24h Le Mans
For five years now, Nissan has been the top engine-supplier for LM P2 prototypes. This year again, the Japanese manufacturer will be out in force: 22 of the 23 competitors invited in this class at the 84th edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans will use its engines.
Nissan made its first appearance in the LM P2 class exactly five years ago at the initiative of the British team Greaves Motorsport seeking out a new engine for its Zytek chassis. The strategy paid off with eighth place overall and the win in LM P2 at the 2011 24 Hours of Le Mans for the Zytek Z11SN of Tom Kimber-Smith, Olivier Lombard and Karim Ojjeh. In the years that followed, Greaves Motorsport remained one of Nissan's most valued partners, regularly welcoming drivers from the Nissan GT Academy (Lucas Ordonez, Jann Mardenborough, Wolfgang Reip among others), and soliciting the return to the track of Martin Brundle, winner at the 1990 24 Hours, to support his son Alex for his debut at Le Mans in 2012.
For the past three years, Nissan has been undefeated in the LM P2 class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, with three chassis: OAK Racing's Morgan in 2013, Jota Sport's Gibson 015S (formerly Zytek ZN11 SN) in 2014 and KCMG's Oreca 05 in 2015. It has been the same domination over the same time period in the World Endurance Championship (WEC) with the FIA Endurance Drivers and Teams Trophies for OAK Racing (2013, Morgan), SMP Racing (2014, Oreca 03) and G-Drive Racing (2015, Ligier JS P2). In the same vein, no LM P2 title has evaded Nissan since the inception of the European Le Mans Series (ELMS) four years ago, thanks to Thiriet by TDS Racing (2012, Oreca 03), Signatech Alpine (2013 and 2014, Alpine A450) and Greaves Motorsport (2015, Gibson 015S).
Honda HPD is the only exception to Nissan in recent years. Holder since 2010 of the distance record in the LM P2 class at Le Mans with Strakka Racing, in 2012 Honda HPD won at Le Mans and clinched the WEC title. This year at the 24 Hours, Honda will power the only LM P2 team not using a Nissan engine: the American team Michael Shank Racing making its first appearance at Le Mans in June.
Jean-Philippe Doret / ACO - Translation by Nikki Ehrhardt / ACO
Photo: STAVELOT (LIEGE PROVINCE, BELGIUM), SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS CIRCUIT, WEC 6 HOURS OF SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS, FRIDAY MAY 6 2016, FREE PRACTICE & QUALIFYING. In 2016, the Nissan engine has already won in the LM P2 class at the first two rounds of the 2016 World Endurance Championship (WEC), thanks to the RGR Sport by Morand team at Silverstone and Signatech Alpine (pictured here) at Spa-Francorchamps.
