. Big news coming out of the UK tomorrow. #lm24 #deltawing”

and followed up this morning with;

“More to be revealed today. Very exciting news ahead. #lm24 #deltawing”

accompanied by the following image:

Perhaps we’re jumping ahead of ourselves, however the timing of both teasers look more than just coincidence.

Scottish driver, Marino Franchitti was announced last month as the first DeltaWing driver for this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans, and said in a recent interview, “It is so different from everything I have ever seen and everything that I have known a racing car to be – my initial reaction was “what is this?” – it really takes your breath away.”

It kind of feels like when the first rear engine F1 car hit the track, or the first car with a wing, or the first ground effects car

“When you look at the people behind the program like Ben Bowlby, Don Panoz, Duncan Dayton and somebody like Dan Gurney who is a hero of mine – if they have faith in this program, then that gives me a lot of confidence.

“I am so excited about getting the opportunity to drive the car. I have no doubt in my mind that it is going to turn, but I am really looking forward to finding out how it is going to feel and how it will work as a package.

“I have nothing to compare this against. Like the car itself, I will be going in with a clean sheet of paper and will start exploring the limits.”

“It is not something that has been done before and it kind of feels like when the first rear engine F1 car hit the track, or the first car with a wing, or the first ground effects car – the DeltaWing will be so new and unique and I am really honored to be given this opportunity,” Franchitti said.

To hear the nig news first-hand, tune into Radio Le Mans TODAY at 10:50am (UK time) – 5:50am (US Eastern).

The new FIA World Endurance Championship team, based at Toyota Motorsport GmbH (TMG) in Cologne, Germany, will make its race debut on 5 May in the Six Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, which is the second round of the championship.

A driver line-up of Alex Wurz, Nicolas Lapierre and Kazuki Nakajima has already been confirmed for one car while discussions are still ongoing to finalise the driver line-up for the other. Additionally, Andrea Caldarelli, from Pescara, Italy, has joined Toyota Racing as a junior driver.

The TS030 HYBRID is Toyota’s successor to the iconic TS010 and TS020 cars which participated at Le Mans with podium success during the 1990s, with TS an acronym for ToyotaSport.

Toyota is the first manufacturer to confirm its participation in the FIA World Endurance Championship using a hybrid system, emphasising the pioneering approach to this technology which has seen more than 3.5 million Toyota hybrid vehicles sold worldwide.

The THS-R (Toyota Hybrid System – Racing) powertrain is designed to deliver maximum performance and features an all-new V8 3.4litre normally-aspirated petrol engine and hybrid system with capacitor storage developed by official team partner Nisshinbo.

The team will use the TS030 HYBRID’s first test to evaluate the merits, within the current regulations, of a front motor system produced by Aisin AW and a rear motor system developed by official team partner DENSO. Those regulations limit hybrid systems to recovering a maximum of 500kJ between braking zones whilst restricting deployment to only two wheels.

A brand new carbon fibre LMP1 chassis has been developed and produced at TMG, where the complete car was assembled for the first time in preparation for a roll-out on 11-13 January at Paul Ricard.

During an exclusive test session at the French track, which included running in darkness, the TS030 HYBRID completed several hundred kilometres, showing an impressive level of reliability and performance for this very early stage in the car’s testing programme.

Alex Wurz and Nicolas Lapierre both put the TS030 HYBRID through its paces at Paul Ricard, joined by 30-year-old Japanese driver Hiroaki Ishiura, who is a candidate to join the driver line-up at races where Toyota Racing participates with two cars.

Official partners to the Toyota Racing programme include ZENT, Aisin, Nippon Steel, Takata, Toyoda Gosei and Michelin.

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The deal sees Brundle senior reunited with Nissan, after the Englishman spearheaded its official works effort at the world’s oldest and most celebrated endurance race in 1997 with the R390 GT1.

Nissan’s R390 GT1 driven by Martin Brundle at Le Mans in 1987.

For 2012, the father and son combination will pilot the race-winning Greaves Motorsport Zytek Z11SN-Nissan sports prototype. Not only did the car take the LMP2 class win at this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans (in the hands of Karim Ojjeh, Olivier Lombard and Tom Kimber-Smith) on its way to finishing eighth overall, but victories at Le Castellet, Imola and Silverstone also saw the Nissan-engined LMP2 car capture both the 2011 Le Mans Series drivers’ and team titles.

After enjoying a successful Formula One career spanning 13 years (1984-96), Martin Brundle has remained in the sport as a highly-regarded and multi award-winning commentator.

Martin Brundle winning at Le Mans in 1990 with Tom Walkinshaw’s Silk Cut Jaguar team.

Joining him in the driver’s line-up for the 80th running of the race will be his 21-year old son Alex.

As the leading British driver in this year’s Formula Two Championship, he will join Greaves Motorsport in 2012 to race the Nissan-powered prototype as the team defends its Le Mans Series crown.

The Brundles will follow in the footsteps of a small number of father-son combinations to have competed at the illustrious race together, including Mario Andretti, with son Michael, and Nigel Mansell with sons Leo and Greg.

Martin Brundle, 52, said: “I’m very much looking forward to returning to the Le Mans 24 Hour race with Nissan and the Greaves Motorsport LMP2 team. This is an unexpected pleasure, heightened by the fact I will be team-mates with my son. I’m eagerly anticipating a very special feeling when handing the car over to Alex during one of the world’s greatest motor races. Class victory in front of the fanatical Le Mans spectators is the goal.”

Alex Brundle testing the Zytek Z11SN Nissan in April this year.

Alex Brundle, 21, added: “I loved driving the Le Mans circuit at this year’s official test day and a chance to compete in the full Le Mans Series, as well as the Le Mans 24 Hours, along with my single-seater activities in 2012 is brilliant for my career.

At Le Mans, my father has been on pole position, led many times and been part of the winning team; this can fast-track my learning process. My thanks go to Nissan and Greaves Motorsport for creating this important opportunity, which I will seize and maximise.”

The American Le Mans Series (ALMS) is the main battleground of GT racing and as the 2011 series reached its conclusion, the highest placed RSR of Jörg Bergmeister and Patrick Long was only in 4th place, more than 50 points behind the championship winning M3 GT.

Unsurprisingly, Porsche have felt the need to do something about this state of affairs, hence the new, wider and more expensive 2012 GT3 RSR.

Most striking at first glance are the changes to the body: the width of the new GT3 RSR has grown by 48 millimetres. Built to conform to the A.C.O. “LM” GTE regulations, the 911 represents the crowning pinnacle of a range of successful customer sport race cars that are based on the 997 type 911 GT3 RS street road car.

Powering the new 911 GT3 RSR is a more efficient 4.0-litre six-cylinder boxer engine with a mandatory air-restrictor, generating 453 bhp (338 kW) and putting its power down through 310 mm wide rear wheels. The diameter of the front wheels has increased by 30 mm and the Porsche sequential six-speed gearbox is operated via paddle shifts on the steering wheel.

The nose and rear panels are adapted to the flared front and rear wheel arches, as are the door sill and the wheel arch coverings. The aerodynamic concept is complemented by a new ducting of the intake air. There are openings in the rear side sections, similar to those used in the 911 turbo and 911 GT2 RS, which replace the air scoop on the engine hood.

The new 911 GT3 RSR can be raced at the Le Mans 24 Hours, the FIA World Endurance Championship, the Le Mans Series, the American Le Mans Series as well as the International GT Open and in other series and races around the world.

“Our customer teams can expect a technically mature, high performance race car with which they will be highly competitive at international long distance races,” assures Hartmut Kristen, Head of Porsche Motorsport. “Our test programme on various international race tracks is currently running at full speed. We are very pleased with the car’s performance and driveability.”

They say that if you have to ask the price then you probably can’t afford it, so perhaps we shouldn’t tell you that a 2012 911 GT3 RSR will set you back no less than 498,000 Euros (plus VAT). If that fails to dissuade you, then you’ll be pleased to hear that deliveries to customer race teams will begin in January 2012.

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Following a 12 year stint in F1 from 1989 to 2001, Alesi moved onto DTM racing and then last year made his most recent competitive race appearance in the Le Mans Series. In January 2011 he joined Group Lotus as a brand ambassador and development consultant on the F1 customer race car, the T125. Although never straying far from the race track, the Indy 500 and oval racing represent completely new challenges for Jean.

Commenting on the announcement Jean Alesi said: “I’m thrilled that Lotus has given me the opportunity to compete in such a world famous race. It’s going to be a very special experience for me but I also know that I have a lot of hard work ahead. I’m very focused on the task I’m facing – I’m taking my training very seriously, I have some amazing support on this front from a ‘comeback’ expert and of course I will be testing extensively. I’m really excited about the race.”

Jean’s development role with Group Lotus will stand him in good stead as he prepares for his new challenge as he will be competing in a Lotus powered by the new Lotus IndyCar engine. Development of the 2.2-litre twin turbocharged V6 is going to schedule with the first engine fire-up set for mid October and track testing planned to commence in December.

Group Lotus Director of Corporate Operations Gino Rosato said: “IndyCar racing represents a really important element of our overall motorsport program. The Indy 500 is the highlight of the race calendar, the atmosphere is always incredible and having Jean racing for us there will make it extra special.”

The R8C was Audi’s first closed-wheel Le Mans prototype, it was developed alongside the open Audi R8R spyder, prior to being replaced by the all-new Audi R8 in 2000. Although the R8C was capable of hitting speeds above 217 mph on the Mulsanne straight, it lacked the handling ability and overall speed of the open-cockpit R8R spyder and could only qualify 22nd and 28th, compared to 8th and 11th for the R8R.

Only two R8Cs were ever built and due to its dismal performance in the 1999 race, Audi decided to drop it and focus on developing the spyder. Incidentally Audi returned to the LMGTP class in 2001 in the form of the Bentley EXP Speed 8. Although similar to the R8C, the EXP Speed 8 inherited nothing except Audi’s turbocharged V8 engine. Bentley learned lessons from the ill-fated R8C and subsequently took the overall win in 2003.

The rest, as they say, is history..

After nine triumphs with open-wheel vehicles the Ingolstadt brand celebrated its first Le Mans victory with a coupe in 2011 – twelve years after the R8C’s debut. Both prototypes were showcased last weekend in the Audi Fan Area at Silverstone, accompanied by drivers Dindo Capello, Marco Bonanomi, Romain Dumas and Mike Rockenfeller.

Unfortunately, we don’t know who the photographer of the image is, but if someone would care to let us know then we’d be happy to give them some well earned kudos.

Meanwhile, if you love the image as much as we do, feel free to download it for your personal use.

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