Less than one hundred days after its first laps on the track, the Nissan DeltaWing will face the 13.6 km Circuit des 24 Heures du Mans, during Test Day this Sunday 3rd June. At the wheel will be Satoshi Motoyama, Michael Krumm and Marino Franchitti.

Designer Ben Bowlby says the Delta Wing is ready. The car, perhaps the most innovative to appear at Le Mans in decades, has been testing on high-speed circuits in England, France and Spain, but Marino Franchitti says there is still much to learn.

“Le Mans is a completely unique race course. No matter how much you think you know about the car in isolation, trying different kinds of corners, there is nowhere like Le Mans, running on public roads and the actual permanent racecourse. There are different surfaces from last year, you know, it changes every year."

“So it’s really cool that we have the pre-test this year to get some knowledge. To come here just for the race would be…I mean, we could do it, but it’s nice to be able to get the data tomorrow then have a week to analyze and understand it.”

Is he concerned about the forecast of rain? “No, we’ve done a lot of rain running. In fact, maybe more than we would have wanted, but we’ve got a good balance in the wet and the dry. Still, this is such a unique circuit, I’m sure we’ll learn a lot tomorrow.”

“The thing is, with this car, it’s not like you’re going in there with something proven that you know, then tweaking it. With the Delta Wing, you’re completely reinventing the wheel with every part of it and everything you do.” 

Photo: 24 HOURS CIRCUIT (Le Mans), DAY TEST, SCRUTINEERING, June 2, 2012. Marino Franchitti (left) explains the (many!) specificities of the Nissan DeltaWing.